Salamander Chronicles

Well it has been a crazy month.  In all I applied for ~$75,000 in funding this year.  Much of this total came from applications submitted to 4 sources, National Geographic, National Science Foundation, the Explorer’s Club, and the Ohio University Student Enhancement Award, which all together totaled ~$63,000 .  I applied for several other smaller grants, but essentially without one of the large grants coming through I was going to be in serious trouble during the up coming field season.  During the final week of March I received rejections from most of these agencies including the National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant, which is not only very prestigious but also provides $12,000.  To put it lightly I was depressed and worried.

However, as it always seems to happen, with bad news came good news.  Despite already receiving an OCEES fellowship a few weeks earlier, which relieves me of teaching duties for a full semester, I was informed that I was awarded the Graduate College fellowship.  This fellowship is only awarded to 5 student in the university and provides a full year of tuition waivers and ~15,000 worth of service free stipend for the year.  This news really lifted my spirits  but I still needed money for research.  What good is time off from teaching if I do not have the money to do my research?

The end of the week rolled around and I assumed I would have to wait another weekend to find out about all of my pending grant applications, when Dr. Larry Witmer popped into my office to inform me that I received the Ohio University Student Enhancement Award!  This was a MAJOR relief because it provides $6,000 in research funds which would at least minimally support me for the rest of the year even if all my other grants fell through. Phew! relief has set in and now every other grant is just potential to improve my project.

Finally, on Tuesday April 2nd, I was notified that I once again received the Exploration Fund grant from the Explorers Club! This provides another $2,000 for my research which essentially ensures that I can deal with even unexpected problems this summer and still complete my field work as planned.  In all I have received $4,500 from the Explorers Club making them a big contributor to the success of my research.

I am still waiting to hear back from several other grants, but as of now I am comfortable, everything else will just be icing on the cake.

Essentially within a 2 week period I went from questioning my life in academia to a complete restoration of my confidence in myself and my project.  It is astonishing that many professors live so long and even continue working most of their lives, because I feel like I shave a year off my life every grant season dealing with these highs and lows.