Submitted by Carmyn de Jonge on Mon, 19/07/2021 - 10:36
Tony Whitten (1953–2017) was an inspirational conservationist who championed biodiversity across Asia and beyond, working as Senior Biodiversity Specialist at the World Bank and more recently as Director of Fauna and Flora International’s Asia-Pacific programme. Alongside helping run conservation projects across Asia Tony did world-class work on the discovery and conservation of limestone cave invertebrates – saving many species from obliteration by the region’s rapidly expanding cement industry, establishing the IUCN Cave Invertebrate Specialist Group, and having at least 33 new species named in his honour. As a tribute to him, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative is delighted to invite applications for the third and final round of this award scheme recognising outstanding early career conservationists and biodiversity researchers from East and South-east Asia.
The Award is open to those under the age of 35 working on any area of conservation or of field biology within this region. A selection panel has been established by Tony’s family. Awards will be made for specific assistance to the ongoing work of successful applicants. The panel is particularly interested in hearing about work on the overlooked species and habitats that Tony was most passionate about – such as caves and karst ecosystems, and little-studied invertebrates and fishes – but all applications are welcome, regardless of where in the region and on what aspects of conservation or field biology the work is focused. The fund is able to provide five awards of GBP 2,000 each. Applicants should be nationals of Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste or Vietnam.
Learn more about the 2020 winners here: 2020 Winners
Learn more about the 2019 winners here: 2019 Winners
