Research Fellowships

Boyd Evison Graduate Research Fellowship Awards

2010 CALL/APPLICATION Deadline is February 12, 2010

In 2005, the Grand Teton Natural History Association (now known as the Grand Teton Association) and Grand Teton National Park collaborated to initiate a new graduate research fellowship in memory of Boyd Evison, a long-time National Park Service manager and strong supporter of increasing scientific research and associated education efforts in parks. Evison retired in 1994 from an exemplary 42-year career in which he rose from a park ranger and resource manager to superintendent and regional director in parks from Alaska to the Rocky Mountain Region. After retiring from government service, he became executive director of the park’s primary interpretive and educational partner, the GTNHA, until his death in October 2002. The Evison Fellowship encourages scientific and conservation-related research in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, providing up to $10,000 in support for work leading to completion of a master’s or PhD degree in the biosciences, geosciences, or social sciences. Interested candidates submit proposals that are evaluated by a technical panel of three PhD scientists outside Grand Teton National Park who submit a short list of finalists; the final decision on the grant is made by a committee representing the park and the Grand Teton Association. Executive director Jan Lynch awarded the inaugural Evison Fellowship, in spring 2005, to Florence Gardipee, a graduate student at the University of Montana. Gardipee tested non-invasive fecal DNS sampling methods to assess the genetic diversity of bison in the Yellowstone and Jackson herds, investigated how genetic diversity or lack thereof affects the animals’ susceptibility to infectious diseases such as brucellosis. Gardipee was awarded her MS in 2007, and went on to pursue her PhD at UM. In 2006, the NHA granted a second fellowship to Ericka Pilcher, a Master’s degree candidate at Colorado State University. Pilcher surveyed Grand Teton National Park visitors to several of the most popular destinations, evaluated visitors’ reactions to natural and human-caused sounds, and provided data that could be used to develop indicators and standards for managing soundscapes. Pilcher successfully completed her study and thesis, and went on to employment with the NPS Natural Sounds Program in Fort Collins. The 2007 award winner was Lyman Persico, a PhD student in hydrology at the University of New Mexico, whose research focuses on long-term variability of beaver effects on streams in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. In 2008, the awardee was a Master’s of Fine Arts candidate at the University of Wyoming, Emilene Ostlind. She is writing a series of nonfiction essays about the pronghorn that summer in Grand Teton National Park and migrate to the Upper Green River Basin for winter. Working with a nature photographer and interviewing local residents along the way, Ostlind is documenting the animals’ migration corridor and its associated human and natural environment. The most recent fellowship winner, PhD student Nicholas Dowie, also of UW, is studying the symbiotic relationship between conifer trees, pinedrops, and a truffle-like fungus in both Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. The latter three winners are still working on their studies.