Leave No Trace Issues Call for Research Proposals, $20,000 in Grants Available

We are pleased to announce that Leave No Trace will once again offer $20,000 in grants for research projects.

Proposals will be reviewed competitively, with a preference for projects that address Strategic Priority areas (see our Research Agenda). While we prefer that projects conclude within one year of the award, proposals that extend beyond one year will be accepted with reasonable justification (e.g., need for longitudinal reevaluation). A single Principal Investigator may submit more than one proposal.

More Info

• Proposals Due Oct. 31 via email to J.D. Tanner ([email protected]) and Derrick Taff ([email protected]);
• Award(s) Announced Dec. 6;
• Deliverables are Due Nov. 30 of the following year.

Proposal Requirements

• Title of Project;
• Principal Investigator and Affiliation;
• Partners or Assistants and Affiliations;
• Problem/Issue – Overview of the research concern and how science will aid in understanding this issue (Maximum 1-page);
• Alignment with Research Agenda – How will this research answer one or more Strategic Research Priorities (Maximum 1-page);
• Research Questions or Hypotheses;
• Methods – Detailed description of the location, anticipated population, and sampling strategy, analyses plans, associated timeline (Maximum 2-pages);
• Budget and Budget Justification – The maximum reward amount is capped at $20,000. Budget should include detailed description regarding how funds will be spent, and demonstrated matches or in-kind contributions are encouraged (Note that Overhead should not exceed 15%);
• Example summaries of relevant previous research with publication links when possible (Maximum 1-page);
• CV/Resume for Principal Investigator and Partners/Assistants (Maximum 2-pages each);

Deliverables (Due Nov. 30, following year of award)

• Detailed peer-reviewed Report (Key Findings, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Implications, Citations; *Note that we encourage reports that follow formatting requirements from relevant peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration or Journal of Interpretation Research);
• 2-page Science Communication Brief of the project and the applied findings;
• PowerPoint Presentation mimicking the Report (Maximum 40 slides);
• Scheduled Webinar where Primary Investigator and Team will share the project with the public;
• Excel file of all relevant data.

Proposals should be single-spaced, 12-point font.

Please note that as stated in the Research Agenda, we advocate for moving beyond self-reported data when possible, measuring actual behaviors and, ideally, behavior change following experimental design interventions. We support rigorous experimental designs that apply robust sample sizes per control and treatment(s) while adhering to best practices for human dimensions of natural resources and recreation ecology science. While science onsite with actual recreationists is always valuable, we also recognize the usefulness of big data and larger panel-based research for understanding larger-scale trends. Finally, any Leave No Trace-based research requires institutional review board approval, local park and protected area permitting approvals, and, if federally sponsored, approval from the Federal Office of Management and Budget.

Leave No Trace reserves the right to acquire and share proposal materials for the purposes of peer and external review. Deliverables become shared intellectual property between Leave No Trace and the awardees, and Leave No Trace retains the right to use materials as the organization sees fit. We also encourage joint authorship on related peer-reviewed manuscripts. Finally, Leave No Trace reserves the right to select more than one awardee, thus potentially dividing the awarding cap of $20,000.