Funded Study, Fellowships and Training for Conservation and Environment Careers

Whether you work in a national park, a reserve, an NGO or a research lab, the next step in a conservation career often depends on three things: a good program, the money to attend it, and the practical skills to apply it. We went through a large curated list of opportunities and pulled out what matters most. It covers more than 430 graduate programs, over 120 scholarships, fellowships and grants, and about 60 short courses and trainings.

Here is a guide to what is out there and where to start.

The list at a glance

• Graduate programs (MSc and PhD): 236 entries in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, and 197 more in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
• Scholarships, fellowships and grants: more than 120 opportunities, from full-ride master’s scholarships to small field-research grants.
• Short courses and certificates: about 60 trainings, most of them online (39 of the listed formats are online only).

1. Graduate programs: where to study

Programs abroad

The US leads the list with about 80 entries, followed by the United Kingdom (around 60), Spain (22), Australia, Canada and the Netherlands (13 each), Portugal (10) and Germany (8). Focus areas run from conservation biology and wildlife ecology to environmental policy, GIS and forestry. A few examples:

• Conservation biology and ecology: Lund University (Sweden), Macquarie University (Australia), Texas A&M (USA).
• Conservation leadership and practice: Colorado State University, Imperial College London, University of Cambridge.
• Primate conservation: Oxford Brookes University (UK) and the PhD program at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Germany).
• Forestry and tropical ecosystems: TU Dresden, Tropical Forestry (Germany) and Tropimundo Erasmus Mundus (Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems).
• GIS and data: UC Santa Barbara, Environmental Data Science, Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences and Clark University.
• Law and policy: Lewis & Clark, Environmental and Natural Resources Law and University of Alicante, Environmental and Sustainable Development Law.

Programs in Africa

Studying closer to home is often cheaper, and many African universities offer strong, field-relevant programs. The list includes programs in Kenya (28), South Africa (25), Zambia (12), Uganda (10), Tanzania (7) and Mozambique (6), plus entries in Madagascar and Rwanda.

• Kenya: University of Nairobi (climate change, environmental governance, wildlife health), Kenyatta University and Karatina University (wildlife management, forestry, fisheries).
• South Africa: Stellenbosch University (conservation ecology, forestry, GIS), University of Cape Town (conservation biology), Nelson Mandela University (nature conservation).
• Tanzania: College of African Wildlife Management, Mweka (wildlife ecology and management, conservation leadership) and the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (biodiversity and ecosystem management).
• Uganda: Makerere University (forestry, environment and natural resources) and Mbarara University of Science and Technology (ecology and natural resources management).
• Zambia: Copperbelt University (forestry, ecology, natural resources) and the University of Zambia (tropical ecology and biodiversity, geo-information science).
• Rwanda: African Leadership University offers a business administration program built for conservation leaders.

Always confirm each program’s current requirements on the university’s own postgraduate pages.

2. Scholarships, fellowships and grants

This is the richest part of the list. It helps to sort the opportunities by what they pay for.

Full scholarships for a degree

• Mastercard Foundation African Scholars Program: covers tuition and basic living expenses, with mentoring, leadership development and internships.
• Chevening: one-year master’s degrees in the UK for emerging leaders from around the world.
• Commonwealth Scholarships: mostly funded by the UK government.
• DAAD: postgraduate and master’s study in Germany for graduates from developing countries with at least two years of professional experience.
• Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters: open to master’s students worldwide.
• Swedish Institute Scholarship for Global Professionals: funds one- or two-year master’s programs in Sweden.
• Eiffel Scholarship (France), Gates Cambridge (about 80 full-cost scholarships a year) and the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship for development-related master’s programs.

