NANFA Awards at Least $1000 For Conservation Research Each Year

 

Since 2001 NANFA has funded the Conservation Research Grant, focusing on supporting research relating to the conservation of North America's indigenous fish fauna, particularly those that are threatened or endangered. The Conservation Research Grant could be awarded to someone in academia, a conservation group, or to an independent researcher. The maximum award for any one proposal is budgeted at $1000.  The deadline for submission of an application is January 20th this year. Award decisions will be announced by March 31st.

Recipients are asked to write an article on the results of their research for publication in American Currents and are encouraged to present their findings at NANFA's Annual Convention.

 

Questions about the award may be addressed to:

 

Dr. Bruce Lilyea

NANFA Conservation Research Grant
Grant Committee Chairperson

bruce.lilyea@nanfa.org

 

Bruce, how would you prefer folks to make submissions? Just wondering if Bruce 2.0 is handling that the same as Bruce 1.0.

Bruce, how would you prefer folks to make submissions? Just wondering if Bruce 2.0 is handling that the same as Bruce 1.0.

 

Matt - great question!  All completed grant research applications should be emailed directly to me at bruce.lilyea@nanfa.org.

 

Additional details about the Conservation Research Grant can be found on the NANFA website at the following links:

• http://www.nanfa.org/research.shtml
• http://www.nanfa.org...vationflyer.pdf

This year's NANFA Conservation Research Grant proposal review committee participants are Bruce Lilyea, Derek Wheaton and Michael Wolfe. We received 9 proposals, all of which we felt addressed issues of interest in a way consistent with the stated aims of the Conservation Research Grant. The proposal we felt is best for having the most immediate impact, with our financial support being important to the proposed work, is the submission by Amanda Pinion of Texas A&M entitled: “Long overdue: A modern taxonomic revision of the Sand Shiner Notropis stramineus (Cope, 1865) based on molecular and morphological characters”.

 

The following summary is comprised of excerpts from the selected grant:

Molecular phylogenetic investigations of North American freshwater fishes are revealing that many widespread species are actually complexes of morphologically similar but genetically distinct and geographically isolated entities, or “cryptic species”, not yet formally recognized by name (Schönhuth et al., 2012).  The Cyprinidae has been identified as one of the top two families of North American freshwater fishes, alongside Percidae, that likely harbors significant cryptic diversity (April et al., 2011). The Sand Shiner Notropis stramineus (Cope, 1865) is a small cyprinid possessing several qualities that make it a good candidate for harboring cryptic diversity.  Several of the currently unrecognized members of the N. stramineus species complex appear to exhibit very small and fragmented geographic ranges (e.g., the lineage inhabiting the arid region of south-central Texas) and are likely in need of conservation yet are not on the radar of State or Federal agencies because of the current rudimentary taxonomic knowledge of this complex.

 

As an expected benefit, multiple new species of North American cyprinids will likely be recognized as a direct result of this study. The clarification of the ranges of these new and previously recognized species will allow for specificity and accuracy in future studies of their biology.

 

Objectives: The goals of the project include: (1) Assess relationships among the described and undescribed members of the N. stramineus species complex and address issues of species delimitation; (2) conduct a taxonomic revision of the N. stramineus species complex, with emphasis on descriptions of new species; and (3) determine the conservation status of the members of the N. stramineus species complex.

 

Thank you to all who participate in this year’s Conservation Research Grant process, especially all of the applicants.  Please join me in congratulating Amanda!
 

Thank you so much! This means quite a lot to me and I can't wait to share the results!