Funding

You'll be amazed at how many great funding opportunities you can find at Wellesley and beyond!

Through the ES Department, Career Education, and numerous off-campus programs you'll be able to find extensive resources to help fund a variety of academic and personal experiences. We're happy to help you navigate your way through the options available.

ES Funding

Other Wellesley Funding Sources

Off-Campus Funding Sources


ES Funding

Conference Support

The Environmental Studies Department encourages students to take part in conferences and other events related to their academic work in environmental studies.  To support such initiatives, the department will fund student registration fees for conferences up to $50.  There are several limits to this program:  students must take advantage of early registration discounts;  funding is limited to one conference per year;  support is limited to students majoring or minoring in Environmental Studies and first year students intending to major or minor in ES.  In some cases, the department may make exceptions to the above stipulations. Students should email Program Coordinator Jess Hunter (jhunter@wellesely.edu) and send her any relevant receipts and she will process the reimbursement.  
 

Academic Programming

ES prioritizes funding for activities with an academic component that are broadly applicable to the Wellesley community. We'd be happy to consider proposals that fall under this description. While we encourage students to participate in non-academic, personal-growth activities like service-learning projects and alternative spring breaks, we are unable to provide funding for these endeavors. Career Education (see below) has numerous funding options for non-academic types of experiences.
 

Thesis & Independent Study Support

Students undertaking a thesis and/or independent study projects may apply to the Environmental Studies Department for funds. Thesis students can apply for up to $350 per semester (contingent on other funding applications). Students in ES 250 courses may apply for up to $100/semester, students in ES 350 courses are eligible for up to $350/semester.  In order to receive funds, students must submit a detailed budget to the Program Director, who will bring it to the ES Advisory Faculty for approval. Once approved, students should submit receipts to the ES Program Coordinator for reimbursement. Visit our honors website for detailed guidelines and thesis information.
 

Opportunity Fund

The Environmental Studies Opportunity Fund supports students pushing Environmental Studies -- or their own work -- in new directions. Aware of the historical lack of diversity in environmental fields and the common (mis)perception that environmental issues are high priorities only for affluent socioeconomic groups, we are committed to nurturing innovative and inclusive approaches to understanding and advancing environmental sustainability. We also want to support work that expands an individual’s opportunity to study environmental issues in novel or important ways, regardless of what those ways are.
 
The Opportunity Fund will be open to all students at Wellesley College, irrespective of major. Students may apply for up to $500 per student with a maximum of $1,000 per project. (Successful proposals asking for smaller amounts are more likely to be fully funded.) Projects will be evaluated in part based on the extent to which they represent a truly new opportunity that addresses the goals outlined above. We encourage students to propose projects that may fall outside of the standard academic approaches to studying or protecting the environment, and for which nominal amounts of funding can help a project to succeed. Some possible examples of the use of funds include (but are not limited to): supplies / equipment, travel, analysis / professional services fees, printing / publishing costs.
 
We encourage you to take risks to expand your own thinking about what it means to engage in studies, outreach, and activism related to the broader field of Environmental Studies.
 
Application deadlines
 
Each year there are two opportunities to apply:
 
Wintersession and Spring (mid-November)
Summer and Fall (mid-April)
 
Application requirements
 
The application consists of the following:
 
Project Description and Budget
 
Project Description:​ Describe your project in detail, making sure to answer the question(s):
 
How does this create an opportunity for you to explore a new area in ES and/or how does this project expand the scope of ES? Your project may do one or both of these.
 
Project Budget (must not exceed $500 per student and $1000 total):​ Please provide an outline and brief justification of proposed expenditures.
 
Your Project Description and Budget should be a maximum of 3 pages and can be uploaded as a single PDF or Word document.
 
Application Details
  • All applicants must have met with an ES Advisory Faculty member who will serve as an advisor/mentor to the project if awarded. Please refer to the list of advisory faculty at the ES Department website.
  • Is your project related to a course or independent study project? If so, please indicate what course.
  • Recipients of this award will also be expected to share the results of their grant with the college community in one of the following ways:
    • Giving a Tanner or Ruhlman Conference presentation
    • Submitting/sharing a written, video, or creative arts piece
    • Another mechanism agreed to by the student and advisor
  • Please provide contact info for three references (at least one of whom is at Wellesley). No recommendation letters are required.
Please contact Alden Griffith (agriffit@wellesley.edu) with any questions. ​

Other Wellesley Funding Sources

Career Education

Wellesley's Career Education office offers a variety of internships, fellowships, and grants which are directly related to ES. An updated list of these opportunities is coming soon!

