The Society for Ethnobotany

The Schultes Award was created in 2001 to honor the late Dr. Richard Evans Schultes. One or more awards of up to $2500 are presented annually to students and recent graduates who are members of the Society for Ethnobotany, to help defray the costs of field work on a topic related to ethnobotany.


Richard E. Schultes (12 January 1915-10 April 2001): A Tribute by Sir Ghillean T. Prance (includes Schultes bibliography)


This award is now open

Deadline to apply is April 30, 2024.


Eligibility
Applicants must be student members of the Society, or members who have received their degree within a year of the application deadline.

Proposals
1. Proposals must consist of a single, 4 page pdf file (no smaller than 11 Times New Roman or Arial fonts with 1" margin) which includes:
a) 2 pages describing the proposed research, including literature cited,
b) 1 page tabular budget which identifies how funds will be allocated,
c) 1 page CV.

2. In addition, an email message from the applicant’s major advisor confirming current MS, PhD or Post-doc status should be sent to schultesaward@ethnobotany.org. Additional testimonials or letters of recommendation are no longer accepted as part of award proposals.

Submit Your Application - Deadline To Be Determined (Midnight Pacific Time)
Current SEB members can access the awards portal by clicking here and logging in with your SEB ID/Password. Once signed in, click on the "2024 - Richard Evans Schultes Research Award" link and you should see a blue button that says "+ Create New Application" at the bottom if your login was successful.

Please feel free to email seb@ethnobotany.org with any questions about the award and application process.

Applicants will be judged by an ad-hoc committee of Society members. Applicants will be notified of their award status by June 30 of each year.

Writing a successful proposal
Successful proposals convincingly describe work that has potential to advance knowledge in ethnobotany and detail an appropriate methodology to accomplish this work. They include a brief conceptual background and relevant literature citations that contextualize the importance of the work, a well justified budget request that shows how these award funds will be used (or what part this award will play in a larger project). Proposals that include broader impacts, including broadening participation or building capacity in the field of ethnobotany, give-back to local communities, etc., will be more highly rated. The most successful proposals contain both a) a plan for novel and exciting work and b) evidence demonstrating that the necessary resources (e.g., training, time, local contacts) are available to successfully implement that plan.

Reporting
Within nine months of receiving the award, the recipient will submit a brief (one to two page double-spaced) narrative of their project to be posted on the Society website that include as relevant:

a) Title of project, year of grant, your name, affiliated organizations,
b) Contacts made (people & organizations) that were helpful,
c) Geographic and place names of research locations,
d) Description of vegetation and terrain,
e) Where the collections are / will be deposited,
f) Broader impacts / significance of research,
g) One or two photos.

Click here to see an example of a report from a past awardee for reference.

Manuscripts
Recipients are strongly encouraged to submit a manuscript based upon their research and acknowledging this award for publication in Economic Botany.

Please contact schultesaward@ethnobotany.org or seb@ethnobotany.org with any questions.

SCHULTES AWARD RECIPIENTS

2024
Kimberly P. Castro - Universität Zürich, "AMAZONIAN SMELLSCAPES: The Healing Forest sensed by Indigenous People"

Honorable Mentions:
1st Rachel Palkovitz - Pennsylvania State University, "The influence of ginseng growing and planting on American ginseng lineages in North America"
2nd Savannah Anez - Pennsylvania State University, "An Ethno-Directed Evaluation of the Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of Ghost Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)"

2023
Cekouat Elim Leon Peralta - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, "Mexican Traditional Paper: Connecting Past Knowledge with Modern Practices"

2022
Amish Dua - "Healing the Herds: An exploration to document the ethnoveterinary practices of the Palsi shepherds in the Western Himalayas"

2021
Alexander Greene - University of Kent and National Geographic Explorer, "Rotation and Transformation: The dynamics of changing agricultural knowledge and practice in the Hmong diaspora."
Report

