The BLS has instituted a travel fund for overseas members. The aim is to help and encourage overseas members of the Society to visit the UK primarily to collaborate with UK members in laboratory and/or field research; requests to support visits to use facilities such as herbaria will also be considered, in which case a UK member need not necessarily be involved. Visits to attend conferences will not be supported. The total annual sum available for such awards is £1,000 and the scheme will be under annual review. Council considers it preferable that a small number of people are funded to a significant level, if not in full, rather than awarding small sums to a large number of respondents. Unsuccessful applicants can apply again in a subsequent year, and for the same project, unless informed otherwise when the result of the application is announced. Recipients of grants should provide a report on the work undertaken suitable for publication in the Bulletin within one year of the visit and the BLS should be acknowledged for their financial contribution in any publications that should result from the work. A copy of any such publication should be lodged with the Society.
Applications should be on one side or A4 paper (there are no special forms) stating in the following order: applicant's name, position, full postal and e-mail addresses, fax number, the approximate dates of the visit, details of the travel costs that will be incurred, and the name of the UK collaborator (or person in charge of the herbarium or other facility). A case for support should be made in about half a page (less than 400 words) and should clearly state the aims and objectives of the project, how it will benefit from the collaboration and the expected output. Grants will be awarded partly on the basis of need and applicants should explain what efforts they have made (or will be making) to secure funding from other sources. Applicants should arrange for the UK collaborator to provide a letter of support: this should be sent directly to the Society independently of the application.
Please note that the primary objective of this fund is to provide money for travel; funds permitting, it will be our aim to support travel costs in full. If there are sufficient funds, a contribution to accommodation costs will be made which will not exceed £10 per day or £200 in total. Contributions to subsistence will not normally be made.
Applications should be made before the end of February in any one year. All correspondence (ie applications, letters of support and submission of subsequent reports and reprints) should be addressed to The Secretary. Successful applicants will receive their grant on arrival at their host institution.
The Society is interested in sponsoring focused fieldwork on neglected habitats or species that have not been seen in the British Isles for over 50 years, or overlooked by most people so that their distribution is poorly understood, population data for BAP species, etc.
Finance sufficient to cover fuel and B&B, but for distant destinations, such as the north of Scotland, it would be preferable if the member was already in the area and wished to prolong their stay by a few days so only subsistence and a small amount travel required funding. Grants will not exceed £500 and will usually be less. Depending on demand about six might be approved in any year.
Examples of projects which might receive favourable consideration are listed below. The likely maximum contribution which the Society would make is indicated in brackets. Actual grants would depend on costs incurred.
Applications, briefly outlining your approach and expected costs, should be made to Dr. P Crittenden or R. Woods, (c/o Countryside Council for Wales, Eden House Ithon Road, LLANDRINDOD WELLS, Powys, WALES, LD1 6AS), either for one of the projects below or giving details on one of your own which, to get funded, must be suitably original. For the time being, each application will be considered by a small committee as it arrives until the annual budget has been spent.
A grant will be paid on receipt of a satisfactory report, made within a year of receiving the grant offer. Where 'lost' species have been sought for in vain, e.g. failure to find Cladonia stellaris on the Hill of Ardoe, a simple 'nil return' will not suffice. Indications as to the likely ability of the site to support the species would normally be expected at least in the form of a current site management and vegetation description.
Members in receipt of a grant may also be encouraged to report their findings in the Lichenologist or Bulletin.
- Back edge of salt marshes, including lignicolous habitats. (£300)
- The ground under pylons. (£100)
- The Cheviot Hills. (£300)
- The high-level fucoid beds north of Loch Maree. (£200)
- The margins of freshwater lakes, particularly a comparison of natural margins with one affected by abstraction. (£400)
- A detailed study of a castle. (£150)
- Salted road verges. (£100)
- Search of the Hill of Ardoe area for Cladonia stellaris. (£75)
- Search of the cliffs east of Hastings for Tornabea scutellifera. (£50)
- Search of the Start Point area for Teloschistes chrysophthalumus. (£50)
- Search of the Rothiemurchus area for Cetraria juniperina. (£75)
The BLS offers an award, value up to £250, to schools and colleges for successful fieldwork involving lichens by an individual or group of students from Year 1 to Year 13 (aged 5 to 19 years). In 2009 the successful school was Ponsbourne St Mary's Primary School (Hertfordshire) and they purchased a digital camera to help them record their findings in their local churchyard. Next year your school or college could be successful! For information on possible projects look on the BLS website, www.thebls.org, click on Projects then Projects for Schools and scroll down the page.
To apply for a project to be completed in 2010, send a brief proposal (250 words max) to Barbara Hilton (bphilton@eclipse.co.uk) by 1 March. This should outline the purpose, location and duration of the project, the observations it will entail, how findings will be recorded and how (if successful) you plan to spend the award. You may be asked to confirm your proposal on school or college-headed paper, signed by the headteacher/principal, before final selection. Applicants may be offered support, eg advice by a local lichenologist. The successful applicant will be notified by 15 April. On completion of the project you should send a hard-copy report, photographs or otherwise make available evidence of students' work. All responsibility for any work carried out in relation to this award must be taken by the school/college concerned.
The Tom Chester award is from a bequest to the BLS by Tom Chester, who died in 2003. A much respected and admired member of the Society, he pioneered interest in churchyard lichens, encouraged many members to identify and record lichens in this important habitat and devised systematic approaches for doing so. He developed his interest in churchyard lichens while a headteacher of a Northamptonshire primary school and took subsequent opportunities, as a primary advisor and later when retired, to engender interest among others.
Barbara Hilton 19 November 2009
IMC9 Travel Grants British Lichen Society Travel Fund to support attendance at IMC9
The British Lichen Society has allocated a sum of £10000 to assist BLS members worldwide with the cost of travelling to Edinburgh to attend IMC9 in August 2010. It is envisaged that awards will be in the range £200 – £400, depending on demand.
In awarding grants, consideration will be given to need (e.g. status, distance to travel) and intention to contribute to the meeting (e.g. presentation of a poster or talk).
Application procedure
Applications should be sent by email to The Secretary, British Lichen Society (C.Ellis@rbge.ac.uk) by 1st April. We hope to announce awards within 2 weeks of this date. The method of grant distribution is currently under discussion but awards will probably be made available in cash at the conference.
Please provide name, institution, contact details, position, research supervisor/collaborator in the case of PhD students and post-docs, itinerary and dates for IMC9, estimated travel costs, contribution to IMC9 (if any) and relevant session (if you have submitted a verbal contribution which has not yet been accepted, please state whether you intend to convert this to a poster in the event that the verbal contribution is eventually not accepted).
