Grants

Bill Walden Memorial Grants

Funded by the Kentucky Speleological Society, honor founding member Bill Walden, who worked to advance caving through the exploration and survey of caves and by aiding and mentoring aspiring cave scientists.

  1. Applicants must be a member of the National Speleological Society. If an applicant is not a member of the Kentucky Speleological Society, a one-year membership will also be granted for successful applications.
  2. Two classes of grants will be available:
    1. Survey Grant
      1. Up to $500/ year
      1. Up to 2 grants/year
      1. Eligibility- all cavers
      1. This grant may be used to support survey projects in Kentucky through the purchase of survey equipment or supplies.
      1. Any survey equipment remains property of grantee after completion of survey project.
      1. Criteria for grant will include:
        1. Survey skill/history
        1. Prior completed work
        1. Target project
      1. Grant proposal format:
        1. Cover page with
          1. Names of project leader and co-leaders, with job title, organization affiliation, mailing address, email address and day time phone number for each.
          1. Project start date to end date, in the format of “January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020”, for example.
        1. Non-technical summary (limited to 500 words or less)

Provide a summary of the proposed work, and clearly state its relevance to the mission of KSS. This summary should be written for a general audience unfamiliar with the jargon of the specialized area of the proposed work. The expected outcome, products, or both, and a timeline should be included.

  • Budget

Detail equipment/supplies to be bought with funds. KSS will not fund incidental costs (such as meals or gasoline). Receipts may be required

  • Grants can be awarded throughout the year on a first come, first served basis, based upon above criteria, to a limit of 3 per year. Applications will be reviewed ASAP and voted upon first board meeting after review.
    • Academic Grant
      • Up to $2000/ year
      • Up to 2 grants/year
      • Eligibility
        • Degree seeking individuals from an accredited university with sponsorship by an academic or research advisor
        • Citizen scientists with experience in the field, and sound project credentials
      • Grants are intended to focus on science occurring in Kentucky.  The grant committee will consider funding research that occurs in states adjacent to Kentucky if a reasonable argument can be made linking the research to Kentucky.
      • Criteria
        • Thesis/project subject
        • Plan of study
        • Recommendations by advisors or others in the field
      • Grant proposal format:
        • Cover page with
          • Names of project leader and co-leaders, with job title, organization affiliation, mailing address, email address, and daytime phone number for each.
          • Project start date to end date, in the format of “January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020”, for example.
          • Total amount of funding requested.
          • Name, title, email address and day time phone number of the person responsible for administering the requested funds at the organization given in item 5) above. Provide mailing address if different from item 5) above. Usually, this person is the treasurer, grants administrator, sponsored project administrator, or other equivalent.
          • A statement on whether the project leader or any of the co-leaders has or has not received grant support from KSS within the previous five years up to the date of the current proposal submission deadline. For example, for a proposal submitted for the October 1, 2018 deadline, the five previous years cover October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2018. If so, include, as an appendix to the end of the proposal, a copy of the final report if the project has been completed or a progress report if the project is still ongoing as of submission of current proposal.
          • Suggest a minimum of 2 potential reviewers, with their affiliation and contact information.
        • Non-technical summary (limited to 500 words or less)

Provide a summary of the proposed work, and clearly state its relevance to the mission of KSS. This summary should be written for a general audience unfamiliar with the jargon of the specialized area of the proposed work.

  • Project description (limited to 5000 words or less, plus tables and figures if needed)

Describe the proposed work in detail. Include a section each on:

  1. The general background and the specific aims of the proposed project
    1. The project work plan with a timeline
      1. The significance to the area of focus and relevance to the mission of KSS
      1. The anticipated outcomes or products or both, with a timeline
      1. The list of background references or literature cited
    1. Budget

Provide a detailed, itemized budget with a justification for each line item. KSS will not fund overhead charge or indirect cost.

All awardees must submit all applicable data to the Kentucky Speleological Society to be included in KSS archives. However, awardees will retain “ownership” of the data. Kentucky Speleological Survey may share non-sensitive data for data requests or in advancing the mission of the KSS.

The deadline for academic applications for the general caving community is December 15th of each year. It is expected that the Grant Committee will make its evaluations and recommendations to the KSS Board by January 30th of the following year and that the Board will determine and announce grant awards by its February meeting.

Different awards (i.e., Survey and Academic) may be given to the same individual in the same year.

The KSS retains the right choose how many grants, to award per year, or to not award any grants during a calendar year.

The Grant Committee will be headed by the President of the KSS and include 1-2 members chosen by the president.

All grant requests will be vetted for completeness and applicability by the grant committee and recommended to the complete board to be approved or declined. All awards will be awarded by vote of the full board. All grant discussions will be held privately by the board and results held confidential.

Award requirements

  • Academic awardees are required to provide results of their project through publication in the Kentucky Speleological Survey’s Annual Report and are encouraged to make an in-person presentation at the Annual Members Meeting in September.

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