Michael F.B. Nesbitt Family Research Fellowship

Members of the Nesbitt family have made many lasting contributions to science and conservation.

About the fellowship

This is a new fellowship beginning in 2017, which pays tribute to these devoted conservationists.

The goal of Michael F.B. Nesbitt Family Research Fellowship is to support post-graduate education of wetland and waterfowl scientists, and thereby help train future leaders who will follow in the footsteps of Michael Nesbitt’s family.

Graduate students located at any North American university are eligible for this Fellowship.

One award of up to $5,000/year (Canadian funds) is available to provide personal or research support for the successful applicant. The award is renewable for up to two additional years for PhD students, once for students pursuing a Master’s degree, assuming annual approval of a satisfactory progress report and the need for continuing financial support.

It will be awarded based upon the following criteria:

Applicant qualifications
scientific soundness of the research proposal
Originality and creativity in study design
Expected contributions to waterfowl conservation
Achievability of the work

Interested in applying or have any questions?

Take your research to the next level. Apply for a Ducks Unlimited fellowship.

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Recent fellowship winner

John Veon

For his PhD research at the University of California, Davis. John’s research will investigate the efficacy of a novel wetland management strategy for reducing human-mosquito conflict, conserving wetland habitat and biodiversity, and providing nutritious food resources for wetland wildlife.

Traditional management practices for mosquito control in California often conflict with wetland management techniques that provide high quality habitat for wetland-dependent species. Integrated wetland management could be used to emulate a more natural hydrological cycle to meet multiple management objectives.

John is experimentally investigating whether allowing water to persist throughout the summer in swales and small ponds of large wetland units (5-60 ha) in the Central Valley of California can regulate mosquito populations, enhance moist-soil seed production, and improve wetland habitat availability and waterfowl use. If effective, integrated wetland management could provide managers with a sustainable approach to wetland management.

Past Fellowship Winners

2022-2024: Ilsa Griebel, PhD. Quantifying the influence of environmental conditions and American black duck behavior and movements throughout the full annual cycle on subsequent productivity, University of Saskatchewan

2019-2021: Sarah Clements, PhD. A multi-species analysis of landscape effects of individual decision-making and fitness in wetland-dependent migratory shorebirds, University of Missouri

2016-2018: Tyler Harms, PhD. Improving waterfowl surveys to better inform conservation decisions in an intensively farmed landscape, Iowa State University

Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research

Michael F.B. Nesbitt Family Research Fellowship

About the fellowship

Interested in applying or have any questions?

Recent fellowship winner

Past Fellowship Winners

Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research

About IWWR

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