To see videos about the program, check out our YouTube Channel here.

What are the degree options within the Strong Coasts NRT?

We offer an MS degree at the University of the Virgin Islands and PhD degrees in either Anthropology or Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida.

USF PhD credit requirements differ by department as well as the incoming student’s previous degrees. For students with a master’s degree, 48 credits are required for the PhD, whereas students without the master’s degree have varying requirements (e.g., 78 for CEE, 88 for Anthropology).

UVI MS trainee program requires 34 credits and the NRT requirements do not add additional courses.

What is the anticipated time to degree in the Strong Coasts NRT program?

We anticipate PhD students to complete their degree in 4-5 years, while MS students will complete their degree in 2 years.

What financial support is available for students in the Strong Coasts NRT program?

PhD Trainees will be supported in their first year by internal (e.g. teaching assistantship or fellowship) and external funding, then funded in their second year of coursework in which they will participate in an internship for 3-6 months. All trainees will be required to apply for multiple fellowships and grants (e.g., Fulbright, EPA, NSF, etc.) for funding after or during their internship. Based on our experience with other international and sustainability focused students, we expect they will continue funding after the 2nd year of STRONG Coasts from teaching assistantships, fellowships, or research assistantships. Depending on whether they plan to enter an extended international field experience or continue with funding they are awarded, trainees may spend their third and fourth years in the field conducting research or continue their research and degree progress on campus. In the 5th year they will complete their dissertation and any final course requirements (e.g., if they pursue an optional graduate certificate).

UVI MS trainees will receive the STRONG Coasts fellowship for their second year in graduate school when they will take the FEWS courses and travel internationally. In the first year (and time needed after the second year) they will be supported by other external funding affiliated with their EPSCoR grant and related external grants.

What are more details about PhD funding for engineering students?

Strong Coasts funding includes a highly competitive, year-long stipend for the trainees ($34,000 stipend, tuition waiver, health insurance, $10,512 education allowance). In years not covered by Strong Coasts, USF’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers research assistant (RA) and teaching assistant (TA) positions ($21-22,000, tuition waiver, health insurance). Additionally, faculty within the department also have other sources of funding that can be combined with the Strong Coasts stipend to support eligible students throughout their PhD (i.e., U.S. Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need—GAANN – https://usfcee.wixsite.com/gaann). Lastly, students will also be encouraged to apply for other national grant opportunities (e.g., NSF GRFP). Details of the possible funding sources and ranges of financial support are detailed in the table below.

Year of PhD	Funding Sources	Funding Details
1	Departmental RA/ TA or Fellowship (possibly GAANN)	~$21-22,000 (avg. departmental rate = $25/hour for 12 months), tuition waiver, health insurance
2 (or 3)	Strong Coasts	$34,000 stipend, tuition waiver, health insurance, $10,512 education allowance
3-5	Departmental RA/ TA or Fellowship (GAANN, possibly other national fellowship)	Same as Year 1

Are both MS and PhDs eligible for the Strong Coasts NRT Fellowship ($34,000)?

Yes! Outstanding PhD and MS applicants admitted to the Strong Coasts program will be invited to apply for the NRT fellowship. To be eligible for a fellowship in anthropology and environmental engineering, the funded trainee would have to be in the PhD program at the University of South Florida. To be eligible for a fellowship in marine sciences, the funded trainee would have to be in the MS program at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Please review the degree entry requirements of those programs to determine eligibility.

Graduate program in Anthropology at USF

Graduate program in Civil & Environmental Engineering at USF

Graduate program in Marine  Environmental Science at UVI

How do I apply for an NRT fellowship?

The USF Graduate School administers all doctoral programs at USF and refers applications to individual departments where discipline-specific faculty committees review them and make recommendations on acceptance to the Dean of the Graduate School. Admission to the UVI MMES program is determined by the MMES admissions committee based on holistic review of the applicant’s academic record. At both USF and UVI, application materials include GPA and GRE scores, a statement of purpose, field, laboratory, and work experience, and recommendation letters.

Applicants, U.S. citizens or permanent residents only, must also apply to the STRONG COASTS program with a copy of their graduate application materials, and answer why they are interested in FEWS. The management team will assess the applications based on their graduate application plus things like international experience, interest in interdisciplinary approaches, practical work experience, community service, leadership, and in the case of UVI, an interest in Caribbean natural resources and potential to continue for the PhD.

STRONG Coasts doctoral applicants either will hold or be working toward a master’s degree and must show superior research ability. In the case where an applicant does not have a master’s degree, we would expect to see evidence of research potential.

What is the anticipated size of the Strong Coasts graduate program?

The proposed five-year project will provide direct funding to 29 trainees (4-5 trainees per year) in an integrated community of graduate scholars that will ultimately include 23 PhD level trainees from engineering and anthropology at USF and 6 MS level trainees from marine and environmental sciences at UVI.

