Each year the Odum School of Ecology in cooperation with the UGA River Basin Center awards a research assistantship to one incoming Masters student in Integrative Conservation and Sustainability, who is designated a “Butler Fellow.” The assistantship provides funding for 5 consecutive semesters (Fall of the first year through Spring of the second year) at 50% time. Nominations are sought from members of the graduate program faculty of the Odum School of Ecology, based upon the pool of candidates offered admission to the MS ICAS degree program.  Students applying for admission do not have to provide any additional application materials to be considered for the fellowship. Applicants should be interested in conducting applied research or policy analysis in the Southeastern U.S.

Butler Fellows: Rachel Katz (2007-2009), Danyel Addes (2010-2012), Kelly Robinson (2011-2013), Catherine Bartenstein (2012-2014), Laura Keys (2013-2015), Laura Early (2014-2016), Philipp Nussbaum (2015-2017), Rick Bauer (2016-2018), Carol Yang (2017-2019), Laura Rack (2018-2020), Will White (2019-2021), Anna Baynes (2020-2022), Shelby Bauer (2021-2023), Carleisha Hanns (2022-2024), Jonathan Parrish (2023-2025), and Mackenzi Hallmark (2024-2026).

The assistantship provides funding for 5 consecutive semesters (Fall of the first year through Spring of the second year) at 4/9 time for either the MS in Ecology or the MS in Integrative Conservation and Sustainability (the latter is preferred). Nominations are sought from members of the graduate program faculty of the Odum School of Ecology, based upon the pool of candidates offered admission to the MS degree programs (Ecology or ICAS).  Students applying for admission do not have to provide any additional application materials to be considered for the fellowship. Applicants should be interested in pursuing a career in management and conservation of freshwater ecosystems (including rivers, streams, and wetlands). Candidates are judged partly on academic qualifications and partly on their enthusiasm, energy, and passion for freshwater conservation, as expressed in their application essay.

John Spencer Fellows: Emily Johnson (2016–2018), Zach Butler (2017-2019), Talia Levine (2019-2020), Kyle Connelly (2019-2021), Andrew Nagy (2020-2022), Fabiola Lopez-Avila (2021-2023), Jasmine Longmire (2022-2024), Carlos Vargas (2023-2025), and Justin Jimawo and Valeria Aspinall (2024-2026)

Any Odum School or Plant Biology faculty member (regular, adjunct, courtesy, research) may nominate one student per year.

The nomination packet should include:

1. A nomination letter (no longer than 2 pages) written by the student’s major professor (which should also confirm that the student has advanced to candidacy);
2. A research statement written by the student (no longer than 2 pages; references are included in the 2-page limit);
3. A current CV for the student (no longer than 2 pages).

A committee of faculty from the Odum School of Ecology and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences will select the winner from the nominations. No committee member will have their own student under consideration. There will be one award of $5,000. The funds may be used to support education, living, and/or research expenses. The fellowship may be renewable.

Each application should be submitted as a single PDF, with the naming convention: StudentLastName-Sharitz-Hatfield.pdf. Submit entries by 11:59 p.m. on March 1 to the graduate program advisor AND graduate coordinator.

Previous winners include: Emily Bertucci (2020), Samantha Bock (2021), Patrick Smallwood (2022), Mia Rochford (2023), and Chris Smaga (2024).

This fund has traditionally supported field research for graduate students working away from campus. First priority will be given to a student who does not have alternative sources of funding.

Applications should include:

1. A 1-page (single-spaced) description of the proposed research;
2. A brief (2-page) CV;
3. An overall budget, detailing intended use of the Sheldon funds, how they fit in with other, non-Sheldon expenses, and how other costs will be met;
4. A statement from the student’s advisor confirming that other grant funds are unavailable to support the proposed work (this is not a letter of recommendation; Please emphasize this to your advisor). This letter should be included in the application and should not be sent separately.

There will be one award of at least $1,000. The Graduate Program Committee will review all applications and make the final decision.

Each application should be submitted as a single PDF, with the naming convention: StudentLastName-Sheldon.pdf. Submit entries by 11:59 p.m. on March 1 to the graduate program advisor AND graduate coordinator.

