To apply:

Applicants must be Cushman Foundation members at the time of application.

For presentations on research, please provide these five items: 1) a statement of no more than two pages, including the abstract of your presentation, the workshop description (if applicable), the name and dates of the meeting/workshop you wish to attend, why this is an appropriate event; 2) an itemized estimate of expenses for airfare/vehicle between the home institution and city of venue, shared room at a moderately priced hotel, abstract fee, and registration or meeting fee at the members’ early registration rate (if applicable); 3) an itemization of all other sources and amounts of travel funds available (e.g., dept. or college student travel funds); 4) a one-page curriculum vitae; and 5) A signed letter of support sent by your faculty advisor that certifies your work as worthy of presentation, and explains why. No award for presentations will be made for more than $2000.

For attending a workshop, please provide these five items: 1) a statement of no more than one page, including the name and dates of the meeting/workshop you wish to attend, the workshop description, and why this is an appropriate event; 2) an itemized estimate of expenses for airfare/vehicle between the home institution and city of venue, shared room at a moderately priced hotel, and registration or meeting fee at the members’ early registration rate (if applicable); 3) an itemization of all other sources and amounts of travel funds available (e.g., dept. or college student travel funds); 4) a one-page curriculum vitae; and 5) A signed letter of support sent by your faculty advisor that certifies that your attendance is related to microfossils or the organisms that make them, and explains why. No award for attending a workshop will be made for more than $500.

For all applications, in the case of a recent Ph.D., the advisor's letter must verify the date that the degree was awarded. The number of applicants may affect award amounts. The Board of Directors reserves the right to make no awards or to make awards that differ from the requested budget. Application materials should be sent to the Cushman Foundation by email in the form of one pdf file of the entire application. For fall and winter meetings, please send the materials to be received by August 15th, and for spring and summer meetings by February 15th. If, by the deadline, an application is missing any of the five required items, it will not be considered for funding. Submit items to cushmanfoundation@gmail.com.

The Joseph A. Cushman Award
for Student Travel
 

The Cushman Foundation offers Student and Retiree Research and Travel Grants. Deadline for applications are as follows:

  • Student research grant proposals (Cushman, Loeblich and Tappen, and Sliter Awards) are due 1 March. 
  • Student Travel Awards applications for Fall and Winter meetings are due 15  August.
  • Student Travel Awards applications for Spring and Summer meetings are duie 15 February.

Proposals are judged upon scientific merit and financial need. A description of the awards and details on applying, are available via the links below.  The CFFR considers only individual merit and does not discriminate in any way in making these grants.  Click on the titles for more information and past grantees.

A letter reporting the progress of the awardee and use of the Foundation's funds is expected within two years after the award. The Board of Directors encourages awardees to submit their results to one of the Foundation's publications and requests that acknowledgment of the award be included in any thesis, dissertation or publication that results from work supported by an award of the Foundation.


Student Travel Award deadlines: 
For Fall and Winter meetings, deadline is August 15th
For Spring and Summer meetings is February 15th.

Spring 2024 Joseph A. Cushman Award for Student Travel

Lazar Botond, Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania

Arianna Del Guadio, University of Graz,Austria

Rahul Dwivedi, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, India

Elsa Girard, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Katie Jamson, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Jing Lyu, University of Munster

Angelique Marin, University of South Florida, USA

Raúl Trejos-Tamayo, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain

Solomon Avong, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria

Francisco Harguindeguy, National University of La Plata, Argentina

Rohan Subba, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

2023 Joseph A. Cushman Award for Student Travel

Fabiana Almeida Federal University of Espirito Santo Brazil

Samantha Bombard University of Massachusetts USA

Martina Caratelli Universidad Nacional de Río Negro Argentina

Serena Dameron University of Massachusetts USA

Jeanette De Cuba Florida International University USA

Vasiliki Dimou Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece

Monica Duque-Castano Universidade do Algarve Portugal

Katherine Faulkner University of Texas at Austin USA

Trenity Ford Oklahoma State University USA

Antonella Gandolfi Università degli Studi di Genova Italy

Eleanor Goetz Yale University USA

Charles (Guy) Goodwin Texas A&M University at Galveston USA

Nicté Guttierez Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Mexico 

Daniel Holguin-Caldera Wesleyan University 

Vasilisa Krekova Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Israel

Angelique Marin University of South Florida USA

Giulia Molina Universidade do Algarve Portugal

Jean-Charles Pavard University of Lille France

Mostafa Sayed University of Vienna Austria

Jamie Suarez-Ibarra Univerzita Karlova, Prague Czech Republic

Raúl Trejos-Tamayo Universidad de Salamanca Spain

Clément Tremblin University of Western Australia Australia

Maoli Vizcaino Yale University USA

Tamires Zardin Unisinos University Brazil

Sneha Manda Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Israel

Doron Pinko Ben-Gurion University Israel

Harshit Singh Banaras Hindu University India

Christian Gfatter   Florida State University USA

Emily Havard North Carolina State University USA

Patricia Standring University of Texas at Austin USA

Stacy Yager Ball State University USA

2022 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Travel

DeCuba, Jeanette, "Tubular Agglutinated Foraminifera as Potential Indicators of Oil Spills," Florida International University, USA.

