ACA Grants in Biodiversity

Goals

This grants program is intended to:

increase knowledge of Alberta’s heritage of living resources, specifically the flora and fauna,

promote the development of highly qualified, Alberta-based conservation biologists, and

support research and study in Alberta by graduate students.

The Program supports research in fields of biodiversity, conservation biology, and ecology, all broadly construed; all kinds of organisms are covered.

Support for the Program

The Alberta Conservation Association provides up to $225,000 annually for support of graduate student research in Alberta in the areas of biodiversity, conservation biology, and ecology. Up to $20,000 is provided recipients, that money to be spent over 2 years. However, partial awards are more common and excessive requests for moderate proposals will jeopardize funding of the grant at all.

Progress of the Program

The Program is in its 15th year. To date, the ACA Grants in Biodiversity has awarded over 3.4 million research dollars to 341 graduate students from 18 universities. (Although graduate students do not have to attend universities in Alberta, their thesis research must be Alberta-based). Most recipients go on to careers in environmental and conservation biology. Many recipients remain in Alberta after completing their degree programs.