The Research Award aims to support veterinary/biology/ecology projects investigating aspects of health and disease in Australasian wildlife. Up to five research stipends of up to $2000 are awarded annually, to members of the WDA-A Section.
The Applicant/s will be awarded on the understanding that funds will be used to meet the running costs of a project and not for salaries or major equipment.
A panel of 4 WDA-A members will review the applications and choose the successful applicant/s. Closing date for the WDA-A Research Award applications generally is around March-April with the award made in April-May.
Award holders will be expected to present their findings at an annual conference of the Australasian Section of the Wildlife Disease Association and to acknowledge the Section Research Fund in any presentations or publications.
Applications for the 2023 WDA-A Research Award are now closed.
Research Award
Winners of the 2023 Research Award
The Research Award aims to support veterinary, biology, and ecology projects investigating aspects of health and disease in Australasian wildlife. This year we had many excellent applications and were able to award 4 applicants with $2k each and a further 2 applicants tied and were awarded $1k each. Although these awardees are already aware that they’ve been funded, I’d like to take the opportunity now to announce and acknowledge them. They include:
Harry Taylor - 'The Epidemiology, Pathogenesis and Diagnostics of Respiratory Distress Syndrome and the associated Yellow Eyed Penguin Gyrovirus'
Anna Langguth - 'Investigating seasonal variation in immune parameters of the southern bent-winged bat'
Jordan Hampton - 'Validation of XRF for lead measurement in raptor feathers'
Jessica Mitchell - 'Exploring retroviruses in flying foxes: conservation implications and insights into viral evolution'
Belinda Wright - 'Validating and extending the use of koala fur as a sample to predict population health'
Natalie Klukowski - 'Developing an optimised ELISA for BFDV detection in Psittaculidae'
How to Apply
Applications for the Research Award are requested, via an email to WDA-A members, each year around February - April.
Conditions of the Award
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Applicant must be a current WDA-A member at the time of application
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Application to be made by the individual conducting the research
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Monies to be used to fund the project and not for salaries or major equipment
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Results to be presented at annual meeting of the Australasian Section
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Section to be acknowledged in any publication of results.
All those who have applied unsuccessfully in previous years are encouraged to submit proposals again if their projects are still running or able to be run.
A panel of 4 members will review the applications and choose the successful applicant.
Application details
Project outline should be brief and concise (one A4 page excluding references) and include:
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a title,
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a description of the project and its expected duration,
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a budget including any other support expected for the project and
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the name (s) and occupation(s) of the principle investigator(s)
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If part of a larger project (e.g. PhD), please indicate specifically what the funds would be used for.
Note: Submissions that are longer than 1 A4 page (excluding references) will not be considered.
Selection criteria for the Award
Merit: What is the intrinsic merit of the proposed project to wildlife health? How worthwhile would the project be if it did what it set out to do? For example, is there a target species? If so, what is its conservation status? What is the threat posed by the disease?
Scoring range 1 (low) to 5 (high).
Relevance and Scope: What is the relevance of the project to this threat? How likely is this project to do what it sets out to do? Is the proposed research well focused, can the anticipated results be applied and has there been care and clarity (writing/thinking) in the preparation of this proposal?
Scoring range 1 (low) to 5 (high).
Support: If this project is worthwhile by your assessment and already funded, would a “top-up” of $2000 boost it into another realm of value and benefit to wildlife health?
Scoring range 0 to 1.
The value for the Support category has been chosen in order not to penalise unduly those who do not have other funding for their proposed project.
Applications are to be submitted in electronic format to Brett Gartrell (at B.Gartrell@massey.ac.nz) and should briefly and concisely detail (one A4 page) the project outline, principal investigators and an anticipated budget breakdown. If part of a large project (e.g. PhD) indicate specifically what the funds would be used for.
Applications for the 2023 WDA-A Research Award are open. Closing date 21st July, 2023.
Please note: Awards should be exempt from tax and administrative charges of individuals or organisations receiving the grant. It is expected that Award holders will obtain permission for any work that requires animal ethics committee or environmental government authority approval.
Previous WDA-A Research Award Winners
Image courtesy of Laura Grogan