Donnenfield, Jonas, "Drivers of margin hypoxia in the late Pleistocene-Holocene North Pacific," Oregon State University, USA.

Mulqueeny, James, "A Transition to Automated Phenotypic Methods," University of Southampton & Natural History Museum, London, UK.

Rohret, Shari, "Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblages in Karst Subterranean Estuaries of The Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico," Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program, USA.

Todd, Chloe, "Do biotic controls buffer against climate-driven extinction threats?" University of Southampton, UK.

2021 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Travel

Londono, Vanessa, “Enhanced Paleoproductivity during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 at IODP Site U1407, Southeast Newfoundland Ridge",Florida International University, USA.

Szymańska, Natalia, "Foraminiferal contribution to sedimentary carbon pool in high-latitude fjords,." Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland (visiting at Florida International University, USA).

Vincett, William, "Biostratigraphy and Paleoecology of the Vincentown, Manasquan, and Shark River Formations of Northern Kent County, Delaware,." University of Delaware, USA.

2019 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Travel

Khamesis, Belkasim, “Biostratigraphy and paleoenvironment of the Late Paleocene foraminifera of the "Toulmin Bed" of the Salt Mountain Limestone, Clarke County, Alabama," and "A new record of Late Paleocene Ranikothalia cantenula from the Salt Mountain Limestone, Clarke County, Alabama.” Ball State University, USA.

Londoño, Vanessa, "Microfossil response to mid-Cretaceous Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 at North Atlantic IODP Site U1407." Florida International University, Miami, USA.

Sarkar, Ria, "A high-resolution study of the last deglaciation at Eirik and Gardar drifts: Evidence of changing water masses from planktonic foraminiferal faunal analysis and geochemical proxies." Rutgers University, USA.

Schilling, Solveig, "A dynamic Kuroshio Current during the Pliocene." University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA.

Seidenstein, Julia, "Quaternary paleoceanography of the Ross Sea, Antarctica based on benthic and planktic foraminifera (Site U1523)." University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA.

Gudnitz, Maria, "Pristine to modern: A comparison of shallow-water modern and mid-Holocene benthic foraminiferal assemblages from coastal Bocas del Toro, Panama." Florida International University, Miami, USA.

Verlaak, Zoë R. F., "The history and prospects of habitat change due to sea level rise for Florida's coastal Everglades, using benthic foraminiferal assemblages." Florida International University, Miami, USA.

2018 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Travel

Bayrón-Arcelay, Margarette, “Contrasting the spatial distribution of dead and live foraminiferal assemblages: applying geostatistics” and “Morphological response of benthic foraminifera to sediment composition: applying geometric morphometric for potential bio-monitoring.” Florida A&M University, USA.

Bukenberger, Patrick, “Living inside a sponge: Foraminifera at the Karasik Seamount (Central Arctic Ocean).” University of Vienna, Austria.

Burke, Janet, “Factors influencing porosity in planktonic foraminifera.” Yale University, USA.

Chernihovsky, Natalie, “Seasonal flux patterns of planktonic foraminifera in a deep, oligotrophic, marginal sea: sediment trap time series from the Gulf of Aqaba, north Red Sea.” Hebrew University, Israel.

Deldicq, Noémie, “Benthic foraminfera to assess ecological quality status in the salmon farm of the “Rade de Cherbourg” (France),” and “Is the foraminiferal species resembling Nonionella stella a non-indigenous species (NIS) in the Oslofjord (Norway)?.” University Lille, France.

El bani Altuna, Naima, “The morphotypes of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma: isotopic signature and distribution patterns in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and adjacent regions.” Arctic University of Norway.

Gamboa Sojo, Viviana Maria, “Last decades’ warming evidence in the NW Barent Sea (Arctic).” Firenze University, Italy.

Glaubke, Ryan, “Utilizing individual foraminiferal analysis to investigate the history of the El Niño – Southern Oscillation.” Old Dominion University, USA.

Kenigsberg, Chen, “The effect of brine discharge by desalination plants on shallow marine ecosystems: benthic foraminifera as a case study.” Ben-Gurion University, Israel.

Lam, Adriane, “A new high-resolution Late Neogene mid-latitude planktic foraminiferal biostratigraphy, Shatsky Rise, Northwest Pacific.” University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.

Lis, Michael, “Glacial-interglacial changes in the thermocline structure of the Makassar Straits: implications for changes in the Indonesian Through Flow.” University of South Carolina, USA.

Livsey, Caitlin, “Investigating ontogenetic calcite δ180 and Mg/Ca variability in Neogloboquadrina pachyderma.” University of California, Davis, USA.

Nagai, Yukiko, “Formation process of organic membrane within calcareous test and early calcium carbonate deposition of benthic foraminifera Ammonia.” Yokohama National University, Japan.

