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The Houston Conchology Society presents
several awards and cash grants each year. Funds for these
grants and awards are derived from the HCS annual auction held
each March. The Society would like to thank the many contributors
and workers who make these auctions successful.
Periodically the HCS makes donations to the Houston Museum of
Natural Science for the continuing development of the Malacology
Department.
T. E. Pulley Award
In 2002 HCS
members established the T. E. Pulley award to honor his many
contributions to the club.
The late Dr. Tom Pulley was the Director of the Houston Museum
of Natural Science where he helped to establish the Museum’s
Malacology Department. He was instrumental in organizing the
Northwest Gulf of Mexico Marine Mollusk Survey during the
1960’s.
He was a
valuable asset to a young Houston Conchology Society. Dr.
Pulley taught malacology and conchology workshops at the
Museum. Many members joined the HCS after attending one of his
seminars. He was generous with his time. Members benefited
from his educational programs at meetings and from his
expertise on field trips. He was very supportive of the
Texas Conchologist and contributed articles to it.
Member Tina
Petway designed the T. E. Pulley Award to be presented to a shell show exhibitor
 for
an outstanding Texas marine shell. The award would be presented
in the name of an HCS member who has made
outstanding contributions to the club. The first T. E.
Pulley Award was presented in the name of Barbara Hudson.
The Sea
Shell Searchers of Brazoria County shell show was the venue for
the first award. Sea Shell Searchers member Irene Norris won
for her Busycon contrarium display.
Harry / McHenry Memorial
Award
At Dr. Harold W. Harry's urging, the Houston
Conchology Society created its first grant in 1991 to support
graduate research in malacology at both private and public Texas
institutions. After his retirement from the Marine Biology Department of Texas
A&M University, Dr. Harry was a research associate at the
Houston Museum of Natural Science and was an active member of
the Houston Conchology Society. Worldwide oysters were one of
his passions. He visited several major museums and helped them
organize their oyster collections. HCS members benefited from
his expertise through his presentations at meetings and his
articles in the Texas Conchologist. He was always
teaching and encouraging members to learn more about
malacology. After his death in
1996 the grant was named the Dr. Harold W. Harry Memorial Award.
Dr. John McHenry
(Biography to come)
As funding permits, a stipend of
$1,000.00 will be awarded each year to a full-time graduate
student studying marine, molluscan phylogeny, ecology, physiology, etc.
The graduate student must be enrolled in a Texas university or
college and must be researching marine, molluscan species
indigenous to the Gulf of Mexico.
The recipient may use these monies to help defray travel (e.g.,
meetings, field work, museum visits) and research expenditures
(e.g., supplies, electron microscope time, etc.)
Interested students must submit a completed
application form and a concise, one-page proposal
outlining their research. Recipients are encouraged
to submit a short paper for publication on this Website and to
present a program to the HSC. All paperwork must be
submitted by November 1. Announcement of the award will be
made by December 1.
Click
here for a printable copy of the application form.
Questions?
E-mail Tina Petway at
tpetway@hmns.org
Constance E. Boone Award
Connie was a founding
member of the Houston Conchology Society. During most of her
years of membership, she served as editor or co-editor of the
Texas Conchologist and wrote many of its articles. Through
the years she organized and participated in many club
activities. From 1996-1999 she served as the club’s president.
She shared her knowledge with club members, but she always
encouraged them to read and learn more about the shells they
collected. For many years she worked as a volunteer in the
Malacology Department of the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
After the death of Dr. T. E. Pulley, Connie became Curator of
the Department and held that position until her retirement in
1995. She was involved in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico Survey
that the Museum sponsored in the late 1960’s, and she directed
the first installation of the Strake Hall of Malacology at the
Museum. In the mid 1990's, Connie served as President for
AMU, a national organization for malacologists.
The annual Constance
E. Boone Grant to Malacology provides up to $1000 to qualified
persons undertaking research on recent marine mollusks.
Awards will be made
only to citizens or permanent residents of the Americas
(i.e., North, Central and South America), particularly to
undergraduate and graduate students who are enrolled in American
(i.e., North America, Central America, or South America)
universities or colleges.
The Houston
Conchology Society (HCS) Grants Committee judges applications.
Awards will be announced on the first of June each year.
If a grant is
awarded, the recipient must submit a summary of the
project progress to the chairperson of the Grants Committee
within one year of the award. This report should be at
least one page in length, reporting positive and/or negative
results. Recipients who do not comply with this
stipulation will be required to return
the award.
Grant recipients are
encouraged to submit a short paper concerning their research to
Tina Petway for publication in the scientific publications
section of the HCS webpage.
APPLICATION
INSTRUCTIONS
There
is no official application form. Applications should not exceed
5 single space pages and should include the following:
1)
Project
title;
2)
Project
summary – not to exceed 200 words;
3)
Proposal body, including background information (introduction)
necessary to understand the project and its significance, a
material and methods section, and the proposed research plan;
4)
Itemized budget of estimated expenses;
5)
Literature referenced; and
6)
One
page CV or resume including address, phone number, e-mail, etc.
All
students must submit a letter of recommendation from and
academic or professional source.
If
funding is being requested from several sources, an overall
budget for the project may be presented with items and total
amount requested from the HCS clearly indicated. Grants will not
cover salaries, overhead, expendable or permanent equipment,
conferences, or meeting costs.
Postmark deadline for applications is May 1 of each year.
Applications must be submitted in TRIPLICATE by regular mail
to: Tina Petway; Houston Museum of Natural Science; One Herman
Circle Dr.; Houston, TX 77030-1799
Questions?
E-mail Tina Petway at
tpetway@hmns.org
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