The Wyss Foundation is a charitable foundation dedicated to promoting land conservation in the United States. Established in 1998, the foundation has achieved permanent protection of millions of acres of land in the American West. As the foundation became more established, founder Hansjorg Wyss realized that acquisition needed to be matched by development of a cadre of leaders who would work in nonprofit organizations and public agencies to manage, restore and steward protected areas. 

This realization led to the development of the Wyss Scholars program. The program is oriented towards environmental and law students interested in pursuing a career in land conservation at a nonprofit or government agency. The program operates at six universities across the U.S. The University of Michigan has been a host school for Wyss Scholars since the program’s inception 17 years ago and has awarded funding to 46 graduate students. “It's because of the reputation and quality of our alumni,” explained School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) Professor Steve Yaffee. “They are leaders in numerous nonprofit organizations and agencies across the country, protecting and restoring critical areas and doing the hard work of building consensus and strategy to find effective pathways forward.” 

This year, U-M was awarded over $1 million in additional funding from the foundation. This will enable SEAS to award three additional cohorts of scholars, which will bring the total to about 55 U-M Wyss Scholars. This additional funding will also extend the program’s presence at the university to a full 20 years, according to Yaffee.

As faculty director of the program, Yaffee organizes multiple rounds of screenings and interviews for potential awardees of the competitive award. Each scholar receives substantial tuition support and funding for a summer internship during their academic program, and postgraduate payments if they are employed in the nonprofit or public sectors. 

Three years ago, the foundation shifted its scope from land in the American West to land conservation in the U.S. as a whole. The Wyss Scholars program expanded its scope accordingly, so that it can recognize students whose focus is on conservation in the Great Lakes region and elsewhere. This expansion broadens the opportunities for Wyss Scholars once they complete their studies. 

The foundation’s original focus on the American West was a huge draw for Yaffee, whose research has primarily focused on examples of collaborative conservation in that region. His strong connection to the American West was what inspired him to get involved with the foundation and bring the scholarship program to U-M. 

“The Wyss Foundation’s name is well known in conservation, particularly in the West,” said Yaffee. “That’s an asset for students to be able to market the fact that they were recognized as a Wyss Scholar.” The weight of the Wyss name serves alumni well too. SEAS graduate Sophie Daudon (MS/MPP '24) was a Wyss Scholar at U-M. Daudon echoed Yaffee’s sentiment, saying that she really appreciated the support that the Wyss Foundation provides to scholars that remain in the nonprofit or government sector. “It enabled me to accept mission-driven work to get my career started, and I am super grateful for this,” she said.

As a Wyss Scholar, Daudon interned with Wallowa Resources, a small nonprofit based in northeast Oregon that leads thinking nationally about how to build a "stewardship economy.” “It was pretty amazing to live in the Wallowa Mountains and have the chance to observe collaborative forest work firsthand,” Daudon explained. “It taught me a lot about the pros and cons of working for a small, rural nonprofit, and I learned a great deal about forest collaborative work and the challenges and opportunities associated with bringing together diverse stakeholders.” 

This year, Daudon will start a position as the senior cap and invest tribal grants specialist with the State of Washington Department of Ecology. In this role, she will work with Tribes across the state to fund and support Tribal engagement in climate work.

Looking forward to the future of conservation scholarship at U-M, Yaffee also hopes to highlight the accomplishments of current SEAS students who are interested in working in land conservation but are not Wyss Scholars. To do this, he looks to The Julia Elkin Conservation Leadership Award. The award was recently established at U-M with support from the Wyss Foundation, the university and other donors. Elkin was a SEAS student who graduated in 2015, was a Wyss Scholar during her time here, and tragically died in an accident in California in February 2024. The award provides funding for a summer internship and carries with it many of the same values of the Wyss Foundation. It honors the work that Elkin did in land conservation at SEAS and at the California State Coastal Conservancy and the Sonoma Land Trust after graduation. 

Yaffee’s shared interests with the foundation and the awardees have helped him to foster strong connections with students and alumni in the Wyss Scholars network, a sense of community that is echoed by Daudon as she reflects on the personal and professional connections she made as a Wyss Scholar. 

Yaffee looks forward to the future cohorts of Wyss Scholars made possible by the newly awarded funding. “After 43 years on the U-M faculty, the reason I’m still doing what I’m doing is because of the joy of working with students like these and the sense that much of my impact comes from influencing the skills of students who after two years graduate and become a network of change agents across the U.S.," said Yaffee. "Their accomplishments make me optimistic that in a world challenged by the biodiversity and climate crises and political polarization, there is hope.”

The deadline to apply for the Wyss Scholars cohort is November 4, 2024.