Merritt Lyndon Fernald Award Grant

The Merritt Lyndon Fernald Award, established by the New England Botanical Society, honors the exemplary contributions of Merritt Lyndon Fernald to botany. This annual award recognizes the best paper published in Rhodora that utilizes herbarium specimens or involves fieldwork. Recipients receive a $1000 cash prize and a certificate, with the award presented at the Society's May meeting. Fernald's extensive research and publications have significantly influenced the understanding of northeastern North America's flora.

Merritt Lyndon Fernald was born in 1873 in Orono, Maine. In 1891 he enrolled in Harvard University and started working at the Gray Herbarium, both of which he remained associated with until his death in 1950. During those 60 years he intensively studied the flora of eastern North America, made numerous field expeditions throughout the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, and authored over 800 papers on floristically related subjects. Two of his most important contributions were: Persistence of Plants in Unglaciated Areas of Boreal North America (1925) and Gray's Manual of Botany, 8th Edition (1950). Fernald served as an Associate Editor of Rhodora, Journal of The New England Botanical Club from its inception in 1899 to 1928, and as Editor-in-Chief from 1928 until his death in 1950. He was an active member and promoter of the Club.
The Council of the New England Botanical Society honors Fernald's exemplary contributions to the botany of northeastern North America through the Merritt Lyndon Fernald Award.
Recipients of the Fernald Award will receive $1000.00 and a certificate acknowledging the achievement. The award is usually presented at the May New England Botanical Society meeting.

Eligibility

The award is given annually, if deemed appropriate, to the author(s) of the best paper published in each volume of Rhodora that has made use of herbarium specimens and/or involved fieldwork.Topics to be considered include, but are not limited to: biogeography floristics life-history studiesmonographsrevisions. Papers on vascular or nonvascular plants, lichens, fungi, and algae will be considered. The competition is not limited to a particular geographic area, but is open to studies in any part of the world.