Ivory items are displayed for sale. Some ivory can be legally sold in the U.S. - for instance, antiques more than a hundred years old. A new report says the U.S. is the second-largest retail market for ivory, much of it sold illegally through legal loopholes and lax enforcement.

Administered by National Geographic Mission Programs, the NGS/Waitt Grants Program makes grants between $5,000 and $15,000 for exploratory research - below is a list of the most recent awards granted. To date, the program has funded over 150 field projects. For more information on the program, please visit the NGS/Waitt Grants section of our website.

Grantee: Carlos Garcia Robledo
Project: Using DNA Barcodes to Model Tropical Plant Extinctions and Co-extinction Cascades of Associated Insect Herbivores Under Projected Climate Change.
Abstract: Tropical ecosystems are losing species at an un­precedented rate. The main driver of biodiversity loss is co-extinction: the loss of species as a result of the extinction of species upon which they depended. Global warming is ex­pected to increase extinction rates. Unfortunately, the effect of climate change on biodiversity loss through co-extinction remains unknown. During global warming, tropical biota will depend on altitudinal migrations to find habitats that fit their physiological requirements. One group of organisms highly susceptible to co-extinctions is insect herbivores because their life cycles are intimately bound to their host plants. This project will model altitudinal range shifts, range attritions, extinctions of host plants and co-extinctions of insect herbi­vores as a result of altitudinal shifts in response to climate change. This study will be performed in the Barva Transect (Costa Rica), the largest altitudinal transect of primary forest in Central America. The study will use plants in the Zingiberales and their associated insect herbivores, the Cephaloleia beetles (Chrysomelidae), as a model system. This is a well-studied, charismatic, tropical plant-herbivore interaction. By combin­ing altitudinal records and novel DNA barcoding techniques to determine insect herbivore diets, the objectives of the research are: (1) to project expected host plant range shifts and extinctions over the altitudinal gradient and (2) to estimate changes in diet breadth and co-extinction rates of insect herbivores.

Grantee: Daniel Sturgis
Project: Linking the Drainage of an Ice-Marginal Lake to the Subglacial System.
Abstract: The occurrence and magnitude of glacier outburst floods are expected to increase with an increase in melt water production and glacier thinning. This could have a catastrophic effect on communities living below mountain glaciers in Europe, Central Asia, and the Americas. Though the mechanisms that cause glacier outburst floods are well documented, there is a lack of field observations to con­strain models that route flood waters beneath the glacier ice. We propose a study that incorporates field observations and numerical modeling to investigate the link between the subglacial drainage system and the drainage of an ice-mar­ginal lake. Field methods will consist of drilling to the bed of Lemon Creek Glacier, Alaska, to monitor the characteristics of the subglacialsystem before, during, and after a lake drainage event. We also propose to utilize borehole pump­ingtests to estimate the hydraulic properties and connection of the subglacial system.

Grantee: Samuel Wasser
Project: Elephant Ivory Project: uncovering poaching hotspots in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Abstract: The Elephant Ivory Project will conduct field research and sample collection in the difficult to access habitats of Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and aid innovative wildlife forensics programs in their research of the illegal killing of elephants and the ivory trade. The EIP will help fill critical gaps in a DNA reference map of African elephants by collecting elephant dung samples for subse­quent DNA extraction. DNA mapping allows the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology, to pinpoint poaching hotspots and identify ivory trade routes by ana­lyzingDNA from tusks seized in illegal shipments of ivory and comparing the DNA to the continent-wide reference map. A highly effective way to contain this illegal trade is to determine where the wildlife is being removed. This allows authorities to direct law enforcement to poaching hotspots, potentially stops trade before the wildlife is actually killed, prevents countries from denying their poaching problems at home, and thwarts trade before it enters into an increas­ingly complex web of international criminal activity. DNA assignment analysis can determine product origin, but its use has been limited by error associated with assignment of samples to locations where reference samples are lacking. The Elephant Ivory Project aims to fill in these holes in the reference sample collections.

Grantee: Pedro Miguel Da Costa
Project: Delineating regions of high diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: DNA sequencing an ecological assemblage using next-generation technology.
Abstract: Evidence suggests that tropical forests have changed drastically during the last 20,000 years. Accord­ingly, some areas that are today forested were replaced by savanna during earlier climatic periods. In these regions, it is expectedthat the genetic diversity of forest-obligate organisms remains lower than in locations that did not lose forest cover. In the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, which has been almost extirpated within its modern distribution and where the highest human pressures are also aggregated, choices must often be made regardingareas in which to concentrate preservation efforts. Therefore, a robust analy­sis identifying locations of highest genetic diversity holds great practical importance for the future sustainability of spe­cies in the Atlantic Forest biome. New technologies enable both efficient collectionof mosquitoes and simultaneous, high-throughput sequencing of their DNA. The analysis of dozens of taxa from a single habitat assemblage can pro­vide a powerful metric for the evolutionary history of entire biomes. In the context of forest-obligate species, a large number of taxa can be used to genetically track the history of the habitats.

Grantee: Joana Boavida
Project: Mapping Biodiversity of Deep Ma­rine Habitats.
Abstract: Rocky reefs below 30 meters depth aren’t well ex­ploreddue to the technical challenge their study represents. This project will explore reefs between 30 and 70 meters depth along the Portuguese continental coast, with hydroac­coustics and a team of exploration divers with scientific training. Video and photographic surveys will be made, as well as collectionof samples for genetics and taxonomy. The project will contribute with information for national marinemanagers, by creatingspeciesdistributionmaps of each reef and their conservation status. Currently, most Portu­guesecoastline has some level of legal protection from 0 to 30 meters depth. However, there are many deeper habitats which are important to protect (Habitat 1170 Natura 2000). Deep rocky reefs may act as suppliers of fish and other organisms for shallower reefs and also may be isolated by sand, forming underwater islands that could contribute for developingunique populations and species. It is possible to find new distributionlimits for speciesassociated with deep habitats, since not much is known about who lives there. Some of these organisms, especially those livingin deep and dark caves, may produce compounds worth investigat­ing for biomedicine. This is a cooperation project among scientists (University of Algarve, CIBIO-Azores, University of Aveiro, IFREMER, Harbour Branch Oceanographic Insti­tute), divers (Entrada GUE affiliate), NGOs (LPN), private companies (Gobius, Subnauta, Scubaquatica, Anthhia DivingCenter) and governmental organizations (CCMAR, ICNB, City Halls), where each is giving a significant contribu­tion for the project to succeed.

Grantee: Catherine Kleier
Project: Threatened Giant Cushion Plants in the Northern Andes.
Abstract: The team will study the world’s largest cush­ion plant, llareta, in Parque Nacional Lauca. Mining and degazettement of this park threaten llaretahabitat. Very little is known about the range and distributionof this plant, particularly the highest altitudes where it is found and the germinationrate. The researchers will travel to Chile and determine the plant’s range, distribution, germination, and use by the local people.

Total Awards (2008 - Present): 154

Total Awards by Discipline:

Archaeology - 31
Biology - 53
Geography - 8
Geology - 9
Nautical Archaeology, Underwater - 15
Oceanography, Biological - 17
Oceanography, Physical - 6
Paleontology - 15

Total Awards by Region:

Africa / Madagascar - 26
Asia - 26
Atlantic Ocean - 1
Central America / Caribbean - 27
Europe - 7
North America - 35
Oceania - 8
South America - 24