Events calendar

Fellowships

Dahl Fellowships honour the memory of Bjarne K Dahl. They provide an opportunity for talented and deserving Australians to undertake a project related to eucalypts that is not readily fundable elsewhere.

  • Applications open – Monday, 16 June 2025
  • Applications close – Tuesday, 12 August 2025, midnight AEST
  • Notification of outcomes – Wednesday, 15 October 2025
  • Grants to be undertaken during 2026

Dahl Fellowship applications

Fellowships will be awarded to individual applicants for individual projects that advance the goals of Eucalypt Australia.

Priority areas for Fellowships are not limited to, but include: art and literature; development of eucalypt education resources, including indigenous cultural resources; and conservation initiatives.

Fellows are required to submit a report at the completion of their Fellowship.

Dahl Fellowship Application

Eligibility

Selection criteria

Hints and tips

FAQ's

Standard grant conditions

Apply

Key dates

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be Australian citizens.
  • Applicants must have an active ABN.
    For auditing purposes, Eucalypt Australia only makes awards to applicants with an ABN. If you do not have an ABN you can apply with the Australian Taxation Office, or nominate someone with an ABN who is willing to act as administrator of your Fellowship.
  • Applicants need to demonstrate experience in and commitment to the field of their project. There are no prescribed qualifications.
  • Tertiary level student projects (including at Masters and PhD level) will be not be funded.

Selection criteria

Applications will be assessed, based on:

  • Need for the project
  • Benefits of the project
  • Achievability
  • How the project builds on the applicant’s current expertise or experience
  • Impact and sustainability: how the project will have impact after the Fellowship concludes
  • The ability and commitment to disseminate the project outcomes
  • References: a) Project Reference, b) Personal Reference
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Interview. Shortlisted applicants may be required to attend an interview. This may be conducted by phone or online.

    Hints and tips

    • Eligibility – check the criteria to ensure that you are eligible.
    • Priority Areas – ensure your proposal fits with Eucalypt Australia’s priorities. Please don’t try to fit a square peg into a round hole.
    • Acronyms – assume we don’t know what they mean.
    • Budget – double-check that your figures add up and your request reflects the full cost of the project.
    • Be specific – we recommend that you don’t generalise. Include specific facts and figures.
    • Word limits – it is important we understand your project but please stick to the word limits.
    • References – we recommend you don’t draft the references for your referees. If they are genuine about supporting your work, they should be able to write the letter themselves.

      Frequently Asked Questions

      Why do I need an ABN?

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      Eucalypt Australia only awards grants to individuals or organisations with an ABN. The name of the applicant should match the name of the ABN and the name of the bank account into which the Fellowship will be paid. If you cannot provide an ABN and bank account that are in the same name as the applicant, you will need to nominate an individual or organisation with an ABN who can be the administrator of your Fellowship.

      What does the Fellowship cover?

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      The Fellowship covers costs associated with your project such as salary, materials, and travel.

      Can I use the Fellowship to add to support from other sources?

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      Fellowships are aimed at supporting projects that are not readily fundable. However, we would consider co-contributions.

      Can I apply for an extension to lodge my application?

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      No. Applications close on the published closing date at midnight AEST.

      Can I submit multiple applications in one year?

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      No. Please only submit your best application each year.

      Is it possible to receive more than one Fellowship over different years?

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      Eucalypt Australia would typically only provide a Fellowship to someone once, given that the Fellowship is a means of personally developing an individual in the eucalypt space.

      When will I know the outcome of my application?

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      You will be notified by 6 October 2025 for Fellowships for 2026.

      Are there obligations if a Fellowship is awarded?

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      A Fellowship is subject to the fellow agreeing to be bound by the conditions laid down in a contract document. The Fellowship is to be completed in the calendar year that it is awarded for.

      How and when will I be paid?

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      After notification of success, a contract will be sent to you. You will be asked to submit a tax invoice with the signed contract. The full amount of your Fellowship will be paid into your nominated bank account in the December before your fellowship begins.

      Can a Fellowship be part-time?

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      Yes, a Fellowship can be undertaken part-time but must be completed by the end of the calendar year it was awarded for.

      Do I have to start my Fellowship by a specific date?

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      No. You can start anytime in the calendar year it is awarded for.

      What are the tax implications?

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      Eucalypt Australia has no responsibility for the tax liability of a Fellow. Income tax is a matter for decision by the Commissioner of Taxation. It is recommended Fellows seek independent advice with respect to taxation.

      Should I include GST in my budget?

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      If you are GST registered when you receive a Fellowship, Eucalypt Australia will pay the Fellowship amount plus GST. The budget provided in your application should be exclusive of GST.

      What do you classify as Eucalypts?

