Student Research Fellowship | American Microscopical Society

AMS Student Research Grants

Proposals Due March 1st

Direct questions to The AMS Grants and Awards Committee at AMS@amicros.org

The AMS Student Research Grants support summer research projects involving microscopy. Grants awards are up to $1000. Any undergraduate or graduate student member of AMS who has not previously received a Student Research Grant is eligible to apply.

Guidelines for Proposals Requesting funds for AMS Student Research Grants:
I. Project Proposal

A. Project description with title - three double-spaced pages (11 pt font minimum) with five sections:

Introduction - provide enough background information so that your objectives and expected significance of results can be evaluated by someone who is not an expert in your field.
Objectives - the specific work you plan to achieve with the funds requested in this proposal
Methods - including concise details of the microscopic approaches to be used in the research and an a brief explanation why these methods are the most appropriate to achieve the objectives of the project. If the research described in this proposal is part of a broader thesis or dissertation topic, you should write your methods section of this proposal only for the portion of the research for which you will use microscopy (you may explain your broader research objectives in the other sections of the proposal.)
Significance of expected results - including preliminary results or evidence that supports the likelihood of the project’s success.i
Literature cited - References should be alphabetical and formatted using the APA Style - 7th edition - Common Reference Examples

B. Budget with justification - one page - including information about other funding you have received for the research described in this proposal. AMS Student Research grants can be used for fees, supplies, use of equipment, and travel to research sites (travel to meetings and publication costs are not supported).

II. Current CV - 2 pages maximum

III. a letter of support from the student's research advisor. Contact details for the advisor must be included in the letter.

Email complete proposals as a single PDF file by March 1st to AMS@amicros.org with the subject line: AMS Student Research Grant Proposal

Recipients of Student Research Grants 2006-2024:

2025 Recipients

Rebecca Lopez-Anido, American Museum of Natural History
Project Title: Stealing and Stinging: Characterization of a Novel Venom Stealing Cell type in Nudibranchs

Carolynn O'Donnell, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Project Title:Investigating the impact of viral infections on the vulval morphology of C. elegans

Ruchao Quian, Florida International University
Project Title:Investigating Compound Eye Morphology in Praying Mantises Using MicroCT

Stephanie Wilhelm, University of Akron
Project Title:Pollen Morphology and Heterospecific Pollen Transfer (HPT) among Native and Invasive Mustards in Northeastern North America

2024 Recipients

Jun Cai, Oregon State University
Project Title: Visualizing the changes in expression level and subcellular localization of ceramide synthase (CerS) during cnidarian bleaching

Alexis Codding, California State University Long Beach
Project Title: Species diversity and the maintenance of ecosystem function in an increasingly variable world

Siena McKim, University of California Santa Barbara
Project Title: Investigating Cryptic Silk Spinning Systems in Crustaceans

2023 Recipients

Katherine Newcomer Lawson, SUNY ESF
Project Title: Understanding reef resilience by identifying invertebrate drivers of recruitment and settlement in Fiji

Daniel Stanton, University of Florida
Project Title: Regulation of PER2 and CRY1 Nuclear Translocation in HEK 293T Cells by OCT4

2022 Recipients

Grace Curtis:
Project Title: Investigating the Role of Leptin in Blood Vessel Formation and Regeneration During Early Development

Andrew Dang,
Project Title: Characterizing the molecular basis of red-green color vision in Heliconius butterflies using confocal microscopy

2021 Recipients

Racine Rangel, University of California, Irvine
Project Title: Investigating climate warming and ocean acidification impacts on the shell structure of the Pacific blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus) using microscopy

Kara Coffman, Northern Illinois University
Project Title: Detection and Classification of Microplastics withing Human Lung Tissue

Elizabeth Peele,University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Project Title: The Effect of Temperature on Brain Development in Elasmobranch Fishes

Kourtnie Whitfield, Washington State University
Project Title: Testing leptin regulation of mucus secretion in X. tropicalis embryonic mucociliary epidermis: A model for respiratory epithelium

2020 Recipients

Nicholai Hensley,
Project Title: Documenting the first evidence of hybridization between rapidly speciating Caribbean ostracods

Amanda Palecek-McClung,
Project Title: The Influence of Mucus Production and Epidermal Microstructures in the Adhesive Performance of Hawaiian Gobies

Mary Colleen “MC” Hannon,
Project Title: Synchrony of internal and external modifications during epitoke development in the polychaete Alitta succinea (Family: Nereididae)

