• The ECEV Community space on ELMS provides helpful resources and notifications and is a great way for students with interests in ecology and evolution to connect with one another. Through the site, students can participate in online discussions, have access to a range of resources, and receive notifications about relevant seminars, courses, and other information of potential interest such as research opportunities and job offerings. It is an optional, non-term space on ELMS that is available to ECEV majors as well as other students with interests in this area. If you would like to be added to this ELMS space, please email us (please include "ECEV" somewhere in the subject heading). 

Research Opportunities, Internships, & Scholarships

• General resources
  • CMNS - BSCI Research and Internships: web resources about finding research opportunities and internships both on and off campus
  • UMD - Maryland Student Researchers Program: searchable database of research opportunities on campus
  • CMNS Symplicity Database: searchable database of jobs on and off-campus
  • ECOLOG-L: a listserv for ecologists, hosted by the Ecological Society of America, on which many opportunities in ecology are advertised
  • Note that many research opportunities are not listed on the resources above. Contacting individual faculty of interest is often the best way to find entry-level research positions. 
• Research Opportunities
  • UMD-College Park has an outstanding community of researchers in the areas of ecology and evolution. Numerous faculty, graduate students, research associates, and research assistants work in ecology and evolution on campus. Ecology and evolution researchers are located in a range of departments, primarily in Biology and Entomology, but also in Environmental Science and Technology, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, and Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, among others. The graduate program in Behavior, Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics is one of the top-ranked programs in ecology and evolution in the country; looking through this program's webpages is a great way to learn about ecology and evolution research happening on campus, and to find potential labs for getting involved with research. 
  • There are many nearby institutions with excellent ecology and evolution researchers as well. In addition to nearby universities, some of these include the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (with departments of Paleobiology, Vertebrate Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology, Entomology, Botany), the National Zoological Park​'s Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), and the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) (including the Chesapeake Bay Lab, Horn Point Lab, Appalachian Lab, and Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology), 
  • If you would like advice for finding a research lab to work in in the area of Ecology and Evolution, you may contact Alexa Bely.
• Internships
  • Great internship opportunities exist on campus and at nearby institutions. Some resources are below.
    • CMNS-BSCI Research and Internships
    • Smithsonian - National Museum of Natural History Internship Opportunities 
    • Smithsonian - National Zoo Internships
• Scholarships
  • An extensive database of scholarships can be searched through the National Scholarships Office webpage 

Minors

• Students interested in ecology and evolution may want to consider a complementary minor, such as:
  • Entomology 
  • Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) Minor (Geographical Sciences)
  • Remote Sensing of Environmental Change (RESC) Minor (Geographical Sciences)
  • Sustainability minor (School of Public Policy) 
  • Secondary Education Minor (College of Education)

Interested in going to graduate school?

• Students graduating with an Ecology and Evolution specialization often consider graduate school. If this is the case for you, given the breadth and expertise in ecology and evolution on campus you're in an excellent place to get advice and input! We strongly recommend that you take advantage of the many people here who can provide perspective and advice on graduate school in these areas. Talk with the Ecology and Evolution advisor (Sara Lombardi) and/or reach out to a graduate student or faculty member in the BEES graduate program who is working in an area of interest to you to get their perspectives.
• An excellent way to develop skills relevant to graduate school, and to strengthen your eventual graduate school applications, is to do an Honors research thesis. Consider applying to the Biology Honors Program. 
• Some general advice and answers to common questions about going to graduate school in the biological sciences are available on the Biology Honors Program webpage on Considering Graduate School in the Biological Sciences.

Other Resources

• AI Forward (Special thanks to Ms. Richards and her students who provided the information)