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      The genera Eucalyptus, Corymbia, and Angophora all fit under Eucalypt Australia’s classification of Eucalypts.

      Standard grant conditions

      1. The Grantee will supply a tax invoice to Eucalypt Australia in order for the grant to be paid. The invoice should include an ABN and name on the bank account provided must match the ABN.
      2. The Grantee will provide a receipt for the grant amount within 30 days of receipt of payment.
      3. The Grantee will use the whole of the Grant exclusively for the project as described in the application and not for any other purpose.
      4. The Grantee must promptly advise Eucalypt Australia of any material change which may affect the Grantee’s ability to undertake or complete the Project within the time schedule specified in the application.
      5. The Grantee will expend the grant for charitable purposes within Australia.
      6. The Grantee must keep detailed financial records to enable the use of grant funds to be checked readily.
      7. The Grantee will acknowledge the support of Eucalypt Australia in published or display material that relates to the project.
      8. The Grantee must submit a final report and financial acquittal when the project is completed. The report is due within 30 days of the completion date specified in the Fellowship Agreement.
      9. The Fellowship is subject to termination if the Board of the Bjarne K Dahl Trust is of the opinion that continuance is not justified in accordance with the aims and objectives of Eucalypt Australia.

      Apply

      To apply for a Dahl Fellowship you must complete the following form:

      You will need to attach your full CV plus the professional and the project references to the form.

      We recommend that you partially complete your application and save it.  There is a “Save and complete later” button.

      This will send you a pdf of your application.

      You should send this pdf to your referees with the following appropriate links so that they can fill out their references.  Please do not write your references for your referees.

      You should send them the project title and project aim in the body of the email so they can copy and paste that into the referee form.

      When your referees submit the form they will get an email confirmation with a pdf copy of the form.  Your referees need to send you a copy of these pdfs so that you are able to attach them to your application.

      When you submit your application you will receive an email confirmation that your application has been received.

      Fellows are required to submit a report at the completion of their Fellowship.

        Key dates

        • Applications open – Monday, 16 June 2025
        • Applications close – Tuesday 12 August 2025, midnight AEST
        • Notification of outcomes – Wednesday 15 October 2025 (moved due to Board obligations)
        • Fellowship to be undertaken – during 2026

          Current Fellows

          The Board of Eucalypt Australia is delighted to announce the 2025 Dahl Fellowships. The Board acknowledges and appreciates all applicants for the 2025 Dahl Fellowships.  We are consistently impressed with the diversity of applications, and this year, the quality was exceptionally high.

            Jessica Harwood

            2025

            Jessica Harwood’s fellowship “Our Home Among the Gum Trees: A comic art education project about Australia’s eucalypts and the conservation challenges they face“ has the primary aim of inspiring love for and increasing understanding of Australia’s eucalypts.  Jess will produce a suite of educational resources in the comic artform that can be freely used for education to protect and raise awareness of Australia’s eucalypt trees, forests and the biodiversity they support.   Jess will make these resources freely available for community groups, teachers, not-for-profits, and individuals wanting to protect remnant forests and street trees.  Please keep an eye on socials and contact Eucalypt Australia to access these resources.

            Jess is an emerging cartoonist, and her work has already been featured in the Guardian, and appeared in the annual “Behind the Lines” Political Cartoon Exhibition at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Government House for 2023.   You can follow Jess through her instagram @jessharwoodart

            Peter McHugh

            2025

            Peter McHugh’s fellowship “The Working Forest – telling the story of Victoria’s rich forests and bushfire heritage.“ will see Peter consolidate and advance his documentation of Victoria’s native eucalypt forests and their bushfire heritage over the last two centuries into an e-book format. Peter started this work seven years ago and has amassed considerable research.  Social media resources will accompany this.  Peter will illustrate the importance of native forests and public lands to Victoria’s economic and social development since the 1850s and the evolving community and political attitudes towards native eucalypt forests and bushfire management, together with the progressive shifts in the balance of their preservation and productive use.

            Peter is a retired forester with deep experience in forestry and bushfire emergency management.  The Board of Eucalypt Australia feels that this is an important and timely work to complete with the cessation of native timber harvesting in Victoria’s public forests in 2024.

            You can follow Peter through his facebook group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/forestcommisionheritage

            Vicky Shukuroglou

            2025

            Vicky Shukuroglou’s fellowship “ACE Guide to Eucalypts Melbourne” acknowledges that identifying eucalypts can be (is) difficult.  This project aims to create a locally-specific, compact, user-friendly guidebook for the 33 Indigenous species of eucalypts in the Melbourne area.  Following the success of Eucaflip (Tas), and modelled on the ACE Guide to Eucalypts Brisbane, the guide will equip people with local knowledge. This will help people feel more connected to place, make better informed decisions, and be motivated to take protective and regenerative action.  The importance of the ecology of eucalypt forests will be highlighted.

