Applications are now being accepted for the annual Guy Harvey Scholarship Award to recognize outstanding achievement of Florida university students conducting research that will help support sustainable management of marine fish. The competition is open to any undergraduate or graduate student who is enrolled full-time at one of Florida’s institutions of higher education, and conducting research related to the biology, ecology, habitat or management of fish in Florida’s marine environment.
Seven scholarships of $5,000 each will be awarded to winners. The funds may be used to support equipment purchases, travel and other expenses incurred in the course of the student’s respective research project.
“Our past winners have exemplified the motivated, intelligent and dedicated persons we envisioned when the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation began providing this award,” according to Florida Sea Grant director Karl Havens.
“The Guy Harvey scholars are doing exemplary fisheries research, and this program is helping meet the need in our workforce for highly trained professionals who can help to sustainably manage our marine fisheries in the future.”
“On behalf of the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and our board of directors, I am thrilled that we are working once again with Florida Sea Grant to offer seven $5,000 scholarships to deserving marine science students from our around our great state,” said Steve Stock, president of the foundation.
Last year, six individual winners and a team of two students were selected from among a record pool of 52 applicants. The research projects ranged from evaluating how the Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have affected reproduction in marine fish, to understanding how fish capture their prey.
An application packet consists of the student’s resume, a career statement, a description of their research, a photocopy of their college transcripts, and one letter of recommendation. Students conducting research within a broad spectrum of methods needed to effectively understand and sustainably manage marine fish are eligible to apply, as long as the research bears a direct relationship to fish.
The Guy Harvey award, which is now in its fifth year, has given $84,000 in scholarships to 19 students at 7 different Florida universities. It is funded by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and administered by Florida Sea Grant.
Applications for the 2014 program are due at Florida Sea Grant by 5 p.m. Friday, January 31, 2014. Winners will be selected by a panel of faculty members from Florida universities, who will then recommend scholarship nominees to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation for final selection.
Complete application details, as well as summaries of previously funded projects, are available at the Florida Sea Grant website at this link: http://bit.ly/1emaVuj.