2020
Julia Douglas - University of Hawaii, "The biocultural restoration of epiphytic orchids in Oaxaca"

2019
James Lucas - Washington University-St. Louis, "Following the paper trail: Using population ecology to inform conservation of an endangered papermaking tradition in Vietnam."Grace Ward - Washington University-St. Louis, "The historical ecology of hunter gatherers in the Lower Mississippi Valley."
David Felipe Rodriguez Mora - North Carolina State University - Honorable mention - "Integrating ecomorphology and ethnoecology to test Cofán ethnovarietal classification of Banisteriopsis caapi in southwestern Colombia."
Lilly Zeitler - University of Kent - Honorable mention - "Understanding the role of ethnic and religious diversity in medicinal plant
use between Tai Yai and Lisu Buddhists and Christians in northern Thailand."

2018
Amanda Thiel, Washington State University, "Cultural Values and Ethnobotanical Knowledge among the Q’eqchi Maya in Guatemala."
Alain Ngute, University of Dschang, West Cameron, "Beyond Timber the commercialization of edible caterpillars in Cameroon."

2017
Ashley Glenn, University of Canterbury at Kent

2016
Michael Coe and Richard Tate,
Research In-Progress

2015
Anne Lucy S. Virnig, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, "From molecular systems to human systems: An interdisciplinary approach to evaluating antioxidant activity and conservation in the neotropical blueberries."
Research In-Progress

2014
Tegan McGillivray, University of Wisconsin-Madison, she did not supply a title for her project. Her request was for support to undertake field research at a series of comparable Bronze and Iron Age sites located along the Red River, Vietnam.
Research In-Progress

2013
Lauren Moscoe, University of Wisconsin-Madison, "Oca (Oxalis tuberosa) diversity and population structure in two communities in Cusco, Peru."
Research In-Progress

2012
Hugo De Boer, Uppsala University, "Steam sauna, hot beds and mother roasting: Medicinal plants and postpartum recovery among the Brou, Sake and Kry (Laos)."
Research In-Progress

2011
Paula Brown, University of British Columbia Okanagan, "Kava (Piper methysticum): A Traditional Crop in Modern Markets."
Research In-Progress

2010
Sushma Shrestha, Miami University, "Global Localism at the Manaslu Conservation Area in the Eastern Himalayas, Nepal: Integrating ecological and ethnobotanical knowledge about forests for biodiversity conservation."
Research In-Progress

2009
Ashley DuVal, Yale School of Forestry, "Domestication of Açaí in Home Gardens of the Amazon Estuary."
Research In-Progress

2008
Lisa Mandle, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, "The Effects of Landscape Management and Harvesting Practices on Non-timber Forest Product Populations and Communities in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India."
Research In-Progress

2007
Nanci J. Ross, University of Connecticut, "Impact Assessment of Ancient Maya Forest Gardens."
Research In-Progress

2006
Anthony Amend, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, "Harvesting Effects and Population Genetics of Tricholoma matsutake in Shangri-La, China."
Report

2005
Andrew S. Roberts, City University of New York, Institute of Economic Botany, New York Botanical Garden, "Fields in Transition, Livelihoods in Transition: agrodiversity and incremental change in smallholder managed landscapes in Cambodia."
Research In-Progress

2004
Heather McMillen, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, "Ethnoecology of Medicinal Plants in Tanzania."
Report

2003
Christiane Ehringhaus, Yale University, "Post-victory Challenges: Non-timber Forest Product Use and Marketing in Amazonian Extractive Reserves."

Honorable Mention
Jennifer Crus-Sanders and Angela Steward

2002
Michael P. Gilmore, Miami University, "An Ethnobiological and Ethnoecological Study of the Maijuna Indians, Peruvian Amazon."

Patrick Owen, McGill University, "Antidiabetic Properties of Traditional Food and Medicinal Plants Used for the Treatment of NIDDM among Transitional Communities of Papua New Guinea."

Julie L. Velasquez Runk, Yale University "And the Creator Began to Carve Us of Cocobolo: Historical Ecology of Wbunaan Forest Use in Eastern Panama."

Honorable Mention
Amanda Koch, University of Illinois, Chicago, "Medical Ethnobotany of the Maasai."