The Young Professionals Travel Grant was retired in September 2025.
MICRA established the Young Professionals Travel Grant in 2009 to provide professional staff members of MICRA’s member agencies who have recently begun their professional careers (< 5 years) with travel funds to attend professional meetings or conferences that they would not otherwise be able to attend. The travel grant could be used for reimbursement of up to $1,000 of incurred travel related expenses. A list of the 12 recipients that were awarded the travel grant between 2010 and 2025 and their presentation abstracts are provided below. Applications were evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Abstract
- Scientific value
- Relevance to large river fisheries and aquatic resource management
- Importance to MICRA
- Applicant’s reason for attending meeting (e.g., poster or oral presentation, training or workshop, active role in technical committee or other working group meeting)
- Administrator or supervisor’s written recommendation
Past Recipients
2025: Shaley Valentine, Ohio State University: Spatial and Temporal Resource Use of Native Fish in the Upper Mississippi River System
2024: No applications received; not awarded
2023: Patrick Padilla, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Determining Dam Passage and Inter-River Movement of Black Carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) via Otolith Microchemistry
2022: Sam Schaick, Illinois Natural History Survey: Catfish and Buffalo Populations in Upriver Versus Downriver Pools of the Illinois River
2021: No applications received; not awarded
2020: No applications received; not awarded
2019: No applications received; not awarded
2018: Daniel Roth, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Eastern Illinois University: Spatiotemporal Variation and Abiotic Influences in Asian Carp Reproduction in Large River Tributaries
2017: Nicholas Kramer, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism; Southeast Missouri State University: An Approach for Assessing Paddlefish Populations Using Mark-Recapture Information
2016: Andrew Bueltmann, Indiana Department of Natural Resources: American Eel Habitat Use and Timing of Freshwater Entrance in the Mississippi River
2015: Ryan Hupfeld, Iowa Department of Natural Resources: Natal Origin and Movement Patterns of Paddlefish within the Mississippi River Basin
2014: Patrick O’Rouke, Georgia Department of Natural Resources: Black Bass Species Shifts in Three Tennessee Valley Authority Reservoirs in North Georgia
2014: Hilary Meyer, South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks: The Business of Fishing: Use and Satisfaction of Anglers on a Large Reservoir
2013: No applications received; not awarded
2012: Sandra Clark-Kolaks, Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Recovery of the West Fork White River following a major fish kill in 1999, Indiana
2011: Curtis Wagner, Ohio Division of Wildlife: Spatial and Temporal Variation of Black Bass Population Dynamics in the Upper Ohio River: Insights from Five Years of Standardized Sampling
2010: Caleb Schnitzler, Iowa Department of Natural Resources: Age and growth of flathead catfish from Pools 12 and 13 of the Upper Mississippi River