The Joshua A. Nickerson Conservation Fellowship The Joshua A. Nickerson Conservation Fellowship, offered in partnership by Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission, Atlantic Research & Learning Center, and Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore, has provided support to qualified individuals since 1992. At least one fellowship is awarded each year to individuals whose work will contribute to our knowledge of natural and cultural resources within Cape Cod National Seashore, and of the relationships of these resources to the local communities in which they are found. Proposals may be submitted for research in the broad areas of the natural and social sciences. Topics of interest include terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem processes, biotic and abiotic ecosystem components, cultural and natural resource management, and the political and social implications of resource protection and management. The amount of the fellowship varies from year to year. Housing may also be available to fellowship recipients while research is being conducted in the park. Laboratory equipment and field equipment may be available as well. 
How to ApplyThe application period for the 2024 Nickerson Fellowship is now open. Please use the links below to download the application packet that describes the fellowship requirements in detail, as well as the fellowship coversheet. Applications must be received by March 24, 2024. If you have any questions, please contact Geoff Sanders, Chief of Natural Resource Management and Science.
2023 Nickerson Fellowship RecipientAlexander Richards- Eastern Spadefoot Toad Surveillance for Fungal Disease on Cape Cod Highly virulent wildlife diseases are contributing to the mass extinction of amphibians. The most significant is chytridiomycosis, which has caused mass amphibian die-offs worldwide. Chytridiomycosis is caused by two fungal species, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, discovered in 1998, and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, discovered in 2013. Both Batrachochytrium species likely originated in Asia, and their recent spread has been facilitated by humans. Chytridiomycosis has contributed to the decline of at least 501 amphibian species (6.5% of described amphibian species). This represents the greatest documented loss of biodiversity attributable to a pathogen and places B. dendrobatidis among the most destructive invasive species. Of the 501 declined amphibian species, 90 (18%) are confirmed or presumed extinct in the wild, with a further 124 (25%) experiencing a >90% reduction in abundance. The chance of a species recovering from a severe (>90%) decline is less than 1 in 10. The spread of chytridiomycosis and many other diseases have been facilitated by anthropogenic trade and development which have broken down dispersal barriers. The unprecedented lethality of a single disease affecting an entire vertebrate class highlights the threat from the spread of pathogens in a globalized world. Global trade has recreated a functional Pangaea for infectious diseases in wildlife, with far-reaching impacts on biodiversity. Rescuing amphibian diversity is an achievable conservation challenge. Disease surveillance and mitigation are essential components of population management. Past Recipients & Final Reports2022 – Theodore Kuhn - Nitrogen concentrations in aquatic macrophyte and freshwater mussel tissue as an indicator of anthropogenic nitrogen loading to Cape Cod kettle ponds 2021 – Christine Hudak - Detecting Gray Seal Robustness Using Environmental (e)DNA analysis in the southern Gulf of Maine 2020 – Kathrine Sperry - Assessing the impact of salt marsh restoration techniques on Spartina alterniflora genetic variation 2020 – Stephen Tomasetti - From New York to Cape Cod: assessing the differential vulnerability of the Atlantic bay scallop to low-oxygen and high-temperature stress 2017 - Alia Al-Haf, Ph. D. - Boston University - Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Seagrass Meadows over a Nutrient Gradient in the Cape Cod National Seashore. 2016 - Owen C. Nichols - Center for Coastal Studies - Shellfish and horseshoe crab larval flux at the East Harbor tidal restoration site. |
Last updated: January 5, 2024