Grants·The Peck Fund

Travel grants to work in the FSCA collections

The Stewart and Jarmila Peck Collection Enhancement Endowment supports research visits to the Florida State Collection of Arthropods that help improve the collection.

Award: Based on your budget
Deadlines: Jan 15 · Jul 15
Open to: CSE members
Proposal: 1–2 pages

Jarmila and Stewart Peck — Jarmila & Stewart Peck. Photo © Pierre Poirier, Canadian Museum of Nature.

Established 2021

The Peck Fund

In 2021, Stewart and Jarmila Peck established the Stewart and Jarmila Peck Collection Enhancement Endowment (the Peck Fund) with the Center for Systematic Entomology. Its purpose is to support research travel to the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA) to work with — and ultimately improve — the collection.

Awards are limited. Proposals are reviewed twice a year, on January 15 and July 15, by the Gifts, Grants and Endowment (GGE) Committee and approved by the CSE Board of Directors. Applicants must be CSE members and should contact the relevant FSCA curator about potential work before applying.

Enhanced curation could include

Specimen sorting & identification
Designation of types
Taxonomy updates

Guidelines

How to apply

1
Check eligibility
- Be a CSE member
- Have expertise in insect systematics and taxonomy
- Contact an FSCA curator about the work
2
Apply
- Prepare a formal proposal (1–2 pages)
- Send it to the GGE Committee by email or mail before January 15 or July 15
3
Report back
- After the visit, send the GGE Committee a report of the work, with some photographs
- Your report is formatted and posted on this page under Reports

What the proposal should include

A short formal proposal of 1–2 pages, with these sections:

I.Title
II.Author(s)
III.Affiliation & contact information — include your major professor if you are a student
IV.FSCA contact / collaborator
V.Proposed dates of travel — can change
VI.Project background & justification
VII.Contribution to improving the FSCA
VIII.Itemized budget & justification
IX.References

Please acknowledge the CSE and the Peck Endowment in any publication that results from the grant.

The Peck Fund at work

Reports from funded visits

14 projects since 2018

2025
Untangling of the Arctiinae (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) diversity in the collection of the MGCL & FSCA – a hunt for new species
Przybylowicz, Lukasz
Arctiinae (Lepidoptera)
Report
2024
The genus Aphis
Lagos-Kutz, Doris
Aphididae (Hemiptera)
Report
2024
A taxonomic revision of the wetland-adapted dwarf spider genus, Floricomus (Araneae: Linyphiidae)
Milne, Mark
Linyphiidae (Araneae)
Report
2024
Cixiid planthopper genus Melanoliarus
Solomon, Hendrix
Cixiidae (Hemiptera)
Report
2023
Lepidoptera
Goff, Roy
Lepidoptera
Report
2023
Curation of unidentified Melolonthinae (Scarabaeidae) and Formicidae (Hymenoptera)
Evans, Arthur · Ivanov, Kaloyan
Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera)Formicidae (Hymenoptera)
Report
2023
Curation of unidentified Curculionidae (Coleoptera), part 1
Anderson, Robert
Curculionidae (Coleoptera)
Report
2022
Color evolution in Erotylidae (Coleoptera)
Sutherland, Rachel
Erotylidae (Coleoptera)
Report
2020
Exploring mimicry in Neotropical butterflies: a morphological and geographical approach
Ortiz-Acevedo, Elena
Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera)
Report
2020
Taxonomic Revision of Polycentropus (Trichoptera: Polycentropodidae) from the Eastern Nearctic
Orfinger, Alexander B.
Polycentropodidae (Trichoptera)
Report
2019
Systematics of the genus Oxacis LeConte (Coleoptera: Oedemeridae)
Domínguez León, Daniel E.
Oedemeridae (Coleoptera)
Report
2019
Springtails (Hexapoda: Collembola) collection, preservation, morphology, taxonomy and identification training
Sotto-Alviola, Marnelli P.
Collembola
Report
2019
Systematics of the mantidfly subfamily Symphrasinae (Neuroptera: Mantispidae)
Ardila-Camacho, Adrian
Mantispidae (Neuroptera)
Report
2018
The contribution of the developmental hierarchy in morphological diversification
Shirai, Leila T.
Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera)Saturniidae (Lepidoptera)
Report

Publications from the Peck Fund

Hendrix, S.V. & Bartlett, C.R. (2025) Reclassification of the Planthopper Genus Melanoliarus Fennah, 1945 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae), primarily North of Mexico, with Notes on American Pentastirini. Zootaxa, 5619 (1), 1–87.https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5619.1.1

Earlier CSE grants

Since 1991 the Center has awarded many other grants. Recipients include:

2018: Rowland Shelley, Leila Shirai, G.B. Edwards, Adam Wallner
2017: Oliver Keller, Michael Thomas, Javier Martinez, Daniel Burckhardt
2016: Terry Erwin, Rich Leschen, Gareth Powell
2015: Rowland Shelley, James Schlachta, Allen L. Norrbom
2014: Fabio Laurindo da Silva
2013: Marcus Guidoti
2012: H. Gaska-Alvarez
2011: Rowland Shelley, Laura T. Miller, Fred Skillman, Elena Ortez Acevedo
2010: G.B. Edwards, Charles Staines, Jr., Carlos Naranjo Lopez
2009: Gary Steck & Bruce Sutton, Fabio Laurindo da Silva, Daniel Perez-Gelabert
2008: Eugenio H. Nearns
2006: Eugenio H. Nearns
2004: Daniel Burckhardt
2002: Rowland Shelley, Allen Brady
2001: Thomas Henry, Mauricio Barreto, Ingrid Quintero Silva, F.W. Quednau, Allen R. Brady
2000: Stephen W. Wilson, Scott McCleve, Nereida Mestre, Nadine L. Kriska, Michele B. Price
1997: Specialty Employee Leasing, Inc., Ray Jones, Katherine B. Gregg, Julio Antonio Genaro
1996: Kevina Vulinec, James T. Goodwin, Gordon R. Ultsch

From the archive · 2009

A trip to Guatemala

As part of an ongoing survey of the Diptera of Guatemala, run with the Systematic Entomology Laboratory of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), Gary Steck and Bruce Sutton visited Guatemala from May 28 to June 11, 2009. The CSE provided partial funding for the trip.

Read the report (PDF)Download all photos (.zip, 6.7 MB)