Graduate Study at NREL

Although the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory is a center for research rather than an academic department, it participates actively in the educational mission of Colorado State University.  Its staff members teach courses in various university departments, supervise graduate and postgraduate research and share their knowledge with students at local schools.

The laboratory provides research opportunities, supervision and support for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who participate in its programs.  Over the last five years, NREL has supported 26 graduate students and 14 postdoctoral fellows with funds derived from research grants.  While at the Laboratory, these individuals have the opportunity to work closely with active researchers, both staff members and visiting scientists.  They have access to excellent computing and analytical facilities and technical support, attend and make presentations at national meetings, and participate in the process of writing grant proposals and papers for publication. 

Some graduate students at NREL receive support from sources other than NREL research projects.  For example, NREL scientists often undertake responsibility for the graduate education of students who arrive with their own funding but no adviser, just as departmental faculty members do.

Among the organizations that have supported students at NREL in recent years are the U.S. Agency for International Development, the African Development Bank, the U.S. Department of Interior's National Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Biological Resources Division, Rotary International, and various national governments. Some 60 graduate students, in addition to those mentioned above, have benefited from the guidance of NREL staff members over the last five years.