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North Shore District Group

Scholarship


Val Williams Scholarship in Botany

The Val Williams Scholarship in Botany is sponsored by the North Shore Group of the Australian Plants Society. The Scholarship honours the memory of our former esteemed member, Val Williams (1937-2004). There is a wonderful account of Val's life and achievements on the Australian Flora Foundation website here.

Applications are sought firstly from Honours students and also from Masters or PhD students undertaking research at universities in the Sydney region.

The project must contribute to the knowledge of the ecology, conservation or propagation of native plants in the Sydney and surrounding regions.

See below for details of the 2024 winner and a link to earlier years.

Round Seventeen - 2025

Applications for the 2025 Scholarship have closed.

Val Williams Scholarship in Botany $3,500

This scholarship is awarded by the North Shore Group of the Australian Plants Society to Honours, Masters and PhD students of Botany.

Applications for the 2025 scholarship close on 7th March 2025. Scholarship conditions are described in the 2025 scholarship application forms. Application forms for the 2025 scholarship are available as pdf or word files.

VW Scholarship Application Information 2025.docx

VW Scholarship Application Information 2025.pdf

VW Scholarship Application Form 2025.docx

VW Scholarship Application Form 2025.pdf

Please note: No part of this scholarship can be used to cover administration costs.  

Application Time line for Round Seventeen:

  • 7 March 2025 – Applications close
  • 30 March 2025 – Assessment of applications completed
  • 3 April 2025 – Successful applicant is notified
  • 16 April 2025 – Remaining applicants notified

More information: email: vws.scholarship@gmail.com, Phone: 0415 043 671 


Val Williams Scholarship in Botany - Recipient 2025 Natalie Allen

Growing up I always had a love for science, but it wasn’t until my high school work experience placement with the Australian Botanic Gardens that I discovered my passion for plants and conservation research. It was this moment that inspired me to undertake an undergraduate degree in ecology at the University of New South Wales, where I am now engaged in an Honours research project focused on ecology and conservation in threatened native plants.

Humans continue to drive changes in our natural environments. Fragmented urban landscapes, such as the greater Sydney region, place threatened plant populations at a greater risk of becoming isolated and requiring extensive conservation intervention. One of the major factors impeding the conservation of these threatened species is a lack of knowledge of ecology and biological processes at a species level.

Bossiaea fragrans subspecies fragrans is a critically endangered, NSW endemic species whose ecology is currently unknown, negatively impacting its conservation management. With the support of the Val Williams Scholarship, I will use Bossiaea fragrans as a case study, investigating factors relevant to its’ persistence and circumstances, including life-history strategies linked to fire, seed dormancy mechanisms, breeding system strategies, and microclimatic niches, with the ultimate goal being to support well-informed conservation management of the species. My research aims to inspire the increased incorporation of these critical ecological and biological factors in plant research, and in turn, ensure that this research is referred to when formulating conservation plans to increase the likelihood of meaningful conservation outcomes for native plants in Australia.

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Previous Recipients of the Val Williams Scholarship in Botany

2024 Paola Raupp

2023 Sashini Perera

2022 Sarah McInnes

2021 Harriet Simpson-Southward

2020 Shubham Chhajed

2019 Farhad Masoomi-Aladizgeh

2018 Susan Everingham and John Whale

2017 Aaron Phillips

2016 Johanna Wong

2015 Jon Pankhurst

2014 Desi Quintans

2013 Jessica Mowle

2012 Diane Warman and Berin Mackenzie

2011 Nathan Emery and Tanya Bangel

2010 Alison Hewitt

2009 Liza Xian

Details of these winners and their projects can be found here.


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