ForestGEO awards research grants to 7 forest scientists

From Plant Press, Vol. 22, No. 4, October 2019.

Since 2002, ForestGEO has supported the work of forest researchers through its annual Research Grants Program. Proposals were required to use data from at least one of ForestGEO’s 67 long-term, large-scale research sites and could be put towards a research project ranging from 3 months to 2 years. A panel of reviewers met to assess the merit of 30 proposals in early September and granted over $60,000 among seven researchers. These scholars come from five countries and will cumulatively work in up to 14 ForestGEO research sites.

ForestGEO’s Lambir, Malaysia site is the focus of current scientific fieldwork. (photo by Christian Ziegler)

The grant funds will facilitate research in a host of topics pertaining to forest dynamics, including wood decomposition, mycorrhizal fungi, functional trait diversity, nutrient cycling, and habitat associations. Building global scientific capacity requires support throughout the progression of a scientist’s career, and ForestGEO is pleased to have been able to award funding to four Ph.D. students, two postdocs, and one professor.