2019 Recipients

Kyle Heine, Auburn University
Prject Title: Modeling mitochondrial behaviour and morphology from TEM imaging of copepod myocytes following UV irradition

Valeri Lapacek,Oregon State University
Project Title: Visualizing the role of NADPH Oxidases in cnidarian bleaching

Ariana Rupp, University of Louisiana
Project Title: Digestive tissue histology of the mud snake

2018 Recipients

Emily Naylor
Project Title: Investigating the evolution and diversity of gecko clinging morphology with microscopy

Robyn Reeve
Project Title: Xenopus larval melanocytes as a model for studying leptin signaling in melanomas

2017 Recipients

Alyssa Liguori, Stony Brook University
Project Title: Copepod morphology across multiple generations of low pH exposure

Sarah McAnulty, University of Connecticut
Project Title: Judging a bacterium by its cover: development of immune tolerance in the squid-vibrio symbiosis

2016 Recipients

Cheng Zeng, Indiana University Bloomington
Project Title: Probing Reconstitution of Fully Collapsed Virus Capsid with Atomic Force Microscopy

Lily Pieper, Hamilton College
Project Title: Evolution and expression of venom genes in sea urchin pedicellariae

2015 Recipients

Tania Pineda Enriquez, University of Florida
Project title: Hiding in plain sight: cryptic species in brittle stars of the Indo-Pacific region

Kristin Kopperud, Florida Institute of Technology
Project title: Circadian rhythms of the Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus: a microscopic analysis of light, dark and survival in the silver king.

2014 Recipients

Shelley McLarty,Walla Walla University
Project title: Microscopic analysis of photosynthetic gut content in Pentidotea resecata.

Lauren Sumner-Rooney, Queen’s University Marine Laboratory
Project title: A microanatomical study of the eyes of Ophiocoma wendtii

2013 Recipients

Nikia Rice, Florida Institute of Technology
Project title: Photoreceptor distribution of the Green sea turtle throughout development stages.

Des Ramirez, University of California, Santa Barbara
Project title: Quantifying dispersion of dermal opsin-expressing sensory neurons in two Octopus species

2012 Recipients

Vladimir Gross, University of Massachusetts at Lowell
Project title: Comparative myoanatomy of the Tardigrada

Trisha Spanbauer, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Project title: The relation of climatic forcing to the morphological variability of a dominant phytoplankton species in the Andes

2011 Recipients

Caroline Harper, Brown University
Project title: The morphology of the brush-like papillae in a nectar-feeding bat, Glossophaga soricina

Fredrick Larabee, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Project title: Comparative study of ant mandible mechanical properties and performance

Nathan Farrar, University of Alberta
Project title: Visualizing the structure of primary cilia in the osculum of the demosponge, Ephydatia muelleri

2010 Recipients

Shanna Hanes, Auburn University
Project title: Elevated autophagic activity during hyperthermic stress in the tropical sea anemone, Aiptasia pallida: a novel bleaching mechanism

Joey Pakes, UC-Berkeley
Project title: Investigation of chemosymbionts in the anchialine cave crustaceans Speleonectes c.f. tulumensis (Remipedia) and Typhlatya sp. (Eumalacostraca)

2009 Recipients

Jessica Budke, University of Connecticut
Project title: Examining the matrotrophic calyptra and its role in moss sporophyte development using Funaria hygrometrica L. (Bryophyta [mosses])

Bill McLamb, Florida Institute of Technology
Project title: Some like it hot: Transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels as components of the novel infrared sensory organs of boid and crotaline snakes

2008 Recipients

Ivey Ellis, Auburn University
Project title: Comparative neural development of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica and the opisthobranch gastropod Berghia verrrucornis

Andrea Cross, Florida Institute of Technology
Project title: Development of photoreceptor arrays in the retina of the African Spurred Tortoise, Geochelone sulcata

2007 Recipients

Maria Celia Malay, University of Florida - Gainesville
Project title: Systematics and speciation of the coral-dwelling barnacles (Balanomorpha: Pyrgomatidae)

Johannes Achatz, University of Maine - Orono
Project title: Neurogenesis in development and asexual reproduction of Convolutriloba macropyga (Acoela)

2006 Recipients

Jodi Caskey, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Project title: Contact chemoreception of sex pheromones in shrimp

J. Matthew Hoch, Stony Brook University
Project title: Effects of environment and population density on barnacle penis morphology