This January, Wilburforce Foundation and COMPASS announced the first group of 20 scientists awarded the newly established Wilburforce Fellowship in Conservation Science, and two SEFS researchers—Professor Jon Bakker and postdoc Lauren Urgenson—were among the honorees!

The year-long fellowship program provides skills development and sustained mentorship in science communication and leadership, and each Wilburforce Fellow will set a goal for individual or collective engagement on a specific conservation issue. Professor Bakker, for instance, plans to explore how to better link land managers with scientific research. He’s thinking particularly about how to share scientific findings with land managers, and how to encourage them to experimentally evaluate their actions and adapt their activities as appropriate. His research could also include other angles, such as how to enable land managers to communicate their research questions to the scientists who might be able to address them.

The 20 fellows will begin their initial training this April and then work throughout the year with a range of trainers, including a team from COMPASS that specializes in science communication, as well as a number of science and environmental journalists.

Congratulations, Jon and Lauren, and good luck!