Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania

2025 BSWP Allison Cusick Student Research Award

Founded in 1886, the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania (BSWP) is one of the oldest botanical organizations in the country. To continue this long history of botanical curiosity and education, BSWP is excited to support undergraduate student research on the flora of Western Pennsylvania.

This award is named in honor of Allison Cusick for his enthusiastic and steadfast support of botanical research and education in our region. Allison is a dedicated member of the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania, expert in the flora of the region, and former chief botanist of the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. 

Please consider donating to the student research fund to allow us to continue to support budding botany students in our region. A link to donate can be found on the membership renewal page of the BSWP website https://www.botsocwpa.org/membership.php

Award Eligibility: Students enrolled in an undergraduate degree program or within one year of receiving an undergraduate degree. Either student or the student’s research mentor must be a member of the society. To become a member or to renew a membership, please visit https://www.botsocwpa.org/membership.php

Scope: Research on any aspect of botany in Western Pennsylvania or immediate region. Projects may be broader in scale than Western Pennsylvania but must include at least one species found in the region. Any combination of field, greenhouse, lab or herbarium work is supported.  

Amount: $1000 per award, but higher amounts may be considered based on need. At least 3 awards are expected to be given in 2025. Funds can be used in any way toward the proposed project, such as travel, equipment, supplies, or as a stipend.

Application Materials

1) a title page listing student’s name, school affiliation (including major and anticipated graduation date), and research advisor’s name and proposal title; 

2) a project description (max 2 pages), including summary of project, timeline of activities, itemized budget, and references cited;

3) one letter of recommendation from the student’s research advisor.

Student applicant and/or research mentor must be a BSWP member at the time of application. 

Awards will be made on a competitive basis with the applications reviewed by the Awards Committee. Should a member of the committee be the research advisor of an applicant, he/she will be excused as a reviewer for that proposal.

Awardees are expected to provide a paragraph summary of their project to be published in Wildflowers (BSWP biannual bulletin) and will be encouraged to present their research at a BSWP meeting featuring student awardees (likely in spring 2026).

All materials should be sent electronically to the BSWP Awards Committee at heberlingm@carnegiemnh.org.

Please include title page and project description in a single PDF. The letter of recommendation may be sent separately from the student’s materials.

The deadline is April 4, 2025. We anticipate announcing awards by April 25.