Social Science Summer Research Program

Students should contact faculty directly to consult about the research position they are interested in exploring, based on the list of projects available. Students will attend workshops on public speaking, ethics, bibliographic tools, and visual design, and present their research to the other students and faculty advisors at a seminar series. Students will also present the results of their research at the all-campus summer research poster session during the first week of August.
Eligibility: All full time students and Davis Scholars
Award: $4600 ($3100 stipend, $1500 housing/commuting supplement)
Deadline: Late February

Science Center Summer Research Awards

Students interested in conducting scientific research this summer should check online for the full list of projects available and consult with faculty to make sure it's the right project for you. In addition to the project you'll be researching, the program also involves attending seminars by faculty and outside speakers, giving presentations of your own research to their peers and faculty, discussing graduate school with a panel of current graduate students, participating in field trips, discussing career options with a panel of professionals who majored in science as undergraduates and who now work in non-academic, non-medical science-related fields. Students will present the results of their research at the all-campus summer research poster session during the first week in August.
Eligibility: All full time students and Davis Scholars
Award: $4600 ($3100 sStudents will receive a weekly housing/transportation allowance for a maximum of 9 weeks at $150/week (total: $1,350). Summer stipends provide a living allowance of at least $3,250 for full participation in all program activities.
Deadline: Early March
Application found on the Science Center website

Science Center Student Travel to Conferences or Research

The purpose of this program is to support student-faculty collaboration and student research. Students who are traveling to scientific meetings and presenting their work as posters or talks (as first or second authors) are eligible to apply.
Eligibility: All full time students and Davis Scholars
Award: Total awards will normally not exceed $750/student in any year or $500/student from any one source
Deadline: Students should apply in advance of attending the conference for which support is being requested. There are three application deadlines each year in September, January and April.
Application found on the Science Center website

Albright Institute for Global Affairs

The Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs will foster appreciation for the forces of globalization, the complexities of leadership, and the importance of citizenship. The program will combine the intellectual resources of faculty from Wellesley College, researchers from the Wellesley Centers for Women, and leading alumnae and practitioners in the fields of international relations and public policy. This intensive, three-week non-credit course will culminate with lectures and informal conversation with the Institute’s Distinguished Visiting Professor. The Institute will take place annually during Wintersession. Deepening a student’s curricular experience with the significant learning that can take place off campus, Albright Fellows will pursue college-funded internships during the summer following their participation in the Institute Wintersession program.
Eligibility: Open to Wellesley College juniors and seniors, with priority given to juniors
Award: Funding for summer internships provided
Deadline: Late March
Application found on the Albright Institute website

Wellesley in Washington

This summer internship program provides an opportunity for students with a wide variety of interests to be placed in venues in Washington D.C. that provide fascinating opportunities for them to advance academic and career goals. Interns experience hands-on work opportunities to advance intellectual and career aims through quite demanding placements in government offices, political and public interest groups, media organizations, and research and cultural institutions.
Eligibility: Open to Wellesley College juniors and Davis Scholars
Award: $3000 stipend plus housing costs (usually $3000 per student)
Deadline: October
Application found on the Political Science Department's website

Botanic Gardens environmental horticulture & sustainable agriculture internships

The Wellesley College Botanic Gardens and the Wellesley Center for the Environment
offers an internship program that includes opportunities at the student farm, the botanic
gardens, and an Italian Renaissance food garden on campus. Interns each have a
primary responsibility in one of these areas, but also work together on projects in each area. The internships involve a lot of outdoor work in often hot, muggy conditions – pulling weeds, mulching, watering, etc. – as well as workshops on such topics as composting and pruning, and periodic farmers markets. They also hire a summer farm leader – someone who has experience working on a farm and is involved with Regeneration; this intern has a higher salary, depending on experience and added responsibility.

Eligibility: Open to all Wellesley College Students
Award: $225/week, $150/week for college housing for 10 or more weeks
Deadline: Late March
Application found on the Botanic Gardens website. Contact Kristina Jones for more information.

The Class of 1957 Green Fund

The Class of 1957 Fund was established by the Class of 1957 to provide funding for initiatives designed to enhance sustainable practices at Wellesley, to reduce Wellesley's environmental impact, and to raise awareness about environmental issues on campus. Anyone can apply for a grant if they have an idea for a sustainable initiative.


Off-Campus Funding Sources

see scholarships/fellows page