From teaching basic biodiversity concepts to elementary students in São Tomé and Príncipe to empowering residents to protect the few remaining “church forests” left in Ethiopia, Academy scientists are committed to forming long-term relationships with local scientists, students, government officials, and local communities whose knowledge and actions are critical to protecting some of the world's most important—and fragile—ecosystems.
Some projects span continents—entomologist Brian Fisher’s Ant Course attracts students from more than a dozen countries each year, while the Academy's Madagascar Biodiversity Center, where Fisher often teaches, provides much-needed training for local biologists. At home, the Academy’s long-running summer internship program provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to see how collections-based research can contribute to the important sustainability issues facing the world today.
For the past 20 years, the Academy's museum-based summer internship has given students the chance to gain hands-on experience alongside working research scientists, curators, and collection managers.
Acknowledging the importance of global scientific research, the Academy has hosted more than 100 graduate students and scientists from 26 developing countries, providing degree supporting training and research opportunities for young researchers from countries rich in biodiversity and facing pressing environmental issues.
Organized by Brian Fisher, the Academy's Chair of Entomology, since 2001, this annual program invites participants to study these important arthropods amid some of the richest ant fauna in North America and abroad.
This forest canopy-based internship provides training and field research opportunities for students with ambulatory disabilities.
Our work doesn’t stop with discovering life on Earth—we’re also helping to sustain it.