Grant Proposal Guidelines

General Information for Applicants

• These awards are open to professional, amateur, or student applicants of any age, globally.
• Proposals will be judged on the basis of scientific merit and the described work’s likelihood to contribute significant new information to the published literature regarding the biology, ecology, or conservation biology of wading birds, herons, egrets, storks, ibises, and spoonbills (Kushlan Award); terns or gulls (Nisbet Grant); or any waterbird species (Waterbird Society Award).
• Click here to view the rubric used to assess the Kushlan, Nisbet & Waterbird Society awards. Parts of the rubric are intentionally broad to allow proposals to be judged on their diverse merits. Please use this rubric to understand how the awards are evaluated, but use the instructions below for proposal sections.
• All proposals must be printed in English in standard 12-point font format.
• Proposals should be brief (4 pages total), and should include the applicant’s name, project title, a narrative and a budget.
• Specifically, proposals should be comprised of 2 sections: (a) a maximum of three pages of narrative, to include the Applicant’s Name, Project Title, Background/Rationale, with clearly stated objectives and hypotheses/predictions (if applicable), Methods, Relevance of Proposed Work, Literature Cited, and (b) a Budget page, indicating whether the proposal is part of any cooperative (e.g. matching funds) project.
• The narrative should provide a rationale and methodology, including why the work is important and likely to produce significant results.
• The budget should include details regarding how the money requested is to be spent, the total cost of the project, and other sources of potential funding for which the applicant has already applied.
• The same proposal cannot be submitted for more than one award in a given year. The Grants Committee reserves the right to move a proposal to different category if warranted.
• Kushlan Award may be up to $7,000, while Nisbet and Waterbird Society Awards may be up to $5,000.
• Verification of appropriate permits from relevant government agencies to carry out the work must be provided in advance of any award.
• Proposals should be submitted electronically in Word or PDF formats as a single document via Google Form. All correspondence about the application, its receipt and funding decisions will be communicated by e-mail to the applicants.
• The applicant’s name and grant name should be included in the proposal file title.
• All applicants will be notified as soon as a decision regarding each year’s awards has been made.
• Proposals are due 01 February, 2025. Awards will be announced by about 15 March, 2025.
• To watch and informational grants webinar, click here.