The John Clayton Kingston Diatom Fellowship

Each summer, an award is made to one advanced student or researcher to serve as a teaching assistant for the Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms course and to engage in a research project.  The fellowship includes a stipend of $500 plus room and board at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory.  The fellowship is available to American and international students at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level.

The fellowship was established in 2004 by the colleagues, friends and familly of John Kingston. John was born September 26, 1949 in Austin, Minnesota and died from the effects of a brain tumor in Ely, Minnesota on June 9, 2004. He earned his B.S. in Botany from Iowa State University, his M.S. from the University of Delaware in 1975, and his Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University in 1980.

In his life and career as a biologist, John's foremost interest was the natural history and taxonomy of diatoms, a topic he was first introduced to as an undergraduate at Lakeside through his intreactions with Dr. John Dodd, instructor of freshwater biology. He then took the Laboratory's diatom course, taught by Dr. C. W. Reimer, in 1969, and returned as an honors research student in 1970. Therefore he returned regularly to Lakeside as a research investigator and guest scientist.

The degree to John's life was affected by the research opportunities and collegial interactions provided by Lakeside is reflected by the fact that he requested his ashes to be returned there. The degree to which John enriched and affected the lives of others is reflected in the endowed fellowship established in his memory by his colleagues, friends and family.

Application Process

The John Clayton Kingston Diatom Fellowship is available to domestic and international graduate students, advanced undergraduate students, and young professionals. Applicants shall email a cover letter, CV, and a statement of teaching, research, and career interests to Lakeside Lab's Executive Director by February 15. Application review will be conducted by diatom course instructors with a decision rendered in March each year. Preference will be given to applicants who have previously taken Ecology and Systematics of Diatoms, who show strong potential toward careers in teaching and diatom research, and who embrace the ideals that John had toward science and life.