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The Scholar-in-Residence program is inspired by the Artist-in-Residence program at Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). This fellowship follows the tradition of connecting scholars, scientists, and professionals to the community and educational programming in our National Parks. The goal of the program is to create a unique opportunity to live and conduct scholarly work in Estes Park, Colorado near RMNP and to widely share the resulting work. Housing and financial support give scholars the opportunity to be creative, productive, and successful in conducting work that is uniquely connected to RMNP.
Scholarship in our National Parks has always been essential to understanding and managing park resources. Fellowship proposals should be specific to RMNP, and its natural and cultural resources, but could include questions from across fields, including social science, natural science, or communication. The Scholar-In-Residence fellowship is intended to appeal to a wide range of candidates and successful proposals might take many different forms. The scholar might conduct new research, synthesize existing knowledge, or work to communicate a topic to a specific audience. Any proposal that outlines a project that is intrinsically connected to RMNP and fulfills the fellowship requirements will be welcome.
The Scholar-in-Residence works with Rocky Mountain Conservancy’s Field Institute and the Continental Divide Research Learning Center (CDRLC) at RMNP. Rocky Mountain Conservancy (RMC) is the park’s nonprofit partner whose mission is to promote stewardship of RMNP and similar lands through education and philanthropy.
The Scholar-in-Residence supports a 10-week residency and is offered annually. The residence period can occur anytime between June 1 and October 1. Shorter residencies may be considered on request
Selected scholars participating in the Scholar-in-Residence Program are asked to complete the following:
- A ~45-minute public presentation for a general audience, scheduled by RMC and given during the residency.
- A 15–30-minute internal presentation for RMNP and RMC staff, scheduled by the CDRLC.
- Participation in an interview for the RMC quarterly newsletter.
- A work or product representative of their residency e.g. journalistic article or feature, book chapter or book, curricular or outreach materials, audiovisual presentation, academic paper or article, white paper, etc. The submitted work does not need to be in its final form but should be of professional quality and should reflect the work conducted Updated December 2024 during the residency. Information from the scholarly work may be used in exhibits and for educational purposes by RMNP and RMC for their products or programs.
- If the scholar will be conducting research as part of the fellowship, the work must be conducted with an approved RMNP Research Permit. In addition, scholars are required to provide the park with any data and associated materials collected during the project. Research may be used in exhibits and for educational purposes by RMNP and RMC for their products or programs.
- Housing is provided for the duration of the residency via the use of a private, rustic cabin located along the border of RMNP, about 5 miles from the Beaver Meadows entrance. There is hiking access to the park from the lodging. 4x4 or AWD transportation is recommended.
- CDRLC and RMC will facilitate connections with appropriate park staff and researchers during the residency.
- In addition, a stipend will be paid every 2 weeks in $1,000 allotments, for a total of $5,000.
Scholars may include researchers, professors, instructors, educators, writers, journalists, etc.
The topic of the proposal must align with the mission and values of Rocky Mountain Conservancy and the National Park Service/RMNP.
The topic of the proposal must align with the mission and values of Rocky Mountain Conservancy and the National Park Service/RMNP.
We are now accepting proposals for the 2025 Scholar-in-Residence! Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis with review beginning March 31, 2025.
For more information on proposal requirements and submittal process, look for RMNP Partnership Positions at Employment - Rocky Mountain Conservancy.
For more information on proposal requirements and submittal process, look for RMNP Partnership Positions at Employment - Rocky Mountain Conservancy.
Last updated: February 25, 2025