Graduate Fellowships

Description:  Grants to assist post-graduate research students in the costs of fieldwork or visiting laboratories, for research on coral reefs.

Level of experience needed:  Students must be currently admitted to a Research Masters or PhD program at an accredited University or College. The funding is not available for use after a student has submitted their thesis.

ICRS Membership requirement: Student or full membership

ICRS Service requirement: None

Frequency of award: Annual

Number of awards: Typically 6 per year; 2 of these are reserved for students coming from developing countries* in different parts of the world.

Note:  Students are eligible for one of the fellowships reserved for members from a developing country even if they are undertaking their studies in, or are proposing to visit another laboratory in, a non-developing country. A developing country in this context means a country which is NOT in the list of high-income countries as defined by the World Bank. You are thus eligible if your country is NOT listed here:

Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cayman Islands, Channel Islands, Chile, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Hong Kong SAR, China, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Rep., Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein , Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao SAR, China, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal , Puerto Rico, Qatar, Russian Federation, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Saint Maarten, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Virgin Islands (U.S.)

Recognition: The fellowships provide funding (currently US $2,500 per award) which may be used to cover the costs of fieldwork, or of visiting another laboratory, in order to obtain results that are to be included within a thesis submitted for a research degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, or MSc by research). The funding is not to cover the costs of conference attendance.

In addition to providing funding, ICRS will assist the successful candidates in liaising with other members who may be in a position to assist their research, while in turn the holders are required to prepare reports on their progress for publication in Reef Encounter and on the society’s website.

Due date for applications: 15th February, should be submitted through the ICRS Forms site: here. Questions can be addressed to the ICRS Awards Committee Co-Chairs, either Dr. Nicola Browne or Dr. Ilsa Kuffner. Complete application requirements and instructions can be found here.

Previous Graduate Research Fellowship Recipients & Project Titles

2023

• Dominique Gallery, University of Texas, USA. Cryptic corals: Investigating causes of ecological specialization in the great star coral to maximize restoration efforts.
• Hannah Merges, California State University, USA. Investigating the impacts of submarine groundwater discharge on juvenile recruitment and adult coral metabolism rates in Moorea, French Polynesia.
• Taylor Lindsay, University of Rhode Island, USA. Facultative Symbiosis and Energy Sequestration in Model Organism Astraniga poculata.
• Melissa Versteeg, Newcastle University, UK. Understanding the long-term effects of abiotic and biotic stressors on the population dynamics and reproduction of anemonefish.
• Helen Yan, James Cook University, Australia. Impacts of extreme coral dynamics on ecosystem functioning.
• Clara Lei Xin Yong, National University of Singapore, Singapore. Distribution of microplastics among coral reef food web: Is there bioconcentration and biomagnification?

2022

• Bibiana Nassongole, Laorio University, Mozambique. Hidden diversity of soft corals (Alcyonacea) on Mozambique coral reefs.
• Danielle Becker, University of Rhode Island, USA. Learning from the past: Impacts of marine heatwaves on coral gamete formation, reproduction, and epigenetic inheritance.
• Li Lee, Institute of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Malaysia, Malaysia. Population density and genetic structure of the fluted giant clam Tridacna squamosa on the east and west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
• Michelle Taylor, University of Aberdeen, UK. Coral rubble. Just a pile of dead coral skeletons, right? Definitely not!
• Shakeel Jogee, University of Mauritius
• Alexandra Pierre, Nantes University, Haiti.

2021

• Natalie Andersen, University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Investigation and Restoration of Pemba Island’s Unexpectedly Resilient Reefs
• Emily Chei, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Assessing trophic plasticity of Acropora spp. along a nutrient pollution gradient
• Benjamin Farmer, Louisiana State University, USA.  Spatial biophysical and epidemiological modeling of an emergent Caribbean coral disease
• Akacia Halliday-Isaac, University of Mississippi, USA.  Characterizing alternative members of the holobiont of Caribbean octocorals
• Katherine Lawson, State University of New York, USA.  Identifying iTaukei conservation priorities for invertebrate based ecosystem services in Fiji
• Clayton Vondriska, Arkansas State University, USA.  The effects of ocean acidification on the chemosensory behavior of a common marine parasite

