Application deadline: March 30, 2026
The Georgia Botanical Society is accepting applications for the Marie Mellinger Field Botany Research Award. For more than 20 years, this program has provided small monetary awards to support students, instructors, field botanists, conservation land managers, and conservationists who are conducting field research, conservation projects, and educational programs that focus on Georgia’s native flora. The primary goal of the Marie Mellinger Field Botany Research Fund is to support field-oriented research by investigators in the state of Georgia.
Who is eligible to apply for an award? Students and faculty at colleges or universities within Georgia (or outside the state but conducting research in Georgia), private consultants, government officials, qualified amateur botanists, conservation land managers, and other individuals with a demonstrated interest in field botany are eligible to apply for an award. (Please note that projects primarily focused on molecular research are not eligible.) Projects should be conducted in Georgia or focus on taxa of priority interest in Georgia.
Projects eligible for funding include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Floristic studies, surveys, and inventories
- Species or habitat conservation and restoration efforts
- Studies in plant systematics
- Quantitative and qualitative analyses of natural communities and vegetation
- Life history studies
- Research focused on exotic pest plants in Georgia and their eradication or control
- Surveys for and conservation of state and federal listed, tracked, and rare species
- Education programming focused on plant conservation
The Georgia Botanical Society encourages research, conservation, and education focusing on native flora throughout the state. The primary goal of the Marie Mellinger Field Botany Research Award is to support field-oriented research by investigators in the state of Georgia who are investigating a wide range of topics related to Georgia’s native plants, including floristic studies, habitat restoration, plant systematics, conservation, and plant community ecology (projects primarily focused on molecular research are not eligible).
Proposals for 2026 must be submitted via email by March 30, 2026, for projects beginning or continuing in 2025. Proposals are reviewed by a Georgia Botanical Society evaluation committee; announcements of awards will be made in April 2025.
FOR APPLICATION GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS, PLEASE WRITE: Linda Chafin,