The Biodiversity Institute seeks annual proposals that enhance biodiversity research efforts of UW graduate students, because graduate students are a major engine of biodiversity research and future leaders of conservation.
Successful conservation of biological diversity requires both basic and applied research to better inform current and future policy decisions. The Biodiversity Institute (BI) is providing grants to enhance or expand ongoing graduate student research at the University of Wyoming that addresses how biodiversity is generated, maintained, or restored.
All of the funds that will be distributed are available because of the generous contributions of donors. Donors choose to give to the BI because of the quality of the research we support, and the high-quality communication of that research to the public. As the BI strives to increase the amount of funding available to students in the future from our donors in Wyoming, the Rocky Mountain region, and around the world, we require that proposals communicate the value of the research to the public. Awardees will be required to present their research to the public in a BI-sponsored Science Cafe, as well as 1) volunteer at a BI-sponsored outreach event or 2) develop your own community engagement activity (a menu of BI outreach options is available here.) Awardees are required to attend a science communication training, tentatively scheduled for November 3 and 4, 2026, 6 - 8 pm.
We have two grant options. Please read through the options carefully before submitting your application. Requests for more than one award will be accepted, but must be budgeted separately.
Funding is available from May 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027 (or until date of graduation, whichever comes first). Awards cannot be extended.
Feb 9 RFP announced
March 23 Proposals due
April 6 Awards announced
May 1 Funding begins
November 3 & 4, 6-8 pm Required science communication training for awardees. Awardees must attend both sessions.
August 31, 2027 Last day of funding period
October 1, 2027 Final reports due
“I am honored to receive the 2022 Richard Baldes Native American Excellence Fund award from the Biodiversity Institute. I hope to inspire other Native American students to go to college and acquire critical training to help advance tribal sovereignty."
Albert Mason - Masters Student, 2022 Grant Recipient
Tana Verzuh (right to the bison, PhD candidate in PiE) and others take vital information from a bison before releasing it as a part of Banff National Park's bison reintroduction program. Photo by Karsten Heuer.
Eligibility:
Grants are available to any masters or doctoral student in good standing at the University of Wyoming at the time the award is made.
Graduate students must continue to be enrolled, with good standing, at the University of Wyoming throughout the duration of their proposal timeline. Funding is available from May 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025 (or until the date of graduation, whichever comes first). Funding cannot be extended.
Research must have ongoing support in the form of existing resources to the student or advisor, access to appropriate equipment, and already approved field or other permits.
Renee Lile, a 2025 award recipient, holds a little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), a species that is susceptible to White Nose Syndrome.
The The Biodiversity Graduate Student Research Enhancement Grant Program is supported by the following donor funds:
The Ann and Richard Boelter Biodiversity and Conservation K-12 Excellence Fund to foster excellence and provide financial support to the University of Wyoming Biodiversity Institute’s K-12 outreach and education programs.
Don and Judy Legerski UW Teton Graduate Scholars in Biodiversity Fellowship to support biodiversity research as overseen by the Biodiversity Institute and associated with the mission of the University of Wyoming AMK Ranch.
The Committing to Excellence in Biodiversity Fund started by lead donors Michael and Edith Allen and Patrick and Nora Ivers. To date, over 70 donors have contributed to this fund including a recent significant gift from the Charles Piersall Chapter of the Izaak Walton League in Casper.
Dr. Katherine Gura holds a Great Gray Owl after tagging it. Dr. Gura was a grant recipient while pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Wyoming.
"With the support of the BI Research Enhancement Grant, I have the funds to visit an international collaborator to advance my method development. These methods are novel to the paleobotany community and will provide valuable framework for conducting modern to fossil proxy work in the future. The resulting data will contribute to our understanding of the biodiversity of tropical dry forests and early Eocene Wyoming fossil forests. My research is focused on identifying the…"
"This generous award has made it possible for me to continue my second season of studying the biophysics of rare plants in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Not only is this research scientifically motivated, but it is also a deeply personal project for me. I grew up in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the opportunity to learn from it is something that I am profoundly grateful for. I am inspired by the Institute’s focus on outreach and look forward to working with them…"
