Exploring Solutions Past Research Fellowship

This research fellowship provides opportunities for individual and professional growth through the design and implementation of a personal project supported by Exploring Solutions Past in the context of the El Pilar Program.

The wide scope of the El Pilar Program makes research across many fields of interest possible. Current projects include land survey and spatial engineering, archaeological ceramic analyses, mapping and imaging using ARC GIS, community outreach, primary school environmental education development, eco tourism, international relations, archaeological field work, and collaborative research engaging new arenas relevant to the conservation of the culture and nature of the Maya forest.

We encourage fellows to create innovative projects that span across related disciplines.

We are looking for candidates who are self starters and impassioned in their field. You should be able to build projects without constant supervision, but also be able to collaborate with others. Fellows should have excellent writing, editing, analytical and organizational skills. Undergrad and grad students as well as recent grads and aspiring professionals are encouraged to apply. Please send us:

• Resume
• Cover Letter
• Proposal for possible project within the scope of the El Pilar Program

For questions regarding proposal submissions, please contact info@exploringsolutionspast.org.

Fellows can contribute significantly to the El Pilar program, working in a variety of fields, including but not limited to:

• Mapping El Pilar Archaeological Reserve
• Development of the MayaForest GIS
• Creation of the Känan K’aax Educational Curriculum
• Development of legal precedents for archaeological conservation
• International cooperation on resource management
• Apprenticeship with MasterForest Gardeners

Past Fellows

Chrissie Bausch

A student of Latin American Studies with a year of education in Chile, Chrissie’s interest in ideology drew her to the inherent conflict of conservation and traditional land use.  Meeting Maya forest gardeners, she charted a path for her senior honors thesis and research on the Maya forest garden as an alternative land management strategy.  She joined the El Pilar team as a Fellow of Exploring Solutions Past in 2009 and contributed significantly to the establishment of the Maya Forest Garden Network.

“As a fellow at ESP, I had the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural team of scholars and practitioners, including Maya forest gardeners, archaeologists, geologists, anthropologists, lawyers, engineers, photographers, artists, botanists, and soil scientists. It provided me the opportunity to do international fieldwork with inspiring people, learn from a new culture, and gain in-depth knowledge of complex social-environmental systems. It was an education in the practicalities and arts of collaborative research, grassroots development, and field management. I benefited tremendously from Dr. Ford’s mentorship, as she helped me develop my own research interests, and gave me tools and opportunities to pursue them.”

Bria Pagliaro

A newly minted Masters in Education, Bria worked with our Teacher’s Guide for the Santa Familia Primary School garden project. In developing the text, she incorporated a set of lesson plans for the primary school teachers that linked directly to the Belize education curriculum.  Based on this background, Bria came to Belize as an Exploring Solutions Past Fellow to head the Känan K’aax School Garden workshop in 2012.

Hugo Bihr

The spatial world and groundbreaking work with the Geographic Information System (GIS) interested Hugo, who focused on the new LiDAR imagery of the El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna.  Bringing his knowledge of geo-spatial engineering and working on his Masters at the French school ESGT, Hugo became a fellow of Exploring Solutions Past as he developed visualizations in the context of the GIS that were field tested at El Pilar in 2013.

“I was pleased to participate in the El Pilar project in 2013. My lab and field work, that fulfilled the requirements for my engineering diploma, involved processing LiDAR data in view of the archaeological sites at El Pilar. The experience of being a fellow with Exploring Solutions Past was remarkable… Based on my study, we demonstrated the necessity of field knowledge to verify LiDAR-visualization. The research with the LiDAR taught me many things and I appreciate the friendships I made in Santa Barbara and especially Belize. I thank all of those who participated at these expeditions under the canopy.”