EPA STAR Fellowship 2012

[FunkySoFresh]

By the way, where is this person located?

[evolveecon]

Another day of mail, another day of waiting. No news yet in A3 on the east coast. Website says we'll hear by May 1 if we received an award, but considering past years I'm not going to hold my breath.

Any news from anyone today???

[11_desperado_11]

Ugh...I got the letter today...E3

Did you get three individual reviews with rankings for each criteria, or a letter with all three reviewers' comments together and a single score?

[me_davis]

In California, applied to B3 (Air, Climate & Energy: Green Energy/Natural Resources Production & Use), and haven't heard yet....

Thanks everyone for keeping us up-to-date!

[FunkySoFresh]

So, I saw on the 2011 forum someone who was awarded the fellowship in 2010 stated that they received an email from an EPA email address with "Call me at (number)" as the subject with no text in the body. And it was to call to accept her award. Not sure if that's still the case, but just make sure you're checking your spam folders!

[dornos]

Had a little scare today -- found a large manilla envolope in my mailbox, but it was just my absentee ballot! So yeah, still no word from climate change (B2).

[FarmerMom]

Evolveecon - I am in the same boat as you. A3-still no news, up in the Northeast.

Nice to know I am not alone.

[FunkySoFresh]

F1 - Aquatic Systems Ecology - I'm in Florida - No news yet.

[evolveecon]

Who else is waiting still???

[veblen]

A3 - Mid-Atlantic... No news...

[FunkySoFresh]

Still nothing here - F1 - Florida.

Has anyone received good news yet??

[ughgradschool!]

So....I hate to be a Negative Nelly, but I myself am throwing in the towel & giving up all hope, considering the following info. This is from a 2011 post (about a 2010 award):

Posted 08 May 2011 - 04:35 AM

Hi everybody. I was in your shoes last year and thought I'd speak up now. I'm in the 2010 class of STAR fellows and have some insight to share on the award notification process. I'll summarize my experience from last year; take from my account what you will.

April 7 - I received an email from an EPA address with a subject line that says "call me at [phone number]" and there was no body text. I called immediately and spoke to the person who is now my project officer. He said "if we offer you this award, will you accept it? The paperwork process is extensive and time-consuming and we want to be sure you're not accepting another fellowship (i.e. NSF GRF, DoD, etc.)." Upon my verbal confirmation, he notified me that the notification was not "formal" and it was "illegal" for me to publicly discuss my award (only adviser, family) until 1) my "final" application had been filed (see original description of process above or in RFP) 2) my contract had been offered, signed, and accepted, and 3) my congressperson (representative) had a 7-day period to make a public announcement about the award. Super weird, right? Basically he wouldn't even fully admit I was getting the award.

~June 5 - the "new" online system for the final application went live and I completed that step.

~July 15 - contract arrives; I signed it and shipped it back overnight

~August 10 - "formal" acknowledgement of award via letter.

Basically, that sounds to me like people who got the award probably know already, and just aren't talking, because they can't. I suppose its possible they will still award a few others if people turn them down, but I am not holding my breath!

And so for me ends the daily obsession with the mailbox and this thread. If it turns out there are still awards to be had, I wish you all luck!!

[evolveecon]

Don't give up hope - plenty of people posted on here last year as soon as they heard. I find it unusual that no one has posted here yet even the slightest hint that they have heard anything positive.

[FunkySoFresh]

I'll still obsess until I find something out. And I agree with Evolveecon - it's weird that nobody even mentioned getting "the call" like they did last year. But hopefully we'll all find out soon!!

[FarmerMom]

ughgradschool! - last year was a very strange EPA STAR fellowship year due to funding issues with federal gov't and a number of other factors. So don't give up hope yet.

Why would we not have heard yet, if they weren't still making decisions? Still hoping and praying up here in the Northeast - A3. BTW, got GREAT news in the mailbox today....no EPA rejection letter and my tax refund !

[FarmerMom]

When did the phone calls start last year? besides the post referenced above, which I don't think was a usual case.

[evolveecon]

According to the posts, last year it was mostly in the week before Memorial Day because the deadline got extended to May 31. It certainly seems like there are a lot less people using this thread than there were last year.

[mountaingirl]

I called the EPA and received some cryptic information. The contact said they *think* they work through the FONs in sequence, and send out rejection letters from a given FON at once. The person also said it was their understanding that there was still a lot of internal review work to be done, and they doubted the process would be finished by May 1st. They also said they didn't think they made calls, which we know to not be the case based on fellows from previous years. And the waiting continues...

[bananana]

C2 in Virginia. No news yet, but going crazy very much.

[bananana]

Maybe they are taking their time on purpose to mess with us...

[kjr2110]

I just got my rejection letter today for my application to F3 (terrestrial wildlife communities). I received a single review with a single score and lengthy comments, dated April 23rd. Based on posts in previous years, I think it was from the second round, panel review. So imagine they're probably working on the internal review now.

[mountaingirl]

Just got a call from the man who is now my project officer telling me I've been selected for funding! He said I'll receive an email with further instructions on Tuesday. 7% of applicants were funded this year.

[evolveecon]

Congratulations, mountaingirl! Hope you have a chance to celebrate this weekend!

[evolveecon]

Mountaingirl - what is the first letter of your last name? In the past people have thought they were calling awardees by last name.

[FunkySoFresh]

Very awesome! Congratulations mountaingirl!!