The British Ecological Society’s Outreach and Engagement Programme offers grants of up to £2,000 for individuals, teams and organisations to engage public audiences with the ‘excitement of ecological sciences’.
This grant will support BES members to deliver independent outreach, public engagement and science communication activities that engage public audiences with the excitement, importance and relevance of ecological science or enhance the experience and skills of others to communicate ecology with public audiences.
The funding will support diverse formats that reach and engage public audiences in innovative, creative and impactful ways, whether through in-person events, digital formats, or physical resources.
Projects must be aimed at a non-academic audience and meet at least one of the top-level BES aims:
- Communicate evidence-based messaging for what ecology is, how nature works, and the use of ecological science as a solution to local and global challenges.
- Raise awareness and public understanding of ecological careers, their relevance and importance, breadth, and diversity, and show that anybody can become an ecologist.
- Share how individuals can take action to benefit the environment, themselves, and society.
- Increase the ability of others to deliver the above aims through outreach and engagement activities.
Applications from museums and schools are welcome, but projects must involve significant outreach beyond schools.
The grants can be used to cover costs for the engagement event including but not limited to travel, small equipment and IT, marketing, one-off hiring of freelancers, for example, venue hire, and evaluation costs.
There are two application rounds in 2025. Projects for the second round should start from early December 2025 to early June 2026 and be completed within 12 months of the start date.
The deadline for applications to the second round is Monday 8th September 2025.
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