2024 Student Travel Award Competition

The Estuaries Section of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) is pleased to offer financial awards to students in support of their attendance at the AFS 2024 Annual Meeting. The Section will award up to two students attending the Honolulu meeting in person.

The award amount will be set at $1260. This is intended to help cover registration cost for student members, aid with higher travel costs for this year’s meeting, and pay for 2024 student membership dues for the Parent Society ($30) and Estuaries Section ($7).

Priority will be given to students who are presenting their own research at the conference, are AFS Estuaries Section members, and have a demonstrated financial need.

Application procedures

Interested students must submit:

1. Curriculum Vitae
2. Letter of application (1 page) describing:
   1. Educational and professional background, including involvement with AFS
   2. Description of research and how it will be presented at the meeting (or if not presenting, how their research will benefit from attending the meeting)
   3. Description of the relevance of the research work to the mission of the Estuaries Section
   4. Interest in pursuing a career related to the goals of the Estuaries Section https://estuaries.fisheries.org/2017/05/01/welcome/
   5. Statement of financial need.
   6. The letter must include all contact information including mailing address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address.
3. Brief email of advocacy from a supervisor, an academic advisor, or other appropriate faculty member at the student’s college or university. This letter should state:
   1. Why the student deserves the award
   2. Corroborate the need for the award

Complete application packages (in a single PDF document) should be sent via email with “Estuaries Section Student Travel Award Application” as the title to: Justin Stevens (justin.stevens@maine.edu). Questions may be directed to Justin Stevens (justin.stevens@maine.edu) or Mike Curtis (michaelcurtis3@my.unt.edu).

Applications must be received no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Friday June 21, 2024.

Selection procedures

All applications received by the deadline are reviewed by a committee representing the Executive Committee of the Estuaries Section. The applications will be judged on the relevance of the research work to the mission of the Estuaries Section, the student’s involvement with AFS, how the student’s career goals align with the goals of the Estuaries Section, and financial need.

Awards and notification

Those selected for awards will be notified by telephone or e-mail no later than June 30, 2024. Once notified, if you are giving a talk please submit the abstract and time information to Justin Stevens (justin.stevens@maine.edu) so we can promote your work.

To help alleviate some of the upfront costs for awardees, the Estuaries Section may send your check prior to the conference. For this to occur, two things are required: (1) a letter stating that you, the student, need the money prior to the conference and that you, the student, will reimburse the Estuaries section in full if you do not attend the conference for any reason signed by yourself and your major advisor; and (2) the student must submit proof of payment of the registration fee for AFS.

The awardees will be recognized at the Estuaries Section business meeting (exact time and venue TBD). The awardees will also be asked to write an article about their research for publication in the Estuaries Section newsletter. Awardees will also be asked to serve on a future travel award selection committee.