K. Lisa Yang Wildlife Health Fellows Program

K. Lisa Yang Wildlife Health Fellows Program

Cornell University, Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health

Location: Ithaca, New York, United States

Program type: Fellowship or award

Final date to receive applications: October 5, 2026, 11:59 PM EDT. The Academic Jobs Online listing closes October 6, 2026 at 03:59 AM UTC.

The Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health develops and implements proactive, science-based solutions to challenges at the interface of wildlife health, domestic animal health, human health, livelihoods, and the environment. The Center works with governments, local communities, nongovernmental organizations, students, and other stakeholders to promote environmental stewardship, build capacity through training and education, and undertake collaborative research that leads to real-world conservation and related health outcomes.

The program trains the next generation of wildlife conservation and One Health leaders through postdoctoral fellowships focused on wildlife health and related One Health challenges. Each fellowship is for a three-year term, with the second and third years contingent upon satisfactory performance in the preceding year. Up to three fellowships are anticipated from this call.

Fellows will be part of a collaborative, multidisciplinary, and inclusive community working to improve the health and well-being of animals, people, and the environment. Fellows are expected to generate rigorous science and decision-maker-friendly policy guidance to catalyze sustainable conservation impact through a health lens, with an emphasis on partnerships.

Potential research topics are not predefined and may include wildlife-health impacts associated with habitat degradation or loss, depletion of freshwater resources, pollution, climate or other biophysical change, infectious disease, food systems, and issues at the wildlife/domestic- animal interface. Fellows will gain experience in applied research, translating science into action, grant writing, wildlife conservation, One Health, and Planetary Health leadership.

• Full-time position based in Ithaca, New York, with fieldwork likely in most cases.
• Exceptional circumstances may allow a fellow to be based elsewhere with prior approval.
• Salary commensurate with experience, starting within a range of $65,000-$85,000.
• $30,000 is provided for research and professional travel expenses over the fellowship term, with opportunities to seek additional internal or external support.
• Successful applicants must start no later than September 30, 2027.
• Visa sponsorship guidance will be provided to successful applicants who require it.
• Each fellow must work with a primary faculty mentor from any unit of Cornell University and a secondary mentor from an external partner organization or a Cornell faculty member.

• Applicants with at least a DVM or equivalent veterinary degree who have been out of veterinary school for at least one year at the time of application will receive preference.
• Applicants without a veterinary degree but with a PhD conferred before the fellowship start date are encouraged to apply.
• Applicants with existing faculty appointments are not eligible; this is not a sabbatical program.
• Current Cornell postdoctoral fellows may apply if they have never previously received a Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health postdoctoral fellowship.
• Applicants may submit only one proposal for this funding cycle.
• A commitment to environmental conservation and a passion for protecting biodiversity are essential.

Proposals will be evaluated on scholarly accomplishments and promise, originality, intellectual merit, potential conservation or environmental impact, methodological rigor and feasibility, alignment between the applicant and mentors, and the mentors’ capacity to support progress from science to policy and action. Conservation and environmental impact receives additional weighting.

Cornell University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds.