GRANTS AND AWARDS

Supporting field-based entomology and recognising outstanding entomological achievements.

The following grants and awards are available from the Society:

GRANTS

AWARDS

  • The Marsh Award for Entomology – recognising individuals working with any invertebrate family that have made outstanding contributions to entomological science.
  • The BENHS Commemorative Gold Medal – awarded to people that have contributed significantly to the stated Objects of the Society in the field of natural history, especially entomology.

The Professor Hering Memorial Research Fund

Annual awards may be made from this Fund for the promotion of entomological research with particular emphasis on:

  • Leaf miners.
  • Diptera, particularly Tephritidae and Agromyzidae.
  • Lepidoptera, particularly microlepidoptera.
  • General entomology.

Successful applicants are required to provide a report to the Society within six months of the project’s completion, including high resolution JPEG images for use on the Society’s website. Publication of an article in the Society’s Journal or a poster presentation at the AGM or Annual Exhibition would be welcomed.

Awards may be made to assist travelling and other fieldwork expenses, for the study of collections, or, exceptionally, for the costs of publication of finished work. In total an award is unlikely to exceed £500 each year.

Applications

Applicants should email a covering letter with a statement of their qualifications, their plan of work and the precise objectives and amount of money for which an award is sought. Only one application is accepted for each research project per annum.

Please apply to the Society’s Grants Officer. Further information may be obtained from the same address.

The closing date for applications is 31st December each year and awards will be made in the following February.

 

This fund is named in memory of Professor Erich Martin Hering (1893 – 1967) and is financed by a generous bequest from his family.

Maitland Emmet BENHS Research Fund and Grants

The Society invites applications for grants from its Research Fund. Awards are open to both members and non-members and will be made to support research on insects and other invertebrates with reference to the British Fauna, and with an emphasis on:

  • Field work on insects or other invertebrates with relevance to their conservation.
  • Work leading to the production of identification guides and distribution lists.

Work on leaf miners and gall-forming insects should be submitted to the Society’s Professor Hering Memorial Research Fund. The work and travel is not limited to the British Isles but must have a demonstrable relevance to the British fauna. Travel to examine museum collections and to consult taxonomic specialists would be included.

Successful applicants are required to provide a report to the BENHS within six months of the project’s completion, including high resolution JPEG images for use on the Society’s website. Publication of an article in the Society’s Journal or a poster presentation at the AGM or Annual Exhibition would be welcomed.

Preference will be given to work with a clear final objective (e.g. leading to publication or the production of a habitat management plan). Individual grants are unlikely to exceed £1000.

Applications

Applicants should email a covering letter with a statement of their qualifications, their plan of work and the precise objectives and amount for which an award is sought. Only one application is accepted for each research project per annum.

Please apply to the Society’s Grants Officer. Further information may be obtained from the same address.

The closing date for applications is 31st December each year and awards will be made the following February.

This fund is named in memory of former BENHS President Colonel Arthur Maitland Emmet MBE (15 July 1908 – 3 March 2001) and is financed by a generous bequest from his family.

The BENHS student or early career travel bursary (closed)

As a contribution to our 150th anniversary this year, the British Entomological and Natural History Society was delighted to award three travel bursaries to support the next generation of entomologists. We wanted to be positive during our celebrations – ‘looking forward to the next 50 years’.

The bursaries were for student and early career entomologists wishing to further their career development to cover all reasonable travel costs and associated expenditure in the UK, or abroad, up to £750 per person.

This could be for an individual wishing to attend a conference or field meeting; to visit an individual or organisation; or to support the gathering of research data or some other valid proposal. Alternatively, it could fund a group activity or visit. Ideally, applicants would be existing members of the Society, but this is not essential.

Applications

Applications are now closed.

The awards are administered by the Society’s Grants Committee and successful candidates will be expected to communicate the benefits resulting from their bursary. This might be as an article in the Society’s British Journal of Entomology and Natural History or in a talk, blog, video, on Instagram, or in some other medium.

If you would like to apply, please email a covering letter to the Society’s Grants Officer. This should not exceed 500 words and include the precise objectives and amount for which a bursary is sought.

The closing date for applications is 31 May 2022 and awards will be made in June 2022. All of the funding should be spent in 2022.

The Marsh Award for Entomology

The winners of the Marsh Entomological Awards for 2022,
a joint collaboration between BENHS and the Marsh Charitable Trust,
presented by John Bennett, ambassador for the Marsh Charitable Trust were

Ian Wallace

Colin Pratt

Ivan Wright

The Marsh Entomology Award recognises individuals working with any invertebrate family that have made outstanding contributions to entomological science.

2022
Ian Wallace for his work on caddis flies. Ian has been recording caddisflies since the 1970s. In the intervening years he has visited every corner of the UK to make new records of this under-recorded group. Since establishing the national Caddisfly Recording Scheme, he has personally amassed over 410,000 records.

The second award was to Colin Pratt for his monumental and ongoing privately-published series of books on the Lepidoptera of Sussex. He has been the Lepidoptera Recorder for East and West Sussex for 47 years. Starting with the ‘History of the Butterflies and Moths of Sussex’ in 1981, Colin went on to research, write, produce and self-publish ‘A Complete History of the Butterflies and Moths of Sussex’ (4 volumes, published 2011 – 2014, A4 format, 2173pp). This monumental series, ground-breaking in scope and content, and unmatched as a County Lepidoptera record, took over 27 years of full-time work and was entirely self-funded. Not a man to rest on his laurels Colin is currently researching and writing ‘A Revised History of the Butterflies and Moths of Sussex’. Colin’s contribution to our knowledge and understanding of the Lepidoptera of Sussex has been immense and his books provide an unrivalled resource for all of those seeking data on this group of insects. He is truly an ‘unsung hero’ in the world of Entomology.

The third award was to Ivan Wright for helping set the Shotover Wildlife Trust. He has been a key trust member, documenting Shotover’s species and history, raising awareness of its importance as a wildlife refuge, and vocally advocating for its protection through local councils over a period of > 20 years. Ivan specialises in Hymenoptera and has worked on the British fauna for 20+ years. He has actively supported and trained numerous students and gives generously of his time. He co-authored the book SHOTOVER: The Life of an Oxfordshire Hill (2018).

The British Entomological and Natural History Society Commemorative Gold Medal


Commissioned in 2022 to commemorate 150 years since the foundation of the British Entomological and Natural History Society (formerly the South London Entomological Society) in 1872.

The Gold Medal is awarded to a person who in the opinion of the President and the Council has made an outstanding contribution to Entomology and Natural History.

Initiated by John Phillips in memory of his wife Sylvia and by Tony Pickles in memory of his wife Cathy, whilst also serving as a lasting token of appreciation of their membership of the Society over many years.

A contribution to the Society’s 150th anniversary celebrations 1872 – 2022.