            The Board saw a practical need for the ACE Guide. Vicky produces some incredible photography, has co-authored “Loving Country” with Bruce Pascoe, and is active in local conservation efforts via Nillumbio, a biodiversity-focused group she co-founded in the Nillumbik Shire.  https://www.nillumbio.org

            The Board acknowledges and appreciates all applicants for the 2025 Dahl Fellowships.  We are consistently impressed with the diversity of applications, and this year, the quality was exceptionally high.

            Past Fellows’ Stories

            Geri Barr

            2024

            The most profound impact for me in my experience as a Dahl Fellow has confirmed to me that eucalypts really are the heart and lungs of Australia. Visiting species of eucalypts in their natural habitats was incredible and the place I felt excited, privileged and humbled to be in their presence

            The impact of my project The Art of Listening continues after the fellowship year concluded.  With valuable connections having been made with Kings Park horticultural staff during my Fellowship in 2024, I was invited to attend National Eucalypt Day in March 2025 at Kings Park Perth in my capacity as a Dahl Fellow for a eucalyptus drawing workshop.

            An article written from an interview about my Dahl Fellowship was published in The Post, Perth WA to coincide with Eucalyptus Day 2025 and many people have mentioned that they saw it. A free local paper, The Post has a reach of 112,000 homes in Perth.

            Throughout my Dahl Fellowship year I was intent on engaging people I met with my particular style of enthusiasm and passion, so they might understand the enormous importance of the eucalypt within Australia’s landscape and biodiversity.  Feeling deeply connected to the other Dahl Fellows as a result of the symposium in Melbourne in October 2024 impacted me greatly and was an incredibly affirming experience for my work with Eucalypts.

            The reach of The Art of Listening is expanding into a different area of Australia now that I live in Perth WA, a biodiversity hotspot for eucalypts! I’m excited to learn about and see the “bush colours” which come from the wide range of eucalypts of Western Australia.

            Dr Keg de Souza

            2024

            Got by Dan is a research-led artwork centering the importance of cultural knowledge through highlighting the lesser-known story of Burramattagal man Daniel Moowattin’s role in the early documentation of eucalyptus.

            The project is centered around the creation of a series of herbarium specimens and nature prints that mirror the eucalyptus specimens that Daniel Moowattin collected for George Caley. These ‘mirrored’ herbaria were collected with the enthusiasm, assistance and expertise of Hannah McPherson and Andrew Orme from The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan team with cultural guidance from Uncle Chris Tobin. These specimens will be accessioned into the collection at Mount Annan and other institutions holding specimens labelled ‘Got by Dan’ and will feature with cultural knowledge shared by members of the Dharug community, addressing silences in the archive and highlighting Moowattin’s role in collecting with Caley. All samples were sourced from Dharug Country, the same Country Caley and Moowattin collected from. 

            The project was in development stage for an extended period while a further partnership with Powerhouse Parramatta was established. Powerhouse have extended and supported the project further which includes the creation of brass plaques replicating the nature prints, to be installed on the Powerhouse Parramatta roof garden as a public artwork for the opening of the new museum in 2027.

            Without the support of the Dahl Fellowship I would not have been able to develop these ideas for Got by Dan, allowing the critical research stage of this project to unfold. 

            Pete McCurley

            2024

            Retrieving Knowledge Forward: Fire, Forests and Human Custodial Responsibility

            Pete is researching traditional cultural uses, cultlural fire and pre-colonial forest structure, modern scientific fire ecology, ecosystem function and the current forest structure to inform better management of eucalypt forests in a changing climate and time.

            Dr Alyssa Martino

            2023

            Eucalyptus Protectors – A citizen science project for the identification of myrtle rust on Eucalyptus and other Myrtaceae

            Brett Mifsud

            2023

            The Giant Eucalypts of Tasmania 

            Receiving a 2023 Dahl Fellowship was an enormous privilege. It allowed me both the time and mental space to fully focus on my passion project, namely, discovering, measuring, documenting and protecting Tasmania’s giant trees. The Fellowship also put me in contact with an array of outstanding people who were both interested in my research and generous in helping me to achieve my project goals. Probably the most enduring legacy of the Dahl Fellowship is our paper (now published in the Australian Journal of Botany and freely available https://doi.org/10.1071/BT23088 or here). Which, due to extensive collaboration, ended up being a much larger and more comprehensive document than I could ever have envisaged. Thanks again to Eucalypt Australia for offering such a great fellowship.

