2025 OBFS-Maxwell/Hanrahan Research Experience Grant

The Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS) is pleased to announce available funding for OBFS member stations to support graduate students or postdoctoral researchers doing field-based science at their location. Thanks to the generosity of a Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation grant, OBFS member stations located anywhere in the world can apply for up to $15,000 in funding to hire a graduate student field researcher for an established field-based program or supervised field-based research project. The funds can be allocated in one of three ways: three grants of $5,000 each, two grants of $7,500 each, or a single $15,000 grant. The number of grants awarded will depend on the quantity and quality of applications received. These funds must be used in 2025.

If your station needs an extra hand on a field-based project, but can’t afford to hire a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher, or there is a researcher at your station whose field-based project needs a graduate or postdoctoral researcher, this could be the opportunity you have been looking for! The selected field station/s will select a graduate student/postdoc via their own internal application process and OBFS will fund the student directly with the grant award. The field station will then provide the graduate/post-doctorate field researcher/s they hire with:

– A hands-on project, as well as guidance and support, on how to conduct field work responsibly, effectively, and safely.

– A minimum of 4 weeks of experience working and living at (or near) a field station.

We would especially like the awards to go to a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher from a group underrepresented in the sciences, but that is not a requirement. The graduate student recipient/s will have their registration and travel to the 2025 OBFS Annual meeting at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory covered by OBFS, and will be asked to present their experience and submit an article for the OBFS newsletter.

If you have any questions, please email Rhonda Struminger at president@obfs.org.

To apply, please complete this Google Form by February 12, 2025: https://forms.gle/pvDxAeC3wZb5TP4TA

 

Rules and Regulations:

1. The host station must be a member of OBFS in good standing (https://www.obfs.org/join-obfs).

2. OBFS will distribute funds directly to the field station-selected graduate student/s in 2025; we may consider splitting the funding between the station and the student depending on different scenarios.

3. The applying station must complete the OBFS-Maxwell/Hanrahan Grant Application form by midnight, Pacific Standard Time, on February 12, 2025.

a. Applying stations will be asked to outline a budget of the costs the graduate student/s will be asked to pay to be part of the research project (specifically, housing, food, and transportation). Based on submitted budgets, we will work with field stations and graduate student/s to maximize the impact of the monies for the best field research experience possible.

b. The intended graduate student or postdoctoral researcher does not need to be identified at the time of the application.

4. The host station is responsible for assuring that the graduate student has a safe field work experience.

5. Graduate student awardees will be asked to attend the 2025 OBFS annual meeting at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, Colorado (a travel award of up to $2500 will be available for the graduate students awardees, not the field station). They will be asked to present about their completed or forthcoming research experience at the meeting.

6. Graduate student and field station awardees will be required to submit a short final report and evaluation upon completion of the field research experience as well as provide photos and text for social media (including the OBFS website) and the OBFS newsletter.

Timeline:

1. Application deadline: February 12, 2025

2. Review period: February 13-23, 2025

3. Field station/s awardee notification: February 24, 2025

4. Award distribution: March – December 2025

5. Graduate student awardee/s presentation at OBFS annual meeting: September 2025