Reef restoration scholarships from Iberostar

The Iberostar Foundation has announced a call for applications for four scholarships each totalling $5,000 regarding the following categories:

• techniques for achieving coastal protection, increased fish biomass or enhanced biodiversity in reef restoration,
• work on reef restoration conducted in Latin America (Mesoamerican Reef or Caribbean Basin),
• building resilience in restoration efforts in the face of global climate change, and
• advancing solutions for scaling restoration practices.

The purpose of this call is to support researchers and practitioners by financing original research projects advancing the scientific knowledge for techniques and technologies for restoring coral reefs, with their own entity, well focused and of scientific quality and/or initiatives that put into practice techniques focused on the advancement of reef restoration as a common practice.

The four grants have been categorised under the following four topics:

• Grant Nº 1: Goals of Reef Restoration
• Grant Nº 2: Reef Restoration in Latin America & The Caribbean Basin
• Grant Nº 3: Confronting Global Warming (Building Resilience)
• Grant Nº4: Solutions for Scaling

Prospective candidates must submit the following information (in Spanish or English) via email to [email protected]  by the 6^th November 2020:

1. One letter of support, (for example, from one of the following categories)
   • Letter of support from university professors or research staff attesting to the scientific and academic interest of the research project
   • Letter of support from the thesis advisor
   • Letter of support from collaborator or board member attesting to the legitimacy of operations and novel contribution to the management practice
2. Curriculum vitae (CV) of the primary investigator
3. Cover letter, addressing the fit of the project to the category of application
4. Proposal for the project to be carried out with a maximum length of four single-space pages including
   • Summary
   • Background
   • Fieldwork locations and/or country of investigation/work
   • Objectives
   • Methodology
   • Work plan & calendar
   • Expected results
   • Broader impacts
5. The budget of the research project broken down by items, justifying the different concepts to which the requested aid will be destined, such as consumables, equipment, travel, etc. You cannot include institutional overhead, salary, staff fees, or equipment worth more than 250U$D without express justification for how the equipment directly advances the project.
6. Express declaration that it does not receive financing from another source to cover the same concepts that appear in the application. In the event that any other type of aid or financing is available from public or private sources, it must be specified by providing the appropriate documentation.

Wave of Change is Iberostar’s pioneering movement leading responsible tourism. More than 80% of Iberostar’s hotels are located along the coastline. Coral reefs, mangroves, seagrasses, wetlands, dunes, and other ecosystems all play an integral role in protecting our coasts and in turn, the hotels. Iberostar is committed to improving the health of all ecosystems surrounding Iberostar properties by 2030.

For more information visit the Wave of Change website here.