Applications now being accepted for the 2023 Apes Valentes Student Award!

The Penn State Center for Pollinator Research is seeking applicants for the Apes Valentes Student Award to support student-led projects in pollinator biology and health. Applicants may be either undergraduate or graduate students. Research, extension, education and/or outreach projects related to all aspects of pollinator biology and health are encouraged. Students from non-biology backgrounds that would like to develop artistic or other scholarly works related to pollinators to be disseminated to the public are also encouraged to apply. The successful candidates will receive an award of up to $5500 to be applied to wages and project costs. Projects must be conducted between May and August 2023.

Interested students should submit their applications to Susan Bass by March 17, 2023. Applicants will be notified of the decision of the selection committee by March 31, 2023. Applications should include a brief 2-page description of the proposed project, a one-page letter of support from their faculty mentor, and a budget. The budget can include costs for undergraduate wages (recommended $14/hour), travel, and for materials and supplies, but cannot include graduate student stipend.

The project description should include sections on background, significance, objectives, methodology, expected outcomes, cited literature, and the student's specific role in the project. Please also include a "broader impacts" section, which will explain how society will benefit from this project, importance of the work to pollinator health, and describe at least one outreach activity that the student will participate in during the summer. It is recommended that the student work closely with her/his mentor to develop the project, but the project should represent a student-generated effort. Thus, the student must be involved in all aspects of the proposal writing, project development, implementation, and data interpretation.

Recipients of this award will be asked to submit a brief report on the project outcomes in December 2023.