Previous winners include: Sara Heisel (2014), Cara Love (2015), Molly Fisher (2016), Lexi Kenna (2020) , Andrew Nagy (2021), and Bryson Hilburn (2024).

The OSE Graduate Program Committee evaluates proposals with decisions issued no later than March 15th.  We expect proposals to be of the highest quality and encourage (and expect) proposals to be well developed and to have been extensively reviewed and revised prior to submission based upon feedback from peers and advisors – this is particularly true for the large grants.

Format and requirements

Proposals should be single-spaced, using at least an 11-point font and 1-inch page margins and submitted as a single PDF. The only difference between “large” and “small” grants is the page length for the main proposal (3 pages for large grants; 1 page for the small grants). 

Proposals should include:

1. Title page (< 1 page): Title of proposal, name of applicant, name of advisor(s), total budget, small or large grant submission.
2. Main Proposal (< 3 pages for large grants; < 1 page for small grants): Please include the following sections:
   1. Introduction: Provide background information needed to understand and motivate problem and proposed research. Proposals should communicate the significance of the proposed work in language that is clear to scholars in other specialties besides your own, but still provide enough detail to permit technical evaluation by those more familiar with the subject.
   2. Statement of the problem: What questions and/or hypotheses will you address in your research?  What is the significance of this work (if not already articulated in the Introduction).
   3. Research plan/methodology: What is the study design?  What data do you plan to collect and how? How will the data be used to address the problem?  Justify why you have chosen your particular study site / organisms if applicable.
   4. Relationship to your thesis/dissertation: How does this research fit into your overall thesis/dissertation project?  Provide a timetable for this project and the completion of your thesis/dissertation.
3. References (no limit).
4. Budget (< 1 page): Provide a detailed budget that is broken out by fiscal year (fiscal years end on June 30th). Clearly indicate which funds are requested for the current fiscal year; and which are requested for the upcoming fiscal year. If your grant is approved, funds will be allocated by fiscal year, and must be spent in the designated fiscal year. Other funding. What other funds are available to defray these costs? If your advisor has funds for research in this area, explain what they are contributing and why additional funds are needed. If you advisor has no funds, state this. Do you have other proposals pending or planned (what other attempts at funding have you made)? Budget justification: Provide justification for the requested funds.
5. Other information (< 1 page).
   1. Previous support: What other research funds have you received from OSE? Describe how those funds were used and what you accomplished (including publications and talks).
   2. Certification: Include the following statement at the end of your document: “I certify that the above information is accurate and that my advisor has seen and approved the submission of this proposal”.
6. CV (< 2 pages).

Evaluation: The Graduate Program Committee will consider the following aspects in evaluating proposals (although evaluations are not limited to these criteria):

1. General: Have the guidelines above been followed? Has the student made good use of prior funds, if applicable? Has the student made good progress in their program, as evidenced by the CV?
2. Significance: Is the importance of the project made clear? Has the proposal developed a compelling motivation for the proposed work and is the project appropriate to the student’s thesis/dissertation? Will completion of the proposed work facilitate the thesis/dissertation?
3. Design: Are the objectives clearly defined and the central question(s) clearly identified? Does the student have the necessary background or expertise, and is this demonstrated in the proposal? Is the suggested timetable realistic?
4. Budget: Are all requested items necessary? Has the possibility of using equipment elsewhere on campus been explored?

Allocation of funds: Funds are limited and we may not be able to make awards to all deserving proposals.  In some years, all available funds may not be allocated, depending on the quality and number of meritorious submissions.  Partial funding may be provided.  All funds that are awarded must be spent by the end of the next fiscal year, and as laid out in the submitted budget.  The OSE Business Office can assist with questions about allowable expenses, and how to make purchases and obtain reimbursements.

Notification: All applicants (and their advisor(s)) will be notified of the funding decision via email no later than March 15th.

Appeals: All decisions of the GPC are final and may not be appealed.  Unsuccessful proposals may be revised and resubmitted the following year.

Download this information: Odum Graduate Student Research Grants

Each application should be submitted as a single PDF, with the naming convention: StudentLastName-SmallGrant.pdf (for small grants) and StudentLastName-LargeGrant.pdf (for large grants). Submit entries by 11:59 p.m. on March 1 to the graduate program advisor AND graduate coordinator.