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This year’s Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE) fellows retreat brought together graduate students from Tufts’ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts – and everywhere in between – for a mix of learning, networking, and fun.

An Interdisciplinary Experience

Each year, TIE awards research fellowships to graduate students affiliated with any of Tufts University’s graduate programs and professional schools. Fellows can use this funding to support ongoing environmental research projects or design their own project.

Most fellows choose to conduct their research over the summer months, so the annual Fall retreat provides an opportunity for students to share their experiences, challenges, and early findings. At this year’s retreat, fellows from all different disciplines had lively discussions around research interests like environmental health, renewable energy, and forest restoration; data collection methods; and Tufts faculty recommendations.

The interdisciplinary nature of TIE’s Fellowship program proved its benefit at the retreat. Budding scientists and engineers presented their research to artists and policy wonks, and vice versa, opening the door for questions and considerations students might not have received from inside their respective fields. The array of unique perspectives allowed fellows to refine their explanations and presentation styles for different audiences.

Making Time for Fun

When they weren’t discussing their research, TIE fellows also made time to get to know each other through some good old-fashioned competition. The fellows took part in environmental trivia, a tree identification scavenger hunt, and quite a few board games throughout the retreat.

Because many TIE fellows travel far and wide to conduct their research – this year’s crew visited Vietnam, Costa Rica, Canada, India, Ethiopia, and several other countries over the summer – students also exchanged plenty of travel stories and recommendations.

The 2019-2020 TIE Fellows

This year’s cohort of TIE fellows is made up of graduate and PhD students representing Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Friedman School of Nutrition and Science Policy, Sackler School of Graduate and Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Engineering, and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Check out our page on this year’s cohort to learn more about their backgrounds and research interests.

Interested in Applying for a TIE Fellowship?

The TIE fellowship aims to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations that lead to better environmental solutions. Any matriculated graduate student at Tufts is eligible to apply, and the program runs from April to April each year. The guidelines and application forms for the 2020-2021 TIE fellowships are now available online. The deadline for 2020-2021 applications is 12:00pm ET on Friday, January 31st, 2020.