This Graduate Research Training award provides support to the University of Wisconsin for a program in Environmental Sociology. This is part of an existing emphasis, at the graduate level, on Science, Technology, Agriculture, Resources, and the Environment (STARE) in the graduate Departments of Rural Sociology and Sociology at the University. A unique concentration of (10) STARE- affiliated faculty has been assembled at the University of Wisconsin, and the STARE program has been in place since 1988. This concentration of sociologists is located in one of the strongest graduate departments of sociology in the U.S., one that has frequently been the top-ranked program in the country. National Science Foundation support will augment STARE by helping to recruit and retain minority students and those with undergraduate degrees in the natural sciences, as well as providing funding stability which is lacking in new areas such as environmental sociology. There is a pressing national need for environmental sociologists to work on social aspects and implications of environmental problems. A secondary benefit from training environmental sociologists would be to broaden sociological analysis and discourse in general. The program is highlighted by a weekly training seminar, existing courses, a research apprenticeship program, a Ph.D. qualifying exam, and a summer practicum. Doctoral candidates will also be expected to take a natural or environmental science minor. Building on an already-strong program and track record of minority recruitment and retention, the STARE Graduate Training Program will place strong emphasis on recruitment, retention, and summer training of Native Americans.
