Conservation Research Award

2012 SFS Graduate Student Conservation Research Award

The Conservation and Environmental Issues Committee (CEIC) is pleased to announce the annual Graduate Student Conservation Research Award (GSCRA) competition for support of the best graduate student research proposal addressing at least one of the following criteria: 1) advancing knowledge of the biology or ecology of an endangered or threatened species or ecosystem; 2) advancing knowledge of conservation of biodiversity at any or all levels of organization (from genes to ecosystems); 3) developing a plan to conserve an aquatic species or ecosystem; or 4) supporting or implementing the conservation or restoration of an impaired or threatened species or ecosystem. Proposals that do not directly address one or more of these criteria will be ineligible for this competition.

The Conservation Research Award is possible because of the highly successful CEIC slide sale effort. Portions of the proceeds from the sales of slide sets are invested in the SFS Endowment Fund, and are then matched by the Society. Students who receive one SFS endowment award will NOT be eligible for other endowment awards in 2012. We anticipate awarding one $1000 grant for 2012, and announcing award winners in late March.

Eligibility

1. Applicants must be CURRENT STUDENT members of SFS.
2. Only graduate students are eligible to apply.
3. Applicants may receive only one GSCRA award during their student career.
4. Project must be on-going or to be initiated upon receipt of award.

Instructions

Please submit all proposal materials as .pdf files.

The proposal should consist of 4 parts: Part 1 should contain applicant information, part 2 consists of the project description, part 3 is the reference section, and Part 4 provides a budget and budget explanation.

Part 1. Include the following applicant information: Name, institution, mailing address, telephone/fax number, email address, current degree program (M.S. or Ph.D.) and number of years in current degree program, major professor/advisor's name, and project title.

Part 2. The project description must be limited to two single-spaced pages (excluding references) written in 12 point font with standard 1" margins on all sides and should contain sufficient detail for evaluation. Project descriptions should include a clear, concise description of objectives, hypotheses, methods, anticipated results, and significance of the research.

Part 3. A separate letter from the applicant's major professor/advisor confirming graduate status must be submitted directly to Robert Stelzer (stelzer@uwosh.edu).

Part 4. The budget must contain sufficient detail and explanation of how the award will be used. The following items are typically supported: Living expenses in the field or at a research station; travel to study sites (if via automobile, an allowance of $0.45 (U.S.)/mile may be used to estimate costs); consumable supplies or expendable equipment. The following items will not be supported: salaries, manuscript preparation and publication costs.

Applicants lacking any of the requested information will not be reviewed.

Application Deadline

Application materials should be submitted in electronic form by 15 February 2012 to: Robert Stelzer (stelzer@uwosh.edu). The subject line of the email should read: CEIC Research Award Proposal.

All applications will be reviewed by a non-student committee of reviewers appointed by the CEIC committee chairs, and proposals will be rated based on the criteria described above. Award decisions will be made by 28 March 2012 and announced at the Business Luncheon of the 2012 Annual Meeting. The SFS Conservation Fund should be acknowledged for providing funds in support of research.