Rare Conservation Fellows

What are Rare Conservation Fellows?

Rare trains local conservation leaders around the world in methods to change human behaviors that are destructive to the environment. These Rare Conservation Fellows take on global issues but tackle them at the local level. They focus on threats that communities can influence like deforestation, overfishing, and poaching.

The Rare Conservation Fellows adapt and replicate demonstrated conservation solutions. Effectively implementing a community-based solution means providing economic incentives, training in more sustainable practices, accessing new tools and technologies, as well as changing attitudes and social norms. The Fellows inspire people to take Pride in the species and habitats that make their communities unique, while creating real incentives and alternatives to change environmentally destructive behaviors.

Fellows who successfully complete their three-year projects earn a Master’s degree in Communication with an emphasis on conservation. Rare’s training program has been accredited by the University of Texas-El Paso, a leader in social marketing. The training is delivered by Rare staff around the world in four languages: English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Bahasa Indonesia.

How does Rare choose its Fellows?

Fellows must be nominated by one of the local partner organizations applying to implement a Rare Pride campaign. In fact, the application to Rare’s Pride program requires organizations to demonstrate:

1) Their level of capacity and strategic fit with the program;

2) Their ability to provide a staff member that meets all Rare qualifications and dedicate him or her full time to the Fellowship program for two years (which includes managing the Pride campaign); and

3) The potential for impact at the site itself. 

What’s makes a good Rare Conservation Fellow?

Rare seeks talented local conservation leaders to train in a unique program that will further the conservation aims and objectives of their own organizations and build their individual and institutional capacity for the future. Rare Conservation Fellows are the key to the success of a Rare Pride campaign.

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications:

• Current, full time, paid employee of the applicant organization who has worked there for at least three years, and who has positive working relationships with their supervisor and/or executive director

• Originally from the campaign site or has lived there for at least three years, plus a demonstrated commitment to conservation in the region for the long term

• Five years of relevant work experience (Note: volunteer work or work during or before college counts)

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

• Is in a leadership position within his/her division or is expected to assume one

• Has been a project lead and successfully completed the project to produce desired results or has documented history of planning well and being able to meet deadlines

• Experience in social marketing, community outreach or communications highly desirable

• Articulate and has the ability to persuade or convince others

• Can make accurate linkages between cause and effect, identify problems and generate solutions

• Passionate about seeing community-led conservation change at site; intends to stay in conservation for long term

• Ability to meet demands of significant international travel (25-40% of the time)

• Ability to work under stress and willingness to work long hours

• Ability to use a computer and learn new software

• Can drive or utilize necessary transportation to get to campaign site

• Fluent in the course language (i.e. English)

Some of the responsibilites a good Rare Conservation Fellow will take on are:

• Completing university-based class work

• Inspiring people with varied backgrounds — and agendas — to join your cause

• Running a mass marketing campaign

• Collaborating with Fellows from other sites, Rare, and other experts to refine solutions to tough challenges

Watch a Rare Conservation Fellow in action

Fellow Lang Jiamin works with Rare and the Wildlife Conservation Society to inspire community members to stop hunting and eating the tiger's primary food source, wild game, whose dwindling populations offer the gravest threat to the species' survival.

A Global Network of Change Agents

Rare Conservation Fellows have launched more than 200 campaigns in 50+ countries reaching more than 7 million people. The Fellows bring strong leadership to the conservation field. Alumni are mentoring new Fellows, managing national parks, and driving change in their nations’ environmental policies. This network of local leaders is demonstrating every day that community-led conservation is not only possible but powerful.