A graduate student research grant in the area of aquatic plant management and ecology is being offered by the Aquatic Plant Management Society’s (APMS) research and education organization.  Co-sponsors of this academic award may also include the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Foundation (AERF) and regional APMS chapters:  Florida, Midsouth, Midwest, South Carolina, Northeast, Texas and Western.

Objective:  To provide a grant for a full-time graduate student to conduct research in the area involving the various aquatic plant management techniques (used alone or integrated with other management approaches) or in aquatic ecology related to the management of regionally or nationally recognized nuisance vegetation. 

Applicants:  Solicitation for proposals is open to any full-time faculty member and/or graduate student of an accredited U.S. academic institution.  A faculty sponsor must be identified if application submitted by graduate student.

Amount:  $40,000 (it is the policy of APMS not to pay overhead or indirect costs).

Duration:  Two (2) years ($20,000 per year).

Proposal Deadline:  Applications must be postmarked no later than April 15th, 2010.

Guidelines for Proposals:  Proposals should contain a concise statement of the project, including its purpose and justification, as well as sections that discuss study objectives, methodologies, schedule, budget, and planned publication of results.  Resume of faculty applicant and graduate student (if known), not to exceed two (2) pages each.  Proposals should not exceed ten (10) pages, and must be signed by the applicant (principal investigator) and appropriate university official.  Include copies of your five (5) most recent peer reviewed publications.  Please submit a pdf file of your full application (application form - click here) via email to tylerk@sepro.com.  If submitting hard copies, submit an original and 10 copies to:

Dr. Tyler Koschnick
Vice President - APMS
SePRO Corporation
11550 N. Meridian St., Ste 600
Carmel, IN  46032  

Award:  Notification of award will be provided to the faculty member in time to make arrangements to attend the APMS 50^th Annual Meeting (July 11-14^th, 2010 – Bonita Springs, FL).  Formal announcement of the recipient will be made at the annual meeting, with initiation of the stipend scheduled for the 2011-2012 academic year.  Payments will be made before January 31^st of each year. 

Requirements:  Semi-annual progress reports must be submitted to APMS before June 30^st and December 31^st of each year of the grant.  The faculty member and student must participate in at least one annual APMS Board of Directors meetings and attend the annual APMS meeting.  The student must present results of the funded research at least one time over the duration of the grant, although it is preferred that presentations are made annually.  Upon completion, a final report must be submitted to APMS.

Inquiries:  Dr. Tyler Koschnick, SePRO Corporation, 11550 N. Meridian St., Ste 600, Carmel, IN  46032.  317-216-8280.  tylerk@sepro.com.  Dr. Greg MacDonald, University of Florida, 304 Newell Hall, P.O. Box 11050, Gainesville, FL 32611-0500.  (352) 392-1811, ext 228.  pineacre@ufl.edu.