In addition to numerous student fellowships and awards administered by the UW-Madison Department of Botany, the Wisconsin State Herbarium also supports graduate student research in Botany through the following internal funding opportunities.
The Hugh H. Iltis Biodiversity Awards are designated for the support of graduate student fieldwork in the area of plant taxonomy. Students are expected to collect and deposit specimens into the Wisconsin State Herbarium, and preference for funding will be given to students working in Latin America. Requests are generally expected to be less than $2,500 but in exceptional cases may be for as much as $5,000. All expenses must be related to a single travel event, for which the cost will be reimbursed to the student via a single travel expense report not to exceed the total award amount. Please provide a cover letter, a research proposal, a budget statement, and letter of support from the advisor addressed to the Director of the Herbarium, who will rank the proposals for the Botany Department’s Award Committee. Calls for proposals are usually made in March each year.
UW-Madison Natural History Museums Council Grants may be requested from the Director of the Herbarium. These are disbursed from an annual ‘block grant’ that is given to WIS and other campus museums each year. The grants are usually less than $1,000 and used to cover travel related expenses that involve plant collection, and all specimens obtained must be deposited into the Wisconsin State Herbarium. See the Herbarium Director of further information.
Ethel K. & Oscar N. Allen Memorial Herbarium Fund was established in 1978, and partially supports the research activities of the Wisconsin State Herbarium. Students and research botanists in need of funding that will also help to advance the Herbarium should contact the Director with project ideas. In particular, WIS desires to make awards from these funds for the acquisition of sizeable plant collections.