National Shellfisheries Association Student Research Grants

National Shellfisheries Association Student Research Grants is sponsored by National Shellfisheries Association. The National Shellfisheries Association offers several student research grants annually to support Master's or Ph. D.

students in their research related to shellfisheries, including areas like bivalve or crustacean mechanisms of defense, and applied research.

PCS Business Meeting Minutes National Shellfisheries Association Student Research Grants & Application Details The National Shellfisheries Association offers five student research grants annually that provide students with $1250 to support their research. The George R.

Abbe Student Research Grant : This is a competitive grant that is awarded annually to recognize a student’s excellence in any research in the areas of crustacean biology and fisheries management. The Melbourne R. Carriker Student Research Grant : This is a competitive grant that is awarded annually to recognize a student’s excellence in any research in the area of shellfisheries.

The Michael Castagna Student Grant for Applied Research : This is a competitive grant that is awarded annually to recognize a student’s excellence in applied research in the area of shellfisheries. The practical, applied aspects of the research should be highlighted. R.

LeRoy Creswell Award for Outreach and Education: This award recognizes students who have shown exceptional merit in outreach activities .

It is based upon either support or recognition of student merit in any of the following categories: recognition of an outstanding oral or poster presentation on outreach/extension at the annual NSA conference; support of outreach/extension costs incurred by a student; recognition of an exceptional outreach/extension outcome by a student within the first year of their post-graduate work. Susan E.

Ford Student Research Grant: This is a competitive grant annually to recognize excellence in the areas of bivalve or crustacean mechanisms of defense against microbial and parasitic infection, including serum, mucus, and cellular processes for recognition, mitigation, or destruction of infective agents. Applications will be reviewed by the NSA Awards Committee, which is a standing committee chaired by the Past-President.

The deadline for proposal applications is November 1, annually. Notification of the successful applicant is generally made by January 31 of the following year. Students may apply for any or all of the awards simultaneously, but must submit separate applications and designate which applications correspond to which grant.

Use of the same application for multiple awards will not be accepted. The applicant must be a student member in good standing (i.e. current member) of the National Shellfisheries Association and currently enrolled as a Master’s or Ph. D.

student in a recognized degree granting institution anywhere in the world. Students who have previously been awarded a Student Research Grant are not eligible to apply for that grant again. Grants will be made in the form of a check made personally payable to the recipient and no institutional overhead can be charged on these funds.

The $1,250 is designed to allow a student to purchase supplies and equipment essential to performance of their research. It is neither intended to allow purchase of general items, such as computers, nor to fund travel expenses associated with attending professional meetings.

Students seeking travel support to attend NSA meetings should apply separately for money made available through the NSA Student Awards Committee ( Click Here for NSA Travel Awards). It is expected that students who are recipients of the Student Research Grant will present results of their research at one of the annual NSA meetings and write a synopsis of their research findings for the NSA Quarterly Newsletter.

Important: Students may not submit the same application to each award. The awards support different types of research. Hence, duplicate applications may not be considered for either award.

Each application must clearly indicate why it is appropriate for support from that particular award. A completed application will consist of the following five components (total of 6 pages maximum): Cover sheet with the applicant’s name, professional address, phone number, email address, thesis title, degree being sought (Master’s or Ph. D.)

, date they entered the graduate program, and anticipated graduation date. Text (2 pages): This will consist of a maximum of two pages single-spaced 12-pt font plus one page for figures (if needed). This should include an introduction to the research problem being addressed and the objectives and hypotheses being tested.

There should be a clear statement of how the funds being requested will further the student’s research. The literature cited section is not included in this page limit. Do not use numbered references.

Budget (1 page): Briefly itemize how the $1,250 being requested will be spent (e.g., $150 for shellfish cages and aquarium supplies, $200 for histology supplies, $120 disposable pipette tips, $500 for DNA extraction and PCR reagents). Resume (1 page): List educational background, awards/honors, presentations at meetings, and any publications.

Letter of endorsement (1 page): The student’s major advisor must provide a succinct letter of support commenting on the student’s research and confirming that the funds are necessary. Completed applications should be converted into a single PDF document and submitted as an e-mail attachment to Aswani Volety, NSA Past-President at [email protected] .

Contact Aswani Volety if you have any questions: Deadline: Close of the business day on November 1. No late applications will be considered. PCS Business Meeting Minutes Contact our Webmaster by clicking here .