Conservation-specific scholarships

• WWF Russell E. Train Fellowships: support for master’s and doctoral study in conservation and related fields, for people from target countries.
• WCS Graduate Scholarship Program: master’s or PhD in any conservation-relevant subject. Nominations come through WCS Country Program Directors, one applicant per country.
• Wildlife Conservation Network Scholarship: for students from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America who are committed to wildlife conservation in their home countries.
• TWAS PhD Fellowships: 100 to 160 PhD fellowships a year hosted in Brazil, China, India, Pakistan and South Africa.
• Society for Conservation GIS Global Scholarship: helps conservation GIS practitioners attend the Esri User Conference and take specialized GIS courses.

Fellowships and leadership programs

• Kinship Conservation Fellowship: a program to advance the careers of conservation practitioners worldwide.
• Global Diversity Foundation, Conservation and Communities Fellowship: for leaders of Global South grassroots organizations working on biodiversity and livelihoods.
• ZSL EDGE Fellowship: two-year fellowships for future conservation leaders, with training and a £10,000 grant.
• Rainforest Alliance Kleinhans Fellowship: US$20,000 per year for two years for community forestry research.
• Leakey Foundation Baldwin Fellowship: aimed at aspiring researchers in countries rich in fossils and living primates but short on graduate programs.

Grants for field projects

• Rufford Small Grants: up to £5,000 for small and pilot projects, and up to £25,000 for more established ones.
• Conservation Leadership Programme Team Awards: for teams of early-career conservationists in low- and middle-income countries.
• Re:wild Fonseca Species Conservation Fund: grants of up to $25,000 for early-career conservationists aged 35 and under in GEF-recipient countries.
• Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund: grants of up to $25,000 for species-focused projects.
• IDEA WILD: small equipment grants, prioritized by conservation impact and need.
• Whitley Awards: £40,000 over one year for grassroots leaders working with communities in the Global South.
• Rapid Response Facility: emergency grants for protected areas facing sudden crises, especially UNESCO natural World Heritage sites.
• WILDLABS Awards: $350,000 shared across up to 15 conservation technology projects.
• Primatology grants: the International Primatological Society offers research grants of up to $1,500 and a conservation scholarship of up to $2,500 for citizens of primate habitat countries.

3. Short courses and trainings

You do not need a full degree to build in-demand skills. The list includes about 60 short courses, and most are online, so they work for people in the field or in the office.

• Project management and planning: WildTeam UK, Conservation Careers and the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (Conservation Measures Partnership).
• Monitoring and evaluation: WildTeam UK, Asset Africa Institute (MEAL) and Intrac.
• Fundraising and grant writing: WildTeam UK, Grant Writing for Wildlife Conservation, Conservation Careers and Asset Africa Institute.
• GIS and data skills: QGIS for Conservation (Durrell Conservation Academy), GIS in R for ecologists (Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation) and VerdantLearn.
• Conservation economics and finance: Conservation Strategy Fund offers online and in-person courses on valuation, finance and economic tools for conservation.
• Leadership: Durrell Conservation Academy, WildTeam UK, Acumen Academy and WE Lead by WE Africa.
• Tropical field training: Tropical Biology Association field courses, which rotate across Africa and Southeast Asia, and the Yale tropical forest landscapes certificate, offered online.
• Illegal wildlife trade: ACAMS offers an overview course and a practical guide for law enforcement.

How to make the most of this list

1. Start with your goal. Decide whether you need a degree, funding for a project, or a specific skill. Each part of the list serves a different need.
2. Pair a program with funding. Many of the scholarships above are designed to fund exactly the master’s programs listed earlier.
3. Check eligibility by country. Most funders limit eligibility by nationality, age, career stage or professional experience. Read the criteria before you invest time in an application.
4. Build a case. Short courses in project management, grant writing and monitoring and evaluation strengthen both scholarship and job applications.
5. Confirm deadlines on the official site. Many entries in the source list refer to 2024 and 2025 calls. Funding amounts, deadlines and requirements change every year, so always use the official link for the current call.

Final thoughts

The barrier to a conservation career is often not talent but access to information. Share this list with a colleague, a student or a young conservationist who could use it, and tell us in the comments which opportunities you would like us to cover in more depth.

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