            Dr Elizabeth Edmonds

            2023

            A Tale of Two Trees – the Red Flowering Gum and the Red Tingle

            Samorn Sanixay

            2022

            My year as a Dahl Fellow has transformed me, in mind and character… Overall, I have gained immense confidence in myself and my work. It allowed me to make quick decisions during uncomfortable situations…  It has made me more resilient with the ability to embrace discomfort and to find positivity in any situation. … I’ve gained immense knowledge of eucalypts; seeing them in their natural habitat, especially in Southwest WA, was really special. Standing in the middle of nowhere in Walpole, seeing Corymbia ficifolia in their natural habitat and flowering felt like the first time I went to Paris. I had achieved a lifelong dream.

            Samorn has published her astounding Eucalypt Dye Catalogie at https://www.samornsanixay.com/eucalypt-dye-catalogue

            Jodi Frawley

            2022

            My Dahl Fellowship was the highlight of my 2022 working year. I am very proud of the engaging story, rich soundscape and generous interviews that are combined in the final product.

            Jodi’s podcast “Maiden’s Eucalypts” is available through ABC National’s “The History Listen” .  https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-history-listen/maidens-eucalypts/13982500

            This story is set on Worimi and Biripi country in the year 1894. The avid colonial botanist Joseph Maiden is making a trip through the forests around the NSW towns of Stroud and Gloucester and he’s enthralled by the natural world around him. He’s recording every tree, leaf, and plant he encounters, writing it meticulous detail in his journal. Over a century after Maiden made his trip through these forests his journal is taking on a whole new life. With the botanist’s original notes in hand, environmental historian Jodi Frawley retraces Joseph Maiden’s journey.

            David Wong

            2022

            The Dahl Fellowship gave me vital time and resources to be able to develop and realise ideas that I had been thinking about for a long time. What resulted was a project, Woodlands, Forests, Life, that I will continue to build on into the future. Along the way, I got to know local artists and community members passionate about the environment and creativity. I am extremely grateful to have had this opportunity to work on a project that combined my interests in ecology and creativity and that hopefully encouraged people to think about the conservation of eucalypt ecosystems.

            Viki Cramer

            2021

            My Dahl Fellowship has allowed me to take the seedling of an idea – that our eucalypt forests and woodlands might be in trouble – plant it in the ground and nurture the growing sapling with time to travel and talk to eucalypt experts in south-west Australia and beyond. In 2023, this sapling grown up with the support of Eucalypt Australia will mature into full bloom, when the book I am writing on the future of our forests and woodlands will be published by Thames & Hudson.

            “The Memory of Trees” is available through all good bookstores.  Eucalypt Australia are so excited that Viki has been able to produce this wonderful work.

             

            Phil Docherty

            2021

            I’m most appreciative of being a Eucalypt Australia fellowship recipient and am revelling in the opportunities it has provided me with in getting to know our Kimberley eucalypts. Apart from a handful I have viewed all of them in situ in their natural state and have a much greater appreciation of their range, the soil and rainfall conditions they prefer as well as being fairly confident in being able to identify them using leaf, bark, flower and fruit. As of this moment in time I’ve collected seed of about 50 species, have propagated about 40 and with the assistance of the community have about 25 species planted out and growing. I’ve been able to share this knowledge via the radio, through displays and by presenting talks. I’ve met plenty of new people, amateur and professional, and are having a thoroughly enjoyable time doing so. Thank you!!

            Phil Docherty has also published “Kimberley Eucalypts – A Guide” available via Environs Kimberley here.

            Brian Martin

            2021

            The Dahl Fellowship allowed me to focus on looking at specific eucalypt trees that have been modified by various Indigenous peoples. These included trees from Kamilaroi, Boon Wurrung and WaddaWurrung Country. The research materialised into a series of large charcoal drawings and expanded my artistic practice into drawing these beautiful culturally modified trees. The fellowship allowed me to produce a substantial exhibition of these new works and a catalogue at William Mora galleries.

            Dr Dean Nicolle

            2020

            The Dahl Fellowship grant has allowed me to research, compile, and submit for publication a scientific peer-reviewed paper presenting the findings of my long-term taxonomic research of the semi-cryptic narrow-leaved mallees (Eucalyptus ser. Porantherae). This work is both important and has broad implications, as the correct identification of a species, as well as a sound understanding of its features, distribution, ecology, and conservation status, is essential for the understanding and management of all ecosystems that include taxa from the series, both in the wild and when grown in cultivation. 

            Paul Gadsby

            2020

            The Dahl fellowship has been a massive boost to my project. It has allowed me to work towards my dream of producing Eucalypt educational resources that include books and Apps to cater for bushwalkers through to botanists. As producing the educational resources are financially and time consuming the fellowship has been invaluable in supporting the project.

            Paul is pictured here with Smoko.