Every year, one exceptional early-career practitioner, scholar, or scientist working on problems pertaining to broad-spectrum plant and landscape conservation is given the Plant Conservation Biology Fellowship.  The intention is to offer advanced graduate students, postdocs, and new faculty members a 2-to 5-week extended stay on the Oak Spring estate for solitary writing and contemplation, away from the daily pressures of their other commitments.

The Fellowship will be given by OSGF to a distinguished plant conservation biologist whose work has a great deal of promise to support the preservation of plants and the environments in which they live.  The Fellow’s visitation schedule will coincide with the presence of fellows or other interdisciplinary residents on the premises.

Important Details:

• Offered by: Oak Spring Garden Foundation
• Deadline: May 31, 2024
• Type: Fellowship
• Gender: Any
• Eligible Nations: All

Benefits:

• The $10,000 individual grant that comes with this award can be used for things like transportation costs to and from OSGF, supplies and materials for their residency, or other things that will help them in their work both before and after their time at OSGF.
• The chosen Fellow will need to organize their own transportation to Dulles International Airport, from whence Oak Spring will provide ground transportation to their estate located in Upperville, Virginia. The Fellow will reside in tastefully furnished shared quarters. The fellow will share a kitchen and living area with one to three other residents or fellows, but will have a private bedroom and bathroom.
• One of their four most distinguished prizes comes with a $10,000 grant for the individual recipient. The guest will have the opportunity to interact with colleagues, see their 700-acre property and their sustainable land management initiatives, and browse their rare book collection, which is home to over 19,000 items, many of which are works of botanical art. The Fellowship is ideal for people who are working on writing projects that need for a lot of concentration and little interruption.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Candidates must be early-career practitioners, academics, or scientists who are not enrolled in an undergraduate program in 2025 in order to be eligible.
• The chosen Fellow will need to be self-sufficient and capable of working on their own while on the job.
• Candidates should demonstrate a broad commitment to plant conservation, great promise, effective communication abilities, and quality in their completed or upcoming projects.

Documents Requirement:

You will be asked to submit:

• A curriculum vitae or resume (no more than two pages),
• A 200–300-word summary of your recent efforts to conserve plants,
• A 200- to 300-word explanation of how your work contributes to the objective of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, which is to serve the public interest by “perpetuating and sharing the gifts of Rachel (“Bunny”) Lambert Mellon, including her residence, garden, estate, and the Oak Spring Garden Library.” The mission of OSGF is to promote and encourage scholarly work as well as open discourse on the past, present, and future of plants, with a focus on the significance of plants for human health as well as the culture of gardens and landscapes.
• A 200–300-word summary of your planned activities for the two–five-week OSGF residency.
• At the moment, OSGF lacks a laboratory and science-related equipment. Nonetheless, there is a wealth of flora and fauna in their landscape, and they are particularly eager to assist practitioners who deal with the preservation or management of indigenous species. Additionally, those who are successful will be able to demonstrate a prompt and evident need for the Fellowship. Remember that the OSGF estate is located in a peaceful, rural area, and that they also welcome applications from those who would like to use the Residency as a chance to write and observe without interruption.

Note: In the event that you are not chosen for the Fellowship, you will be prompted to indicate your interest in being considered for their Interdisciplinary Residency when you apply.  For additional information, please visit here regarding their Interdisciplinary Residency.

Selection Criteria:

• Through a multi-round assessment process, which involves the evaluation and scoring of applications by OSGF personnel, Residency graduates, and external jurors, fellows are carefully chosen. In the end, panels of external reviewers with experience and expertise in subjects or practices related to OSGF’s mission choose fellows. The relationship between an applicant’s current work and the OSGF mission, the applicant’s potential, and the caliber of the work samples are the main factors used to score applications.
• Regretfully, they are unable to offer personalized comments to applicants who do not receive a residency due to the large number of applications they receive.

Dates:

The start date of an interdisciplinary residency or a botanical artist residency should coincide with the arrival of fellows.  With these cohorts, the Fellows will finish their introduction visits. These are the dates in 2025:

• Monday, March 3, 2025
• Sunday, April 13, 2025 (only available for a 3-week residency)
• Monday, May 19, 2025
• Monday, June 30, 2025
• Sunday, August 10, 2025
• Monday, September 8, 2025

How to Apply?

To apply, click the apply now button below.

                 Apply Now

Also Check:

• High-level Graduate Program at Anhui Medical University by Chinese Government Scholarship 2024 (Fully Funded)
• International Ambassador Scholarship 2024 at University of West London
• Bilkent University Undergraduate Scholarships for International Students 2024/25
• University of Bologna Scholarships for International Students 2024/25
• British Council ‘Scholarships for Women in STEM 2024-25 to Study at Leading UK Universities

For more details, kindly refer to Oak Spring Garden Foundation’s website.