Scientific research can be costly to conduct, prepare and publish, as well as costly to access. While the first one is hard to change, the latter is something MASNA is hoping to change with the Dr. Junda Lin Memorial Fund for Publishing Open Access Marine Aquarium Research.
Dr. Lin was a Professor of Biological Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology and the Director of the Institute for Marine Research (IMR). Dr. Lin’s Lab focused on the development of aquaculture technology for marine ornamental species to offset and replace wild collection.
Dr. Lin’s lab studied the basic biological processes of several shellfish and fish species, evaluated their aquaculture potential, and developed cultivation technology. Sadly, Dr. Lin passed away in March of 2016.
To ensure his legacy lives on MASNA is hoping to make marine aquarium research freely available to all. The goal of the fund is to offset the cost to students of publishing research as open access articles in order to promote the spread of scientific ideas to not only scientists, but to anyone who is interested in the research, by making it freely available.
Dr. Lin has mentored dozens of undergraduate and graduate students in the field of ornamental aquaculture, including many in the marine ornamental trade and MASNA. His legacy will live on through the people he has inspired.
MASNA welcomes donations from any organization or individual who shares the belief that advancements in science should be freely available to the general public.
The premise is pretty simple. As a student, you must meet certain criteria (did the research as an undergrad or grad student and it relates to the marine aquaculture trade or hobby and others). You can submit your application and if accepted, can get up to $1,500.
More information about the Dr. Junda Lin Memorial Fund, including the donation and application links can be found on the Fund’s webpage here: http://masna.org/masna-programs/memorial-publishing-fund/
