The application period for the NPS-PS Paleontology in the Parks Fellowship Program is now open! 

Three fellowships are currently available to start in spring 2025. The priority application due date for each listing is November 1, 2024. Please refer to the main program page for full details on eligibility and how to apply. To read about pilot projects and the development of this program, see here. Email the program chair with any questions (and if you are attending the GSA meeting in Anaheim, please stop by the posters on Tuesday afternoon to learn about ongoing fellowship projects and/or join us at the Paleontological Society banquet to learn more about the program). 

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Paleontology Assistant - Yellowstone National Park Paleontological Resource Inventory

The National Park Service Paleontology Program and the Paleontological Society are recruiting a fellow to help support a paleontological resource inventory for Yellowstone National Park. The position will join a team of paleontologists already working on the park inventory and will provide assistance with research, report writing, and development of figures and graphics to include in the report. The inventory is designed to compile data on the scope, significance, distribution (both temporally and geospatially), and management issues associated with fossils from Yellowstone National Park. Paleontological resources at Yellowstone National Park comprise invertebrates, vertebrates, fossil plants, and ichnofossils from the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. The position will not be located at the park, due to housing limitations; rather the fellow will work remotely from their location of preference within the U.S. There may also be a future opportunity to expand beyond initial project needs through collections-based efforts at the Smithsonian once the original scope of work is complete. There is some flexibility in the start date for this position, preferably sometime in spring 2025. The fellowship stipend for this NPS-PS Paleontology in the Parks opportunity is $3000.

Paleontology Assistant - Coastal Processes & Management of Fossil Resources

The National Park Service Paleontology Program and the Paleontological Society are recruiting a fellow to help support an ongoing research project to assess how coastal processes impact paleontological resources in coastal marine environments. This study will be incorporated into a larger inventory report which compiles baseline paleontological resource information on fossils documented in coastal areas within parks across the National Park Service. Paleontological resources in coastal settings encompass fossils found along a variety of shorelines with management concerns that include erosion, natural hazards, anthropogenic influences, and more. Applicants with education or experience related to coastal geology / geomorphology and coastal processes are desired. The fellow will collaborate with a team of paleontologists who are already working to compile the park-specific paleontological resource data associated with coastal areas within each of the parks addressed in this project. The position will not be located at any specific national park; rather the fellow will work remotely from their location of preference within the U.S. There is some flexibility in the start date for this position, preferably sometime in spring 2025. The fellowship stipend for this NPS-PS Paleontology in the Parks opportunity is $2500.

Spanish Language Assistant - Paleontology Education & Outreach Resources

The Paleontological Society supported the National Park Service through a pilot project that resulted in a Spanish language version of the extremely popular Junior Paleontologist Activity Booklet. This booklet will be available to parks and the public both online and in print for National Fossil Day 2024. Through this effort, we have received extremely positive feedback from within the NPS, including the Hispanic Leadership Council for the NPS, praising the collaboration to produce the Spanish language Junior Paleontologist Activity Booklet. To continue the momentum in outreach to Spanish-speaking communities, we propose funding a bilingual outreach assistant to support additional new NPS projects for paleontology education and outreach in Spanish. Duties could include helping to coordinate the development of NPS paleontology webpages in Spanish and contributing to new educational resources for specific parks to broaden outreach opportunities for Spanish-speaking populations. There is some flexibility in the start date for this position, preferably sometime in spring 2025. The fellowship stipend for this NPS-PS Paleontology in the Parks opportunity is $2000.