University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras Campus IGERT Program: Natural-Human Systems in the Urbanizing Tropics The Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program at the University of Puerto-Río Piedras (UPR-RP) aims to train Ph.D. students in interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to environmental problems in urbanizing, tropical landscapes. The program is based in the natural sciences, but students receive cross-disciplinary training in social science perspectives on environmental issues and apply these to real-world problems. The common element for dissertation research is how human and natural systems interact. Research may cover climate, water, food security, renewable energy, waste management, biodiversity, and urban system services, among other topics. Research topics are developed in collaboration with a government agency, non-profit organization, or community group. Projects can be based in Puerto Rico or elsewhere in the tropics. Puerto Rico has had a dynamic environmental history, with nearly complete deforestation followed by forest recovery, and then urban sprawl as the economy modernized. This last shift produced environmental problems, overlaid by changes in climate and vulnerability to catastrophic storms, making Puerto Rico an ideal place to conduct integrative research. This IGERT is based in UPR-RP Environmental Sciences Graduate Program. The deadline for application for this graduate program is January 20, 2011. The deadline for application for IGERT fellowships is February 27th, 2012. Prospective applicants must contact the program and a prospective advisor before applying. See the website and email addresses below. Benefits: $30,000/year for two years; $2,000 for travel and education materials; office, computer and software usage; reserved space in all special courses and workshops Website: http://envsci.uprrp.edu/igert Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico Contacts: Rafael Rios Davila PhD, Program Director, rafaelrios00936@yahoo.com Sheila Ward, Program Associate Director, seward@hpcf.upr.edu Colibrí Sanfiorenzo-Barnhard, Program Coordinator, uprrp.igert@gmail.com