Education

Research Grants

Updated CNPS grant proposal form now available:
View form | more info

Selected (non-CNPS) Grant Opportunities:

Mathias Student Research Grants

CNPS Educational Grants Program

The Educational Grants Committee administers the Educational Grants Program. Four types of grants are available. The Committee determines which type of grant is appropriate for each proposal funded. All grant proposals must be postmarked by September 30th each year.

THE HELEN SHARSMITH GRANTS: Helen Sharsmith grants, established in 1983, pay memorial tribute to the author of The Flora of the Mount Hamilton Range. We award Helen Sharsmith grants to students or non students involved in research on California's native flora.

THE DOC BURR GRANTS: we established the Doc Burr Graduate Research Fund in 1983 to honor Horace K. "Doc" Burr, a founder and Fellow of the Society. Doc Burr grants are awarded to graduate students conducting research that promotes conservation of California’s flora and vegetation.

THE HARDMAN NATIVE PLANT RESEARCH AWARD: we offer the Hardman Native Plant Research Award for promising academic and applied botanical research involving California's native plants, especially rare plants. For this grant, we also welcome research leading to elimination of invasive exotic plants from the state's flora.

THE G. LEDYARD STEBBINS AWARD: we established the Stebbins Award in 1986 to honor Dr. Stebbins for his many years of dedication to the Society and to students of genetics and evolutionary botany. Each year one Stebbins Award may be given to a graduate student for an outstanding proposal for research in evolutionary botany.

CNPS Educational Grants Application Guidelines

All applicants must fill out and submit the online proposal form and send at least one letter of recommendation. The Submit button at the bottom of the form sends it directly to CNPS. Following submittal you may continue to edit your proposal through Sept 30. The letter of recommendation may be from your project advisor, a teacher, or a professor familiar with your project. Letters sealed by authors and mailed should be sent to the address below and received by September 30. Letter authors may email the letter of recommendation to jcrawford@cnps.org with Letter of recommendation for [name of student] in subject line. Applicants may not email the letters.

Educational Grants Committee
California Native Plant Society
2707 K Street, Suite 1
Sacramento, California 95816-5113

All applications and letters of recommendation must be received by September 30. Grant applications are reviewed by a committee using a point system to determine that all requested information is included in the Grant application and that the project is consistent with the mission and vision of CNPS. Funding for CNPS Educational Grants is limited and priority is assigned to those grant applications that are complete and clearly demonstrate consistency with CNPS’ mission and vision.

CNPS Educational Grant Proposal Form

Review

Proposals are reviewed by members of the committee during October and November using these criteria: completeness, technical quality, consistency with CNPS goals, intended use of funds, and likelihood of completion. We will notify applicants of the committee’s recommendations by late November and the projects receiving funding will be announced at the December Chapter Council meeting.

Grant Amounts

Funds available to the committee, number of proposals, and merit of the proposals determine amounts awarded. The amounts awarded in recent years have been generally between $200-$800.

CNPS appreciates your interest in the Educational Grants Program and encourages your participation and support.
THANK YOU, and GOOD LUCK!

2012 CNPS Educational Grant Award Recipients

Elaine Chow, Is the Endangered Eureka Valley Evening-Primrose Under Threat by Invasive Barbwire Russian Thistle
Christopher Dillis, The Impact of Induced Plant Responses to Insect Folivory on Fruit Removal by Vertebrate Seed Dispersers
Leanne Feely, Systematics and Survey of Exine Pollen Grain Morphology of Linanthus (Polemoniaceae)
Kathleen Ferris, The Genetics of Adaptation to a Dry Granite Outcrop Environment in a Sierra Nevadan Endemic
Rachel Hutchinson, The role of Hydrochory on Restored Floodplains, Characterizing the Timing and Availability of Water Dispersed Species for Restoration along Rivers
Makenzie Mabry, Phylogenetic study of the genus Cryptantha s.s. (Boraginaceace)
Kelsey McDonald, Tidal Seed Dispersal of Spartina densiflora, an Invasive Salt Marsh Cordgrass in Humboldt Bay
Mathew O’Neill, Within Community Phenological Variation between an Invasive Grass and Native Forb Contributes to Invasive Dominance via Alterations of the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Community
Megan Peterson, Adaptive Divergence and Gene Flow in Mimulus guttatus
Andrea Shea, Effects of a Parasitic Plant (Cuscuta howelliana) on Vernal Pool Plant Diversity
Simono Scott, Morphological, Cytological, and Molecular Evidence for Redefining the Identity of Red Flowered Silene (Caryophyllaceae) in California
Haley Smith Henderson, Investigating Multiple Subspeciation Events in Navarretia intertexta: a Molecular Approach
Karen Tanner, Extending an Experimental Study to Investigate Impacts of Utility-Scale Solar Development on Rare and Common Desert Annuals
Justin Valliere, Using Mycorrhizal Fungi to Restore Coastal Sage Scrub of Southern California
Jane Van Susteren, Sedum subgenus Gormania: A Cliff-Dwelling Enigma
Reid Whittlesey, Proposal for the Inventory of Vascular Plants on Cliff Faces at Castle Crags
Jennifer Yost, Ecological Speciation and Cryptic Diversity in California's goldfields

2011 CNPS Educational Grant Award Recipients

David Armitage, UC Berkley, Functional aspects of the inquiline food webs of Darlingtonia californica
Angelika Ashbacher, Shifting trait composition of South Coastal chaparral in response to shifting rainfall regimes.
Nathan Emery, UC Santa Barbara, Fog Influence of the Coastal Sage Scrub community: testing for foliar uptake of fog in three coastal sage scrub
Akasha Faist, University of Colorado, Boulder, Invasive species dynamics in invaded versus native dominated vernal pools: the roles of litter accumulation and decomposition
Grant Godden, University of Florida, Out of the Bushes and into the trees: Alternative approaches to a problimatic mint phylogeny
Christopher Kopp, UC San Diego, Sagebrush Encroachment into the Alpine. An Uphill battle?
Christopher Moore, University of Nevada at Reno, Seed Dispersal in Manzanita
Juiliet Oshiro, UC Santa Cruz, Climate Change as a mechanism for changes in plant Communities
Clark Richter, Sonoma State University, Impact of reintroduced Tule Elk on an invasive thistle and the Coastal Grassland Community
Lee Ripma, San Diego State University, A Phylogenetic analysis of the plant genus Cryptantha oreocarya group (Boraginaceae)
Justin Scioli, UC San Diego, Species Composition and Ecology of Native Plants and bees in vernal pool communities in San Diego
Cassandra Swett, UC Davis, Current effects of the pitch canker disease on survival of native Monterey pine seedling populations and the mediating effects of systemic resistance induced by symptomless pathogen infection

2010 Educational Grant Award Recipients

Jim Alford
Gerardo Arceo-Gomez
Robert L. Baker
Amy Concilio
Jack Finney
C. Matt Guilliams
Melissa Ha
Arielle Hapern
Nairi Hartooni
J. Michael Heaney
Andrew Kleinhesselink
Lara Lacher
Susan Magnoli
Saediah Mashayekhi
George Andrew Meindl
Meghan Parish
Daniel Park
Jessica Peak
Angela Stathos
Rebecca Stubbs
Christine Windsor

2009 Educational Grant Award Recipients

Barga, Sarah, University of Nevada, Reno, Distribution and habitat requirements of Paeonia brownii
Coleman, Lena, CSU Northridge, Bryophyte Diversity in Sequoia National Park
Fisher, Erin G., CSU Chico, Vernal Pool Restoration for two rare grasses, Neostapfia colusana and Tuctoria greenei, at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Hankamp, Paul, SF State University, Molecular Phylogeny of Leptosiphon (Polemoniaceae)
Hanson, Tim, CSU Chico, Assessing Ecological and Life History Constraints for the Rare California Endemic, Monardella douglasii ssp. venosa (Lamiaceae) and Development of a Habitat Suitability Model
Harvey, Brian, SF State University, Post-Fire Succession and Stand Dynamics in a Pinus muricata Forest, Point Reyes National Seashore
Kidder, Allison, UC Berkeley, Water Relations of Baccharis pilularis D.C. seedling establishment in a changing climate.
Molinari, Nicole, UC Santa Barbara, Native vs. Non-native grassland species: Who will win under future global change scenarios?
Ray, Dustin, CalPoly Pomona, Seasonal Storage of Total Carbohydrates in Burned and Unburned Juglans californica.
Stahlheber, Karen, UC Santa Barbara, Islands of Invasion: savanna trees and population dynamics of invasive plant species in California grasslands.
Wainwright, Claire, UC San Diego, Summer Irrigation Pulses: An Investigation of Restoration Methods for Invaded Coastal Sage Scrub Communities.