Ph.D. Assistantship in Environmental Education Research: North Carolina State University.

School: NC State University

Location: Raleigh, NC

Job Category: Graduate Assistantships

Salary: ~$17,000/yr, tuition, health insurance. Additional compensation, including student fees (~$1,200/semester) may be available.

Start Date: 08/15/2017

Last Date to Apply: 11/30/2016

 

Description:

    The Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University invites applications for a three to four-year doctoral research assistantship focused on the role of outdoor education in building connection to nature and interest and achievement in science, the development of conservation-minded adults, and the intersection of these areas with human health and well-being.
     The PhD student will assist with completing long-term evaluations of an outdoor education program designed for fifth grade students. We are currently measuring program impacts on science achievement, science efficacy and connection to nature. This phase will focus on long-term program impacts. One objective will be to conduct retrospective interviews of program graduates (e.g., interviewing eighth graders or high school seniors about their fifth grade experiences). A second objective will be to conduct a survey of students in grades 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 in counties where the program is active to assess persistence of impacts measured at the fifth grade level. The third objective is to explore connections between currently measured impacts (e.g., science achievement) with other benefits of time outdoors such as decreased stress or increased physical activity through initiating and fostering collaborations with current and new partners. The PhD student will be expected to dedicate 20 hours a week to research activities as described above and departmental service (e.g., teaching) as directed by the advisor and/or department head. The remaining 20 hours week should be dedicated to coursework in service to a PhD in Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management. The student may have opportunity to work with several PRTM faculty, but will be directly supervised by Kathryn Stevenson.

 

Qualifications:

     Applicants should have an M.S. in parks, recreation & tourism management, education, sociology, conservation biology, or other related field, at least a 3.0 GPA, and a competitive GRE score. Preference will be given to applicants with:

(a) Research experience in environmental education, the human dimensions of natural resource management, or environmental sociology.

(b) Interest or demonstrated proficiency in statistics.

(c) Interest or experience in survey administration, conducting and analyzing interviews, or both. 

Students should also have excellent organizational and communication skills. Interested individuals should send a cover letter outlining experience and research interests, curriculum vitae, unofficial copies of university transcripts and GRE scores, contact information for three references, and writing sample if available. For more information please contact: Kathryn Stevenson (kathryn_stevenson@ncsu.edu).