2020

• Rachel Carlson, Stanford University, USA. Strength in small places: mapping coral larvae in a warming ocean
• Matías Gómez Corrales, University of Rhode Island, USA.  Cryptic diversity matters for coral conservation
• Charlotte Page, University of New South Wales, Australia.  Microbial dynamics during coral reef restoration: the impacts of environment on meta-organism function
• Rodrigo Rodríguez Vázquez, Universidad Nacional Autónoma De México, Mexico. Spatiotemporal evaluation of juvenile corals dynamics in a critical condition reef by underwater multispectral orthomosaics
• Twinkle Sebastian, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, India.  Regime shifts in Lakshadweep atoll reef ecosystem
• Kevin Wong, University of Rhode Island, USA.  Determine the mechanisms driving cross-generational plasticity in reef-building corals to thermal stress

2019

• Jessica Bellworthy, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel  Parental effect of chronic copper exposure during brooding on the thermal tolerance of planulae
• Naomi Huntley, University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands  Shifts in the coral associated microbial community following stony coral tissue loss disease infection
• Igor Pessoa, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Accurate trace metal analysis of coral skeletons: anthropogenic influences in corals at Ilha Grande Bay, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
• Krishnaveny Saranadha, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi, Kerala, India. Coral disease distribution at Lakshadweep atolls
• Sterling Tebbett, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.  Functioning of climate-transformed coral reefs
• Diana Ugalde, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Sisal Hunucmá, Yucatán México. Scales of spatial variation of marine sponges (Porifera: Demospongiae) diversity of southern Gulf of Mexico and Mexican Caribbean coral reefs

2018

• Alexander Fordyce, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.  The use of Computer Tomography to investigate fine scale structure, density and porosity of coral skeletons following thermal stress and resulting chemical dissolution by microbial endoliths
• Remi Ketchum, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. Molecular and microbial mechanisms of thermal adaptation in the keystone urchin, Echinometra mathaei, along the Arabian Peninsula
• Athira Prasad, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala, India. Climate Change and Population Connectivity of Lakshadweep Atolls
• Amanda Ramos Romero, University of Havana, Playa, La Habana, Cuba. Influence of benthic algae on larval behavior and settlement of the coral Acropora palmata
• Maria Santos, University of Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.  Sibling zoantharian species: connectivity and associated zooxanthellae
• Karina Scavo Lord, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.  Evaluating the role of mangroves as refugia for the branching reef coral, Porites divaricata

2017

• Arulananthan Ashani, Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.  A Baseline Survey of coral reefs and genetic diversity analysis of coral species in Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka
• Wing Chan, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria & Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.   Assisted evolution via hybridization: A new potential approach in coral reef restoration
• Erin Dillon, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.  Reconstructing historical shark communities on Curaçao using a novel paleoecological tool
• Yohan Louis, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius.  Spatial and temporal modulation of the expression of Heat Shock Proteins in the coral Acropora muricata before and during the 2016 El Niño.
• James Price, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.  Coral resilience to global change: roles of the microbiome and animal physiology
• Aida Sofia Rivera Sotelo,University of California, Davis, California, USA.  Coral Ecologies – An Ethnography of social relations in the Caribbean coast of Colombia

2016

• Archana Anand, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong.  Linking sewage impacts to ecosystem decline in a human impacted marine environment
• Danielle Claar, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada.  Elucidating mechanisms of coral reef resilience to local stressors and El Niño on the world’s largest atoll
• James Dimond, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.  The role of DNA methylation in the response of tropical reef corals to environmental change
• Laura Marangoni, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil.  Interactive effects of acidification, increasing temperature and micronutrient enrichment on the physiology of Mussismilia harttii (Scleractinia, Mussidae) – implications of concurrent climate and non-climate stressors

2007-2015

• 2015 Giverny Rodgers, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.  Climate Change in a Stable Thermal Environment: Effects on the Performance and Life History of Coral Reef Fish
• 2015 Benjamin Titus, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA. Phylogeographic Reconstruction Reveals Extensive Cryptic Diversity in a Common Symbiosis from the Tropical Western Atlantic
• 2009 Rowan Trebilco, Simon Fraser University, Australia.  A size-spectrum approach to assessing coral reef fisheries impacts, habitat effects and ecosystem baselines
• 2007 Jez Roff, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Australia.  Historical ecology of coral communities from the inshore Great Barrier Reef
• 2007 Heidi Schuttenberg, James Cook University, Queensland, Australia & CSIRO, Canberra, Australia.  Understanding and strengthening effective coral reef governance: a map and compass to guide strategic change in Southeast Asia