The mission statement of the Conservation and Research Fund is to promote the conservation and research of begonias through education, research, exploration, ex-situ and in-situ propagation, and habitat preservation.

Grant Guidelines

The American Begonia Society promotes and supports the conservation of begonias by providing grants from the Conservation and Research Fund to individuals and institutions who seek to study and conserve begonias. This can be accomplished through a variety of actions and projects that directly or indirectly affect the conservation and research of begonias, such as field collection of begonias, development projects (e.g., shade houses), purchase of growing supplies, education of volunteers, hiring staff, the establishment of a begonia conservation center or molecular biological analysis. Individual grants from the Conservation and Research Fund are usually $500-$2,500 annually (additional funds may be available). Advice on the funding of the project may be sought from the Conservation and Research Grant Committee Co-Chairs, whose names are listed below.

Habitat Destruction Sulawesi, Indonesia | Photo: Wisnu H. Ardi
The complete application (emailed/postmarked no later than 1 July) should be sent to the Conservation and Research Committee Chair or the Conservation and Research Committee Coordinator whose name and address appear below and from whom additional information may be sought. The application should be sent as an attachment to an email message. The Conservation and Research Grant Committee will review the application. If worthy of an award, a recommendation for funding will be sent to the American Begonia Society’s  Executive Committee and then to the ABS Board of Directors, who will vote on funding the application. The American Begonia Society will grant no awards without prior approval by the Conservation and Research Grant Committee. Recipients will be notified by August 1st
Guidelines for application for funds from the Conservation and Research Fund

Grant writers can submit applications for awards by following these guidelines. Items that should be part of the application include the below (the first twelve items should occupy no more than two single-spaced pages):

  1. Title of project
  2. Name, postal address, telephone, and email address of the applicant and organizational connectionsNames of other expedition members, postal addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers
  3. A brief review of previous fieldwork and or research
  4. Description of project, including objectives and significance
  5. Area or country of expedition:
  6. Estimated schedule: Departure date and duration of expedition:
  7. Method of travel to and between collecting areas:
  8. General description of terrain in collection areas:
  9. Explanation of expedition goals and how they will be accomplished:
  10. Description of anticipated specimens to be collected:
  11. Brief abstract, including the amount of funds requested. Budget, including mention of possible matching or other funds available for the project
  12. Literature cited
  13. Names, addresses, and email addresses of persons who might provide letters of reference or evaluation of the project, if needed.
Strict accountability of funds must be made to the American Begonia Society or the Conservation and Research Committee, and a report must be presented within the next year after the completion of the funded project. This information can be documented in an article for publication in a scientific journal. It must include an acknowledgment of support by the Conservation and Research Committee of the American Begonia Society. A copy of the publication or a written final report must be submitted to the Conservation and Research Committee. An article about the project must also be published in The Begonian. Grant recipients are encouraged to support the American Begonia Society with articles, talks, photographs, plants, seeds, and information related to the project.

Awards may be renewed to support the continuation of the begonia conservation and research project or new conservation efforts by the same applicant. Such requests may be submitted following the same procedures for application, provided that a report of the initial project is presented. Subsequent funding to the same researcher may be less than the initial award to encourage looking elsewhere for funding and to encourage applications by others.

The Conservation and Research Committee and/or The American Begonia Society shall neither be held liable for any action the project leader might take while using the awarded funds nor be responsible for any tax implications of the award.

All requested funds in this application shall be used solely to research, collect and study begonia plants, seeds, and/or leaf specimens.

If, for any reason, the grant recipient(s) learn they are unable to complete the funded research at the timeline designated on the application form, the ABS must be notified immediately, and the ABS may justly require any funds already dispersed to the grant recipient to be returned to the ABS.

The grant recipient(s) agrees to publish the results of their ABS-funded work in The Begonian.

Grantees must file a letter with ABS allowing it to use photos submitted on our website and social media such as Facebook, and Instagram. Persons whose images are pictured must also submit a letter permitting ABS to use the photos on our website. The ABS will give credit to the photographer and name the subject.

Send completed applications by email to:
Brandon Huber, grants@begonias.org
Stephen Maciejewski, conservation@begonias.org
Co-Chairs of the Conservation and Research Committee

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