ESPP Weekly Update (09/21/2026)

ESPP News & Announcements

• The MSU General Education Council is collecting feedback — due today, Monday, September 21 — on the Spartan Impact Framework, a draft of a proposed model for MSU’s core curriculum. The draft is available on the MGE Resources SharePoint site and linked from the Modernization of General Education website at “MGE Resources.” Feedback is gathered through the Fall 2026 MGE Comment Collection Form and the MGE comment box; virtual feedback sessions are held during the week of September 14, with details on the SharePoint site.

• The Digital Scholarship Lab has released its fall event lineup on immersive tech, data visualization, research data management, and digital scholarship tools. Through its partners, the Lab is also offering LaTeX, 3D printing, mapping, and foundational coding workshops in Python for graduate students, faculty, and staff. See the full calendar here.

Seminars, Workshops & Other Events

Scholarships, Fellowships, & Funding Opportunities

• William W. Taylor & Henry A. Regier Great Lakes Fisheries Graduate Fellowship | $15,000 — application deadline Friday, September 25, 2026

  This fellowship supports students enrolled in a graduate program at MSU who are performing research related to the sustainability of fish, wildlife, or water resources using an integrated or joint approach that links humans with their natural environment. Open to graduate students in any MSU program.

• JB Ashtin Medical Communications Fellowship Program (Catalyst) — application deadline Sunday, November 1, 2026

  Catalyst is a 52-week fellowship for doctoral students with an advanced life science degree who want a career in medical communications and have a passion for writing. It consists of a 12-week course that introduces the field of medical communications, followed by a year of direct immersion and hands-on experience in medical writing and scientific content development. Fellows work alongside scientific, client service, and creative teams on active, substantive projects across a range of therapeutic areas. On completion, successful fellows may have the opportunity to join JB Ashtin as a full-time medical writer if a position is open.

Job and Training Opportunities

• Carpentries Instructor Program — application deadline Monday, September 21, 2026

  The MSU Research Facilitation Network is offering a $1,500 professional development opportunity, available at no cost to selected applicants, to become a certified Carpentries instructor. Carpentries-certified instructors undergo interactive training to learn the basics of educational psychology and evidence-based teaching practices, preparing them to deliver short-form workshops in foundational coding and data science skills. Open to graduate students, faculty, and staff.

• ComSciCon-MI 2027 Organizing Committee — graduate student volunteer positions | Apply by 11:59 p.m. Friday, September 25, 2026

  The ComSciCon-Michigan chapter is recruiting graduate students to serve on the organizing committee for its March/April 2027 science-communication workshop at Michigan State University. Positions include panel leader, write-a-thon leader, catering manager, and shadow/support roles (see position descriptions). Members are expected to attend bi-monthly meetings starting in October 2026 and be available to assist with the event in March or April. If you haven’t attended a ComSciCon workshop, take a quick look at this webpage to get a sense of what participating involves. Apply via this form by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, September 25; questions to michigan@comscicon.org.

• Harvard Kennedy School — Junior Tenure-Track Position in Energy and Climate Change, and Lecturer in Energy and Climate Change | Committee begins considering applications October 15, 2026; both positions start Fall 2027

  The Kennedy School invites application for two faculty positions in Energy and Climate Change. The tenure-track position is open to junior scholars who apply the tools of their discipline (preference for political science or economics, though exceptional candidates from other fields will be considered) to important questions in energy policy, energy markets, the politics and geopolitics of energy, the energy transition, and/or climate change; a doctorate and a demonstrated interest in policy engagement are required, and the position will be jointly appointed with the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability. The lecturer position is a full-time teaching appointment in public policy focusing on energy and climate change, seeking candidates with extensive practical experience and a demonstrated record of teaching excellence; the initial three-year appointment may be renewed. Applicants submit materials to the Harvard positions page; the committee will begin considering applications on October 15, 2026, and will continue until the positions are filled.

Environment News

• Babies ’will face almost twice as much’ extreme fire weather in Europe than great-grandparents (The Guardian)

  New research finds European children born today will experience roughly double the exposure to extreme fire weather over their lifetimes compared with their great-grandparents, underscoring how rapidly heat, drought, and wildfire risk are shifting with the climate.

• US environment agency let Bayer pick regulations for destructive weedkiller, documents show (The Guardian)

  Internal documents reveal that the US Environmental Protection Agency allowed Bayer to effectively shape the regulations governing dicamba, a herbicide linked to crop damage and environmental harm, raising questions about regulatory independence in pesticide policy.

• More than 800,000 bees stolen across far north Queensland in ’sophisticated’ operation (The Guardian)

  Police say an organized operation across remote north Queensland has stolen more than 800,000 honeybees in what is being described as one of the largest bee-theft operations in Australia, striking at a key part of the region’s agriculture and pollination economy.

• Private jets pollute up to 14 times as much as commercial planes and are undertaxed in US, report says (The Guardian)

  A new report estimates that single-occupancy private jets emit up to 14 times more carbon per passenger than commercial flights while receiving far less tax and regulatory scrutiny in the US, intensifying the debate over how to price aviation’s carbon footprint.

• Burning forests, emptying rivers, €180bn in damage: Europe’s politicians face reckoning after ’summer of truth’ (The Guardian)

  After a summer of record heat, wildfires, and drought that cost an estimated €180 billion in damage, European leaders are under growing pressure to translate the season’s stark effects into concrete climate policy rather than post-disaster responses.