In addition to the 29 fully funded fellows, we will leverage other support and programs to graduate 80 STRONG Coasts associates. Those graduate students who are not funded by the grant (stipend and tuition) will include 30 students enrolled in International Development and Peace Corps Coverdell Fellow graduate students in anthropology and engineering, and 50 other graduate students at USF and UVI over the 5- years based on enrollment history of the courses taught by the STRONG-CFEWS faculty. These students will be funded through graduate teaching and research assistantships and fellowships.

What faculty are involved in the Strong Coasts graduate program?

The 16 core faculty/mentor participants consist of 9 women and 6 underrepresented minorities (URMs).

Hear from them here: http://www.strongcoasts.org/nrt-faculty-perspectives/

What types of courses will Strong Coasts students take?

All Strong Coasts trainees must take five FEWS courses as an interdisciplinary cohort to complement their disciplinary training. The core courses are all designed to support online delivery and participation and once completed a FEWS certificate will be awarded from the USF graduate school. The courses are:

• Systems Thinking & Practice (0 credits)
• Systems Thinking for Food Energy Water Systems (3 credits)
• FEWS GLOBAL (3 credits)
• Leadership (1 credit)
• Systems Modeling of the Environment (3 credits) or Envision Sustainable Communities (3 credits)

These core courses will be balanced by courses that promote professional development and cultural competency, while elective coursework will be training path specific.

What types of research projects will Strong Coasts trainees work on?

Strong Coasts aims to train a new generation of globally competent STEM practitioners and scholars with interdisciplinary and 21st-century skills, and technical and methodological flexibility to address the complexity inherent in the FEWS nexus agenda. Please see our research page to get an example of the types of research projects we envision students would work on, keeping in mind that this NRT trains students to work with communities to develop independent research projects using a systems thinking framework.

Will I be able to study or conduct research abroad?

International research is highly encouraged. STRONG COASTS Challenge Grants will support interdisciplinary research on FEWS with an international partner. Interdisciplinary teams of students in the “FEWS Global” course will work with their advisors and the STRONG COASTS management team to identify the best location and partnership for their research and professional interests and personal situation (e.g., some students may not be able to travel away from USF or UVI for extended periods due to personal reasons). Trainees will also contribute to proposals for external funding to support this work beyond the STRONG COASTS funded year. We expect international research experiences to be at least 1-3 semesters in length but will encourage longer than one-year experiences for doctoral students.

Students emphasizing the STRONG COASTS program not supported directly by the NRT may select to integrate their graduate degree with international training and research at a field site. As one example, USF’s current International Development Engineering program has worked with MS and PhD students in civil, environmental, and mechanical engineering. Anthropology has similar ability to place their graduate students at international field locations, especially in the Caribbean. These programs can accommodate masters and doctoral students.

What mentoring will a Strong Coasts trainee receive?

We will implement a thorough personal development career plan for trainees with web-based components that connects them with a diverse network to support their research and career interests and tracks their progress towards degree completion. The STRONG Coasts management team will discuss each trainee’s progress to degree during annual meetings. Co-advising by faculty mentors, peer mentorship from trainees at the same degree level, and tiered mentorship in the case of matching USF PhD trainees with UVI MS trainees, will augment existing institutional programs to advise and retain graduate students.

A multi-tiered mentoring pipeline will be developed between PhD trainees at USF, MS trainees at UVI, and students at USF in Engineering and Anthropology participating in international training and research activities. The mentoring activities will include one-on-one mentorship meetings and monthly group discussions about career paths or leadership. PhD trainees will be assigned as mentors to the MS trainees, and meet individually (in person or via video conference calls) at the beginning of each semester to review research progress and the internships. As a group, the STRONG Coasts trainees will meet monthly with video conference calls to discuss leadership, entrepreneurship, or career paths in the FEWS sector. Each month, a different PhD trainee will be required to find a relevant editorial, column, op-ed, job posting, or similar article on leadership or career paths for STEM graduates with advanced degrees. The group, led by the PhD trainee, will engage in a discussion of the article using an online forum or chat program. It will be the PhD trainee’s responsibility to also engage a professional in the discussion who can give perspective on the particular career path. For example, if the PhD trainee chooses an article entitled “Taking your career overseas: How to get a job in international development,” the trainee would be required to invite a person who works at an organization doing international development work.

Where can I apply?

PhD applicants to USF would apply to either the Environmental Engineering or the Anthropology programs. Applications are not yet open for the University of the Virgin Islands MS students.

Who can I contact for more information?

Inquiries should be directed toward Maya Trotz, Strong Coasts Project Director at matrotz@usf.edu. 

 

STRONG COASTS is supported by a National Science Foundation Collaborative Research Traineeship (NRT) award (#1735320) led by the University of South Florida (USF) and the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI).

Strong Coasts IRB # is Pro00033749.