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GRANTS

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Find out below about the grant opportunities offered by ECN and our supporters: the ECNM Grants and the Student Fieldwork Grant. 

Applications for our 2024 ECNM grant are open from March 1, and close at midnight on March 31 2024

Photo Credit: ZSL Library

ECNM GRANTS

The ECNM grants aim to provide direct support to projects related to conservation, research and better understanding of crocodilians. These projects can be carried out as part of a formal university degree programme (undergraduate or postgraduate), but also as independent projects associated with keeping and husbandry, research or conservation activities focused on crocodilians.

 

The grants will include:

- up to 1000 Euros for a project related to in situ crocodilian conservation/research/education or outreach

- up to 500 Euros for a project related to ex situ crocodilian research/conservation/education or outreach.

The funding can be used in any way that directly assists the work and your ability to carry it out (eg. fieldwork, equipment, travel, childcare, publication costs), and can be used as the primary funding for a small project, or as additional support for a larger project.

 

Eligibility criteria

Although the projects can be carried out in any country, the applicant should be based in Europe (citizens/residents of European countries and/or based in European institutions), and we will prioritize applications from individuals who identify themselves to us as being at an early career stage. We warmly welcome applications from those of all backgrounds, identities and ages.

 

The application should be no more than 4 pages, and include:

- Name of the applicant, where applicable name of the affiliated institution and position held at the institution

- Abstract (<300 words)

- Introduction (<200 words)

- Aims and objectives (<200 words)

- Methods (<300 words)

- Expected outcomes (<200 words)

- Expected impact on applicant's professional development (<200 words)

- References

- Amount requested and proposed expenditure

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Applicants for our 2024 grant are welcomed to submit from March 1 2024, until our deadline at midnight on March 31 2024.

 

All applicants will be notified of the award of our 2024 grants over email - we estimate this would be in April, with the award of the funds as soon as possible afterwards.

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Successful recipients should submit a short summary report (500 words) with photos to ECNM upon completion of the project.

STUDENT FIELDWORK GRANT

FICBP will provide a grant of up to 500 Euros to a student, to assist with purchasing equipment or with fieldwork costs related to research.

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This opportunity is not currently accepting applications, please check back later.

 

To apply, please email FICBP directly at contact@ficbp.com, providing a brief description of the project and proposed expenditure.

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PREVIOUS GRANT RECIPIENTS

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Frederico Barroso
2020 Grant Recipient

"My name is Frederico Barroso, a PhD student at CIBIO Research Centre.  I have been working to develop and test new tools to study crocodilian ecophysiology, with a particular focus on thermal ecology. We have been developing an integrated tag (GATTOR - GPS and Temperature Tracking Of Reptiles) that would allow following the live location of the animal while also logging its internal temperature (via a small wireless (NFC) implantable subcutaneous sensor) and that of its environment, easily programmable via a user-friendly smartphone app.
 
With the support of Operation Wallacea and crocodile researchers in Mexico, I spent 2 months testing several aspects of this prototype in Crocodylus moreletii, and testing if thermography would be a suitable non-invasive method to infer internal body temperature of crocodilians. I spent one and a half months trekking or offroading through Mayan ruins and muddy jungles, from one “aguada” to the next (and every pond, lake and swamp in between!) to catch as many crocs as possible.
 
We took a more experimental approach in a crocodile farm. Several animals were fitted with an implantable wireless (NFC) temperature sensor and with a very long and thin cloacal temperature probe and set free in a naturalistic enclosure. Then, at regular intervals, thermal photos were taken while subcutaneous and cloacal temperatures were measured. So far, preliminary analysis of this data has showed very week relationships between both thermographic-measured eye temperature and subcutaneous temperature to the cloacal temperature, suggesting these might not be the best proxies for internal body temperature in crocodilians. Nonetheless, I hope to extend these tests to further species and to a larger body size range. The GPS unit also struggled to penetrate the dense jungle canopy and hence many GPS points were lost. Thus, at this point, we are back to the drawing board, conceptualising GATTOR 2.0… a hopefully more functional solution to meet the needs and demands of crocodile research worldwide."
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Line Skipper
2020 Grant Recipient

"I’m Line, one of the grant recipients from Denmark.  

I wanted to do a project on estimating the population density of Nile crocodiles in Masai Mara, Kenya. I also wanted to evaluate how different management polies affect crocodile numbers. 

The study indicates, that the type of management practice within an area affect the population density of Nile crocodiles, meaning higher densities of crocodiles were found within areas with high levels of protection. This study did not conclude whether the density of Nile crocodiles in these areas are falling or rising, but provides a baseline for further research"

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Joe Kristoffer Partyka
2020 Grant Recipient

"I'm Joe from The Natural History Museum (NHM) in Oslo, Norway, collaborating with the Crocodile Research Coalition (CRC), Belize on the project 'Blood Parasites: charting crocodilian evolution and the parasites’ role in croc management'.

 

We are currently working on developing the CRCs blood extraction methodology and experience, as well as pushing forward with field work and sample collection in 2022, following delays due to COVID and a loss sample of samples due to a power outage."

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Clare Wilkie
2020 Grant Recipient

"I'm Clare, and my project was undertaken at the University of Bristol as part of an MRes degree and in collaboration with the Crocodile Research Coalition (CRC), Belize. I investigated the extent of hybridization between Crocodylus moreletii and C. acutus and whether pure populations remain using samples collected across Belize by the CRC. I used ddRAD sequencing to identify important populations of both species including the genetically pure C. moreletii of Chiquibul National Park, and the pure C. acutus of the northern offshore cays. Hybrids currently appear restricted to the coastline. Inland areas and offshore islands may provide refuge for genetically pure crocodilians but pure populations of both species that reside along the coast remain exposed to the effects of hybridization."

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