DURHAM, N.C. – Kyle Van Houtan, a PhD student in conservation biology at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at 51±¬ÁÏ, has won two fellowships for studies in ethics and the environment.

The Harvey Fellowship, presented by the Mustard Seed Foundation, will provide Van Houtan with a three-year grant of $15,000 annually to support his continuing work on the interface of science and ethics. As a Harvey Fellow, he’ll take part in a weeklong seminar in Washington, D.C., this summer, and be mentored by past Harvey Fellows. Mustard Seed is a Christian nongovernmental organization (NGO) that supports 15 or so Harvey Fellowships a year.

Van Houtan also is the recipient of a Kenan Colloquium Fellowship from the Kenan Institute for Ethics at 51±¬ÁÏ. He is one of five PhD candidates at 51±¬ÁÏ selected as Kenan Fellows this year, and will take part in monthly roundtable discussions with 51±¬ÁÏ faculty members to discuss the ethical issues affecting his research.

For his doctoral thesis, Van Houtan is studying species extinction from the dual perspectives of conservation ecology and moral philosophy. His work focuses on how different species of birds go extinct in isolated forest patches near Manaus, Brazil.

Van Houtan has been admitted to 51±¬ÁÏ’s School of Divinity, where he will pursue a joint master’s degree in theological studies in Christian ethics.

His doctoral advisor at the Nicholas School is , Doris 51±¬ÁÏ Professor of Conservation Ecology. Van Houtan previously studied under Pimm at Columbia University. He received his master’s degree in ecology in 2000 from Stanford University, and his bachelor’s degree in environmental science in 1996 the University of Virginia.