Each year since 1998, the Link Foundation has awarded 12-week graduate student fellowships to conduct marine science research at the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce. Students work in association with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff - either resident Marine Station investigators, or marine scientists from other Smithsonian entities who carry out a part of their research at the Station.

These awards are sponsored by the NMNH Department of Botany and support the study of botanical specimens housed in the U.S. National Herbarium, with preference given to students or researchers who work on tropical plants.

The purpose of the Peter Buck Fellowship program is to support full-time, resident, independent research focused on utilizing the NMNH collections and facilities.  Awardees are expected to be actively involved in the scholarly activities of the Museum and the NMNH community in general.

Kenneth Jay Boss fellowships provide financial support enabling graduate students to conduct independent collections-based research in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).

Please note that the Deep Time Peter Buck Fellowship Program is separate from the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program and will be accepting applications in early 2025.