Georgia Aquarium Inc.

09/17/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2021 18:20

Dr. Gregory D. Bossart Memorial One Health Scholarship

A $5,000 USD Dr. Greg Bossart Memorial Scholarship is available to a graduate student in wildlife biology, epidemiology, veterinary, medical, public health, basic or social sciences or other post-graduate program focusing on the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment using a One Health framework. Funds will be awarded in November 2021.

Greg Bossart, DVM, Ph.D. was a highly respected veterinarian, pathologist, and conservationist committed to advancing the understanding of marine mammals as sentinels of ocean and human health. With a career spanning 30 years and over 200 publications, Dr. Bossart identified resurgent and emerging diseases in dolphins, manatees, birds, and whales. His research and innovative techniques helped characterize the first viral diseases in manatees and he was responsible for developing the first immunohistochemical technique for diagnosing brevetoxicosis (red tide poisoning) in both marine mammals and birds.

Dr. Bossart was a dedicated proponent of the One Health concept and approach which was a prominent theme in his long-running Atlantic bottlenose dolphin Health and Environmental Risk Assessment (HERA) project. Started in 2003, HERA was developed to monitor how dolphin health in coastal habitats is impacted by environmental stressors and how those stressors potentially also impact human health. His contributions to the study of marine mammal health are far-reaching, and through this scholarship, Georgia Aquarium is committed to honoring Dr. Bossart's One Health legacy.

Eligibility & Requirements

  1. Applicant must be a student currently registered in a post-graduate program (toward MSc, PhD, DVM, MPH, MD, or equivalent, clinical or research degrees) and working on a project that encompasses the One Health model and/or addresses a One Health topic.
  2. Funds can be used to support research or educational costs (tuition, fieldwork supplies, analytical costs, conference travel, etc.) and should be outlined in the application materials.

How to Apply

Interested applicants should submit (as a single pdf packet):

  1. A Project Narrative (not to exceed 1500 words) that includes: Abstract, Background / Introduction, Project Goals, Methods, Importance/Contribution, How the proposed work fits within the One Health framework, Use of funds
  2. A current CV.
  3. A letter from the graduate program that the student has been accepted into or is enrolled in demonstrating their good standing
  4. One letter of recommendation from a faculty member or clinician who is familiar with the student's work.

Application materials should be submitted electronically by October 15, 2021 to: