Walters Kundert Fellowship 2025

Applications are now open for the Walters Kundert Fellowship 2025, presented by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). This prestigious fellowship offers an exceptional opportunity for post-PhD researchers to conduct cutting-edge field research in some of the world’s most challenging and important environments.

The Walters Kundert Fellowship provides annual grants of £10,000 to support field research in physical geography within Arctic and high mountain environments. Established in 2017, this fellowship was created through the generous support of the Walters Kundert Charitable Trust to encourage researchers across the geographical spectrum to enhance understanding and well-being of the planet’s Arctic and high mountain environments. The fellowship particularly prioritizes field studies that advance understanding of environmental change, both past and present, making it ideal for researchers investigating climate impacts, glacial dynamics, permafrost changes, and ecosystem responses in these sensitive regions.

These environments represent some of Earth’s most sensitive indicators of global climate change, where temperature increases are amplified and environmental shifts occur rapidly. Arctic regions are warming at twice the global average, while high mountain ecosystems face unprecedented challenges from retreating glaciers, shifting precipitation patterns, and changing vegetation zones. The fellowship recognizes the urgent need for comprehensive field-based research to understand these transformations and their implications for global environmental systems.

The fellowship has supported groundbreaking research across diverse locations, from West Greenland’s dust sources to the Hindu Kush-Himalayas’ rock glaciers, from Cordillera Darwin’s unexplored ice fields to the Canadian Arctic’s permafrost disturbances. Recent recipients have pioneered innovative approaches combining geophysics with artificial intelligence, conducted the first ice core drilling in remote mountain ranges, and developed new methodologies for understanding glacier surge mechanisms. Past projects have examined everything from monsoon dynamics in the Eastern Himalaya to biogeochemical processes in glaciofluvial sediment environments, demonstrating the program’s commitment to interdisciplinary approaches.

The research funded through this fellowship contributes directly to critical scientific understanding needed for climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. Projects have provided essential ground-truth data for satellite observations, uncovered previously unknown ecological processes, and developed new techniques for monitoring environmental change in remote locations. This work is particularly valuable given the logistical challenges and high costs associated with conducting research in polar and high-altitude regions.

The Walters Kundert Fellowship represents a unique opportunity to contribute to crucial environmental research while advancing your career in geographical sciences. Recipients join a distinguished community of researchers making significant contributions to our understanding of Arctic and high mountain environments, with access to the Royal Geographical Society’s extensive network and resources. Don’t miss this chance to join the ranks of researchers making significant contributions to our understanding of these critical environmental frontiers!