The INLAND BIRD BANDING ASSOCIATION (IBBA) maintains a PAUL STEWART IBBA AVIAN RESEARCH FUND for the purposes of providing limited grants to individuals conducting research that involves the banding or marking of Neotropical migratory birds.

Grants: A total of $1000 in grant money may be authorized annually for Project Proposals that are approved by the IBBA Grant Committee.

Notification of grant decisions by the IBBA Grant Committee will be recommended for IBBA board approval within 31 days of the submission deadline.

Grant Committee: The Grant Committee shall consist of at least three persons, the IBBA Second Vice President (chairperson of the Committee), one IBBA Director, and a third person appointed by the President. All applications for grants shall be directed to the Second Vice President who shall then forward the applications to the other members of the Grant Committee. The Grant Committee will have its recommendations ready for the IBBA board approval within 31 days of the submission deadline.

The Grant Committee may recommend that grants not be awarded some years or multiple grants in others.

Publicity: Regular announcements for IBBA grants will be included in the IBBA section of the North American Bird Bander.

Requests for Guidelines will be available from the Second Vice President or on the IBBA website (inlandbirdbanding.org)

Applications: The grant application should be submitted electronically in a .pdf or Word document format including the provided cover sheet to the IBBA Second Vice President by December 31 in advance of the year in which the grant is being requested. Grant applications should be typed and double-spaced and include the following items in this order:

1. Cover Sheet (one page) a.) Title of Project Proposal; b.) Inclusive dates of the Project; c.) Name, address, phone number and affiliation of primary investigator; d.) Name(s), address(s), phone number(s) and affiliations of secondary investigators.

2. Project (up to five pages) a.) A short summary of the Project Proposal including hypotheses, goals and expected results; b.) Project description and justification including details of methods and techniques, rationale for doing the research, and analysis of results; c.) Previous results if this is a continuation of an ongoing project; d.) Facilities and equipment currently available to the researcher; e.) Detailed budget summary (including line items for travel, subsistence, supplies and other expenses); f.) Why a Paul Stewart Avian Research Grant is needed and what other funds (including matching funds) have been applied for or are already available for this Project.

Expenditures may include the following and are subject to approval from the IBBA Grant Committee:

a.) Reimbursements for actual costs of travel, meals and overnight lodging directly related to conducting the research;

b.) Acquisition of equipment required for the specific research, particularly when the application is a matching grant;

c.) Laboratory supplies, chemicals and other expendables of a nature not normally available. (Justification is required in the Project Proposal.)

Responsibilities of Applicants with approved Grants:

a.) Maintenance of accurate expenditure records to be submitted to the Chairman of the IBBA Grant Committee at the end of the grant period;

b.) A written summarized report of the Project results and/or accomplishments to be submitted to the Chairman of the IBBA Grant Committee within sixty (60) days after the end of the grant period;

c.) Acknowledgment in all publications that result from this Project that a Paul Stewart Avian Research Grant from the Inland Bird Banding Association was of assistance in conducting this research.

Contract or Agreement: Acceptance of a Paul Stewart IBBA Avian Research Grant constitutes a binding agreement between the primary investigator and the Inland Bird Banding Association. Either party may terminate the contract or agreement by providing thirty (30) days advance notice. Any unused portion of the grant will be returned to the IBBA treasury.

The following statement will be signed by the primary investigator on an official contract form:

I, the undersigned, certify that the information provided in the grant proposal is correct and complete to the best of my knowledge, and accept as to any grant awarded, the obligation to comply with the terms and conditions of the Paul Stewart Inland Bird Banding Association’s Avian Research Fund in effect at the time of the award. Signature of Principal Investigator: