Award Process

The recipients of the ISE Darrell Posey Fellowship for Ethnoecology and Traditional Resource Rights Small Grants Awards, the Field Fellowship, and the Institutional Fellowships (2012 – 2014) have been selected.

A Call for Nominations and Applications will be made in 2013.

Background on the Fellowship Structure

The design of the Darrell Posey Fellowship for Ethnoecology and Traditional Resource Rights reflects a number of issues that were raised by Darrell Posey with some frequency during his lifetime, including:

  • the large number of small, grassroots groups working on resource and rights issues that have limited administrative capacity, but do some of the most effective and least recognized work;
  • the financial difficulties often faced by small groups without fundraising and international networking skills, and without capacity or time to satisfy involved reporting requirements;
  • the need to provide more than one year of funding, since very few activities are concluded in one year;
  • ethnobiologists, in particular those who undertake applied work primarily outside of academia, have an extremely difficult time receiving financial support for their work;
  • ethnobiologists within academia also often receive little financial or institutional support for their work, since ethnobiology does not fit easily within academic institutional and promotion structures.

In response to these issues, the Fellowship Program includes a nomination process to make it more inclusive; at least two years of support is provided to most recipients; and the Program incorporates Small Grants to community groups, Field Fellowships for applied ethnobiologists, and Institutional Fellowships for academics. The Program also has basic and simple reporting requirements – recipients are selected because they do good work, have solid reputations, and we know that funds will be used effectively. The process continues to evolve in response to our experiences, and we welcome any suggestions or comments.

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Background about the Application/Nomination process

In the past, only the Institutional Fellowship was awarded through a direct application process; the Small Grants and Field Fellowships were by nomination only. This was intended to make the process more inclusive because many groups and individuals undertaking grassroots work on traditional resource rights and applied ethnobiological research are not experienced fundraisers and do not have large international networks. Nominators were drawn from a wide range of Indigenous, conservation, and other non-profit and civil society organizations, as well as research institutions, and the ISE Board, past and present.

However, so many individuals have asked to apply directly for the Small Grants and Field Fellowships that we decided to accept both nominations and direct applications. In order to make the program as accessible as possible, to as wide a range of groups and individuals as possible, letters of support/recommendation will continue to be weighed more heavily than the style or polish of a proposal, although proposals and nominations will primarily be evaluated on the strength of the work undertaken by prospective recipients.

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Criteria for Evaluating Nominations and Proposals

Small Grants

  • Grants are provided to local community and indigenous peoples’ groups, and projects and individuals working with them. Support will not be provided to large projects or organizations with access to significant funding from other sources. Clear need, as well as the impact of the small grant, are central elements of the selection process.
  • Funds can be used to support infrastructure, staff time, and other ad hoc needs, and to address pressing concerns as they arise.

Field Fellowships

  • Field Fellowships are awarded to individuals working on applied ethnobiology or traditional resource rights issues. The main objective is to address in practical and applied manner the most pressing issues identified by local groups;
  • Fellows may be Indigenous peoples or from local communities, or may have worked with local groups for many years. They may or may not be undertaking academic research and may be established and experienced, or ‘emerging leaders’.
  • Funds can be applied to the costs of field and project work, or to cover an individual’s time; the fellowship is intended to support well-respected individuals undertaking excellent work, without attaching many strings or creating bureaucratic demands on their time;
  • A solid track record is necessary, but priority will be given to individuals undertaking their work outside of traditional financial and institutional support structures, and therefore in more significant need of support. Individuals working on these issues often have limited or sporadic support for their work, and there are very few formal positions in the field of applied ethnobiology.

Institutional Fellowships

  • There are three types of Institutional Fellowships that the ISE provides, as funds permit: Senior Fellowships, PhD Fellowships, and Masters Fellowships.
  • Academic achievement and qualifications are required, in order to allow this individual to participate fully in the university community and help build the field of ethnoecology within academia.
  • Fellows can be based at institutions in developed or developing countries, although preference is given to people in developing country based in their home country institutions and to Indigenous peoples in all countries.

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Important Deadlines

  • 27 September 2013: Deadline for applications and nominations for all open program components
  • December 2013: Awards announced
  • 1-7 June 2014: 14th ISE Congress in Bhutan
  • July 2014: Reflections from participation in the ISE Congress due from awardees
  • January 2015: Narrative and Financial Interim Reports due from Field Fellows, Small Grant recipients and PhD Fellows. Narrative and Financial Final Reports due from Masters Fellows
  • January 2016: Narrative and Financial Final Reports due from Field Fellows, Small Grant recipients and PhD Fellows.

For more information contact the ISE Managing Director.

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