The Society for Ethnobotany

Fostering research and education on the past, present, and future uses of plants by people.


Conference and Travel Assistance Awards

To support our members, the Society of Economic Botany is offering awards to offset the cost of attending the conference.

There are 3 types of awards available:

1) Student/Postdoc Conference Awards
This form of award includes registration for the conference (including a banquet ticket), one half-day or full-day field trip, and dorm housing for the duration of the conference. The Awards Committee may change the number of day trips depending upon the schedule at a particular conference. Attendees who decide to stay at an accommodation other than dorm housing will only be awarded the conference registration package.

Eligibility: A) Must be a current student member of the society and B) be currently enrolled in a graduate program (masters or doctoral students are eligible) or within one year after graduation (if you are between one- and two-years post graduation and wish to be considered, please contact a Council member to be considered) or be currently employed as a post-doctoral fellow. Note that your letter of support from your primary mentor must verify this status.

Expectations: Award recipients are expected to present their research (poster or oral presentation) at the conference. They are also expected to write a brief account of their experience at the meeting for the SEB newsletter.

2) Developing Nations Conference Awards
This form of award includes registration for the conference (including a banquet ticket), one half-day or full-day field trip, and dorm housing for the duration of the conference. The Awards Committee may change the number of day trips depending upon the schedule at a particular conference. Attendees who decide to stay at an accommodation other than dorm housing will only be awarded the conference registration package.

Eligibility: A) Must be a current member of the society and B) be currently registered as a member from a least developed country (full list by UN) or a country recently impacted by a major natural disaster. Note that your letter of support must verify this status.

Expectations: Award recipients are expected to present their research (poster or oral presentation) at the conference. They are also expected to write a brief account of their experience at the meeting for the SEB newsletter.

3) Travel assistance awards
SEB will provide up to six travel assistance awards. Each award is up to $800 each. These awards are designed to assist members to travel to the SEB annual conference.

For airfare, the award reimburses travel expenses and the awardee must send the receipt for travel via email to Heather Cacanindin (hcacanindin@botany.org) two weeks or less prior to the conference in order to be reimbursed. If the travel expenses are $800 or less, the full amount on the receipt(s) is reimbursed. If the travel expenses are more than $800, then $800 will be reimbursed. The reimbursement cheque will be disbursed at the conference.

For car travel, the award will reimburse for mileage at the federal rate and will not exceed the maximum of $800 or the cost of coach fare purchased two weeks or less prior to the date of the conference. The reimbursement cheque will be disbursed at the conference.

This award may be applied for individually, or may be applied for in addition to a Student/Postdoc or Developing Nation Conference Award.

Eligibility: A) Must be a current student member of the society and B) be currently enrolled in a graduate program (masters or doctoral students are eligible) or within one year after graduation (if you are between one- and two-years post graduation and wish to be considered, please contact a Council member to be considered) or be currently employed as a post-doctoral fellow. Note that your letter of support from your primary mentor must verify this status.

Expectations: Award recipients are expected to present their research (poster or oral presentation) at the conference. They are also expected to write a brief account of their experience at the meeting for the SEB newsletter.


Application Process

Applicants must assemble the following pieces of information, and submit all as a merged (single file) PDF document in the following order:

  1. Conference Abstract. Follow the SEB abstract guidelines for formatting. Abstracts must also be submitted through the web portal;

  2. Curriculum Vitae. Be sure to include a list of publications. Submitted publications which are currently in review may also be included. Publications “in-progress” should NOT be included on the CV;

  3. Statement of Interest. The statement of interest should be no longer than 1 single page. Applicants should address the following in their statement: 1) How your research is relevant to members of the Society for Economic Botany; 2) How attendance at this particular meeting is important to your career development; 3) How have you been involved in the SEB until now and how do you plan to be involved in the future?;

  4. Letter of Support. Your letter of support should come from your primary mentor/advisor or department chair. Letters must also confirm your current status as either an enrolled student or employment as a post-doctoral fellow (for the Student/Postdoc Conference Award) or your status as being a member from a least developed country (for the Developing Nations Conference Award).

  • Save your PDF file as “LAST NAME_FIRST NAME”.

Please indicate clearly in your application which award(s) you are applying for.


Submission details (follow these carefully!):

These awards now open, deadline to apply is April 1, 2022 at 12 pm (noon) EST. Please note that you are not required to have registered for the conference before applying. Winners will be announced by April 10, 2022.

Applications should be submitted by e-mail as a single PDF file attachment in the above listed order to karsten.fatur@gmail.com. Please write “SEB Conference Awards” in the email subject header. Again, make sure to save your PDF file as “LAST NAME_FIRST NAME” and that you have clearly indicated in your application which award(s) you are applying for.

Confirmation for receipt of the application will follow by email. Note that you are also required to submit a presentation/poster abstract via the web portal (check the conference website for the due date).

Applications that do not meet the above-described format or that are submitted in multiple file attachments will not be considered for review. Likewise, any late applications will not be considered for review.

Any questions regarding these awards can be addressed to seb@econbot.org.