EUGENE, Ore. – (Feb. 17, 2012) – John Anthony Martin, a senior political science major in the University of Oregon’s Robert D. Clark Honors College, has been chosen as a finalist for a prestigious Carnegie Junior Fellowship. He will be interviewed Feb. 22 in Washington, D.C.
If selected for a fellowship, Martin said he hopes to do research for a year under the Energy & Climate Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Although I am not 100 percent sure what I will be working on, I imagine it will be in the realm of transportation policy or national security and energy policy, as that is what many of the experts at the … program are working on,” said Martin, who is from Banks, Ore.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace offers eight to 10 junior fellowships each year after inviting nominations from about 400 top research colleges and universities. About 5 percent of applicants are ultimately selected for positions. They are judged on the quality of their written essays, along with related academic study or work experience, grades, recommendations and personal interviews.
The junior fellows work as research assistants to the Carnegie Endowment’s senior associates, earning a salary of $3,000 per month plus benefits. Junior fellows will be selected by March 31, and all fellowships begin Aug. 1.
“This would be a great opportunity to learn about the art of crafting policies and how the process of policy-making and distributing works,” Martin said. “It would also provide me with valuable research experience for when I go to graduate school later in my life.”
Martin, whose academic advisor at the UO is political science professor Ron Mitchell, said he spends his time studying, writing his thesis and playing music. He hosts a radio show on campus radio station KWVA and is active in the Climate Justice League, a student organization.
His mother and stepfather live on a farm, and several family members fish commercially in Alaska.
“My uncle and aunt have high academic achievement, but I am the first in my family to do something academic of this magnitude,” Martin said.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
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