Scheiner, Filip, “Temperature and isotopic composition of seawater in the epicontinental sea (Central Paratethys) during the Middle Miocene Climate Transition, based on foraminiferal Mg/Ca, δ18O and δ13C.” Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.

Sider, Maria, “Benthic foraminiferal response to anthropogenic coastal change: Almirante Bay, Bocas del Toro, Panama.” Florida International University, USA.

Smith, Christopher, “Effects of selected heavy metals on shallow-water benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Sapelo Island, Georgia and Little Duck Key, Florida (USA): An investigation using the propagule method.” University of Georgia, Athens, USA.

Tadir, Roni, “Evolutionary trends of Late Cretaceous planktonic foraminifera species Pseudotextularia nuttalli.” Ben-Gurion University, Israel.<

Titelboim, Danna, “Temperature sensitivity of benthic foraminifera as a limiting factor of biogeographic invasion and expansion of species.” Ben-Gurion University, Israel.

Woodhouse, Adam, “Death in the oceans: extinction risk in the marine realm.” University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

2017 Joseph A. Cushman Awards for Student Travel

Megan Fung, “Exploring Early Eocene Hyperthermals from three onshore coreholes on the New Jersey Paleo-Continental Shelf (ODP 174AX).” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA.

Krystyna Kornecki, “Microfossils in Lake George, NY sediments: Calibrating paleo-biomonitors with modern measurements.” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA.

Thomas Kosciuch, "Sedimentological and micropaleontological characteristics of the 2015 Hurricane Joaquin deposit: implications for long-term records of storms and tsunamis impacting the Caribbean." University of Southern Mississippi, USA.

Adriane Lam, “Late Neogene History of the Kuroshio Current Extension, ODP Sites 1207, 1208, and 1209, Shatsky Rise, Northwest Pacific Ocean.” University of Massachusetts, USA.

Philip Lamela, “Foraminifera of the Cannonball Formation of North Dakota: Evidence of the Last Marine Incursion of the Western Interior Seaway.” Florida International University, USA.

Hannah Palmer, "Utilizing microfossil community ecology to understand spatial and temporal changes in the San Diego margin oxygen minimum zone." University of California at Davis, USA.

Maria Sider, “Benthic Foraminiferal Facies of a Caribbean, mid-Holocene Coral Reef in Panama: Baseline Data for Identifying Changes in Water Quality.” Florida International University, USA.

Christopher Smith, "Effect of selected heavy metal elements on shallow-water benthic foraminiferal assemblages from Sapelo Island, Georgia and Little Duck Key, Florida: an investigation using the propagule method." University of Georgia, USA.

Elizabeth Tedder Wood, "Holocene benthic foraminiferal assemblages of tidal-inlet deposits along Cedar Island, VA, USA: insights into storm impacts, breach dynamics, and inlet evolution." George Mason University, USA.

Zoe Verlaak, “Influence of the Benthic Foraminiferal Biocoenosis on Fossil Assemblages in the Southwestern Everglades.” Florida International University, USA

2016 Joseph A. Cushman Award for Student Travel

Anieke Brombacher, “Biogeographic range shifts in three species of planktonic foraminifera during the intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation.” University of South Hampton, UK.

Imogen Browne, “Late Holocene ocean temperatures and hydrography of the Western Antarctic Peninsula shelf.” University of South Florida, USA.

Laurie Charrieau, “Drivers and Impact of Coastal Ocean Acidification.” Lund University, Sweden.

Serena Dameron, “Surface ocean acidification prior to K/Pg boundary, a volcanic-induced event.” UMASS – Amherst, USA.

John Doherty, “The foraminiferan Baculogypsina sphaerulata as an indicator of water quality in Guam.” American University, USA.

Christian Gfatter, “Utilizing Image Recognition Technology for Foraminiferal Assemblage Analysis.” University of South Florida, USA.

Caitlin Hanley, “Observed Assemblage Patterns of Foraminifera on the southeast Florida reef tract; Implications of a Species Preferred Substrate.” University of Georgia, USA.

Caitlin Keating-Bitonti, “Patterns of benthic foraminiferal embryo and adult size variations across modern North American environmental gradients.” Stanford University, USA.

Benjamin Ross, “Observations of the symbiont-bearing foraminifer Amphistegina gibbosa utilizing CellTracker Green and epifluorescent microscopy.” University of South Florida, USA.

Maria Sider, “Benthic Foraminiferal Facies of a Caribbean, mid-Holocene Coral Reef, Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro, Panama.” Florida International University, USA.

Christopher Smith, “The Characteristics and Distribution of Encrusting Foraminifera at Cat Island, Bahamas.” University of Georgia, USA.

Paris Stefanoudis, "Ice-rafted dropstones on hills enhance mesoscale benthic formainiferal diversity at abyssal depths" AND "Hills and plains: the influence of topography on deep-sea benthic foraminiferal assemblages." Southampton University, UK.