Ernest E. Hill Fellowship

Ernest E. Hill Fellowship

This fund was initiated with a generous donation by Ernest E. Hill and family members to support student research in disciplines addressing the impact of global warming on the climate system and biosphere and the development of carbon-neutral alternative energy solutions.  Ernest E. Hill is a graduate of UC Berkeley (B.S. in Mechanical Engineering 1943; M.S. Nuclear Engineering 1959) and spent 40 years as a nuclear engineer, primarily at nearby Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Hill has had a lifelong passion for science, and has spent much of his “retirement” driven by curiosity about current issues in the natural sciences. In establishing the Ernest E. Hill Fellowship, he wrote:

“Overwhelming evidence has established that humans have caused climate change. Our attention must now focus on the impacts of global warming and carbon-neutral alternative energy solutions. After some 40 years in the nuclear field, I have learned that many technical enterprises are ultimately controlled by political, economic, and environmental considerations. This was very important in my decision to sponsor a graduate fellowship fund at UC Davis. The analysis of our present situation in global warming and the possible means to correct the problem is very multidisciplinary. The conventional wisdom that it is largely an engineering problem is not correct. I was very pleased that UC Davis has a very broad view of the problem and that four colleges are interested in doing this research in the global warming area. Research in this area is not only desirable but essential.”

Graduate students from the four colleges at UC Davis (Letters and Science, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences and Engineering) are eligible to apply for a Hill Fellowship.  The award is to support research focused on the impacts of global warming on the climate system and biosphere and/or the development of carbon-neutral-alternative-energy solutions. Awards will range from $3,000-$5,000 and can be used for research, travel, small equipment purchases, and professional development via scientific meetings, courses or workshops.  The award cannot be used to defray graduate student salaries or as a stipend. Priority will be given to more senior graduate students who have 1-2 publications. 

To apply for the Ernest E. Hill Fellowship, submit by email or campus mail - before March 31, 2009 - the following information to:

Professor Isabel P. Montañez, Geology Department

Chair, Ernest E. Hill Fellowship Committee

montanez@geology.ucdavis.edu

Applications from graduate students must include:

• a brief (500 word maximum) description of the proposed research, travel and other work to be completed using the award funds – including a clear statement of how the proposed research or activity addresses the fund objective: study of the impact of global warming on the climate system and biosphere and/or the development of carbon-neutral-alternative-energy solutions.
• a budget that shows each anticipated category of expenditure and justification for it
• 2 letters of recommendation from faculty, including one from the research advisr
• a curriculum vitae that lists prior awards, publications and abstracts presented at professional meetings
• a graduate transcript provided by the graduate group or department

Applications will be evaluated by a committee of faculty from the four colleges. Selected applicant(s) names will be forwarded to Dean Winston Ko, Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division, who will notify candidates of the award by June 1, 2009.