About
The Botany in Action Fellowship (BIA) program at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens fosters the development of a next generation of plant-based scientists who are committed, first, to excellent research, and second, to educational outreach.
Since its inception, BIA has supported 40 PhD students from 19 universities, conducting research in 22 countries and engaging in outreach worldwide. BIA Fellows’ accomplishments, in addition to serving society and the environment as practicing scientists, include research featured in The New York Times, published books for the popular press, and engagement in outreach at an array of public venues.
Open to PhD students enrolled at US graduate institutions and conducting plant-based scientific field research, the BIA program currently provides each Fellow with: 1) $3,000 for use towards field research and related expenses at sites in the US or abroad (including expenses for travel, food, housing, laboratory supplies, and to return research findings to the research host community), 2) an all-expenses paid trip to Phipps in Pittsburgh, PA, to engage in science outreach training and opportunities to translate and communicate his or her research to non-scientific, public audiences through written, visual, oral and/or multimedia means, and 3) subsequent opportunities to communicate his or her research to public audiences through Phipps classes, programs, newsletters, exhibits onsite and online, and other outreach venues.
Current BIA Fellows are engaged in research in locales from Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland to Nepal, Thailand, India, and Brazil. Their work covers topics ranging from the role of green roof plants in urban storm water management and the effects of plant invasion on a rare woodland butterfly to identification of plants used by healers for treatment of dementia.
