Marine Vertebrate Ecology Lab
Support the MAVE Lab
Understanding and protecting marine mammals requires research that extends across years, species and oceans. While competitive research grants are essential, they rarely support every stage of the research process—and some of the most important work can be particularly difficult to fund.
Philanthropic support gives us the flexibility to explore new ideas, respond to emerging conservation challenges and sustain the research needed to understand our changing oceans.
Where your support can make a difference
Launch new ideas
Pilot studies allow us to test new approaches and collect the first critical data needed to develop larger research projects and compete for major research grants.
Support long-term research
Whales, dolphins and seals are long-lived animals, and understanding how their populations respond to environmental change requires monitoring that extends beyond typical funding cycles.
Enable fieldwork
Marine research can be expensive. Support can help cover the practical costs of fieldwork, from vessels and equipment to sample collection and analysis.
Invest in the next generation
Support for students and early-career researchers provides opportunities for training, fieldwork, conferences and professional development.
Respond when it matters
Flexible funding allows researchers to respond quickly when unexpected research or conservation opportunities arise.
Small beginnings. Bigger impact.
Your support can take a research idea from the very first step to a major contribution to marine conservation.
1. Your support
A donation provides the flexibility to explore new ideas and take the first important steps.
2. Pilot research
We test ideas, develop methods and collect preliminary data.
3. Evidence & data
4. Competitive grant
5. Larger impact
Early results build the evidence needed to show the idea works and is worth pursuing.
Stronger applications attract larger grants from government and research funders
More extensive research, long-term monitoring and real outcomes for marine conservation.
Every contribution - big or small - helps unlock the potential for much greater impact.
Supporting the science that is difficult to fund
Some of the most important research isn't the most visible.
Long-term monitoring, maintaining datasets, processing samples and developing new methods may not always make headlines, but they provide the foundations for understanding how marine ecosystems are changing.
Without long-term data, we cannot know what has changed. Without pilot studies, we cannot test new ideas. And without fundamental research, we cannot develop effective conservation solutions.
Support our research
Donations to the MAVE Lab are made through the University of Wollongong and can be directed specifically to support our research.
Donations are tax deductible in Australia, and the University does not take a percentage of your contribution. Giving through UOW also provides appropriate governance and oversight, ensuring that funds donated to support the MAVE Lab are used for their intended research purpose.
Whether you are considering an individual donation, philanthropic gift or larger partnership, we'd be happy to discuss how your support could make the greatest difference.