The Appleyard Fund

Grants of up to £2,000 supporting research projects in botany or zoology, by Fellows or Associates of the Society.

The Appleyard Fund was established in 1968 from the estate of Percy Appleyard FLS. Currently up to £2,000 is available from which grants are made towards the expenses of research projects in the field of botany or zoology. Fellows and Associates of the Society who are not in full-time employment as biologists can apply. Registered students are not eligible to apply for this award.

  • The fund is administered by a Committee appointed by the Council of the Linnean Society.
  • Applicants must be a Fellow or Associate of the Society.
  • The deadline for applications is 30 September.
  • Applications should consist of an application form (PDF and Word doc) including an estimate of costs and sent to nominations@linnean.org.
  • Shortlisted applicants may be asked to provide additional information.
  • Owing to restrictions imposed by our bankers, grant funds cannot be paid directly or indirectly to individuals in countries subject to sanctions imposed by the UK government or otherwise where our bankers restrict payments.
  • All applicants will be informed of the outcome by the end of November.

2021 Awardee – Alex Inzani

Awarded to Mr Alex Inzani FLS towards the cost of improving and replacing camera traps, cage traps and mist nets for a Retrapping Adults for Survival (RAS) study of Marsh Tits Poecile palustris dresseri around Weston Colville, England. Nationally, Marsh Tits have undergone a 70% decline over the last 40 years, putting them on the IUCN Red List. Through colour-ringing, releasing and retrapping birds, this study will monitor the abundance, productivity and survival of the Marsh Tit in the area. It is hoped that determining the reasons for Marsh Tit success in Weston Colville could help reverse the deep decline of these birds elsewhere in the UK and contribute towards developing a national conservation strategy for these birds.

2020 Awardee – Eve Mills MRes

Awarded to Eve Hills MRes (presently a foster carer), towards the costs of a PhD and conservation project scoping study on what leopards eat, and to meet with the partners and visit potential field sites in Kenya. This is a collaboration between Brighton University, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Dr Joseph Ogutu (University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart) and Dr Elena Chelysheva, founder of the Mara Meru Cheetah Project. It is hoped that this work will contribute towards resolving human-wildlife conflict, enhancing leopard conservation, leaving a legacy of pastoralist engagement with, and stewardship of, leopard populations.

2019 Awardees – Michael Pearson and Marcelo Monge Egea

Two Appleyard grants were made in 2019: one to Michael Pearson (UK) to cover the cost of DNA analysis in his project to investigate the diet of two lichenivorous moths (Common & Muslin Footman) living in drystone walls in the Yorkshire Dales; and the other to Marcelo Monge Egea (Brazil), also for sequencing, in his study on the evolution of Amazonian and Atlantic Forests, focusing on the historical biogeography of Stifftia J.C. Mikan (Asteraceae).

2018 Awardee – Ryan Hills

Awarded to Ryan Hills in support of his project to carry out taxonomic research on Dioscoreaceae. The grant helped facilitate Ryan’s visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RGB Kew), and cover the costs of a botanical artist to produce illustrations for a manuscript for the Flore d’Afrique Centrale and Flore du Gabon, in collaboration with Dr Paul Wilkin at RBG Kew and Dr Marc Sosef at Botanic Garden, Meise.

2017 Awardee – Bethan Stagg

Awarded to Bethan Stagg FLS (Bristol) for an innovative educational research project to teach primary school children about Carl Linnaeus through drama. A non-drama workshop with similar content was used as a control. A total of 197 Year 6 children in nine schools in Devon and one school in Manchester participated in the project during September and October 2017. Bethan found that there was a substantial increase in children’s knowledge about plant classification as a result of participating in the drama workshop, as well as a significant increase in positive attitudes towards plants; while the non-drama workshops were also enjoyed by learners and contributed to learning, these did not share some of the benefits of the drama experience. The elements that especially benefited learning and enjoyment were the first-hand experiences with plants, physical qualities of the drama activities, problem-solving activities and participatory design of the drama workshop.

2016 - Not awarded

2015 Awardee – Sandra McInnes

Awarded to Dr Sandra McInnes, for her project entitled ‘Antarctic Tardigrades: vicariant survivors or recent invasion?’, attempting to answer questions often asked of the Antarctic flora and fauna such as 'where did it come from?', 'how long has it been in situ?' and, 'will it survive the current warming that is very evident in the Antarctic Peninsula region?'. Dr McInnes carried out this project in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey, combining classical taxonomy with molecular data to identify 150 individual specimens (50 Acutuncus antarcticus and 100 Macrobiotus furciger) from a range of sites along the Antarctic Peninsula. With the data for both species from these different sites, it may be possible to discern modern shifts in colonisation and whether the current warming of this region is reflected in the colonisation patterns.

2014 Awardees – John Edmondson, Tim Flowers and David A. S. Smith

Three awards were made in 2014 to:

Dr John Edmondson, to research and write the final volume (vol. 7) of Flora of Iraq, covering the families Boraginaceae, Scrophulariaceae and Laminaceae, as well as smaller related families.

Professor Tim Flowers, to make improvements to eHALOPH, a database of salt-tolerant plants, to increase its functionality and ease of use.

Dr David A. S. Smith, to investigate the evolutionary dynamics of the endosymbiotic male-killing bacterium, Spiroplasma ixodetis, that infects the African Queen Butterfly, Danaus chrysippus. This project involved establishing a breeding programme to provide material from two contrasting sites (Kitengela and Lolldaiga) plus observations on oviposition behaviour of females, and cannibalism by newly hatched larvae.