Education

Research Grants

Selected Grant Opportunities

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.

Guidelines for Applicants: How to Apply for a Grant

We have no standardized application form. Your proposal should contain the following information:

Title of the project, applicant's name, address, phone number, e-mail address, date submitted. Affiliated with a CNPS chapter?
Estimated date of project completion.
Description of the project. Outline your purposes, objectives, hypotheses where appropriate, and methods of data collection and analysis. Highlight aspects of the work that you believe are particularly important and creative. Discuss how the project will advance knowledge and appreciation of California's native plants and vegetation.
Final product. We ask you to submit an article to Fremontia, or a short report to the Educational Grants Committee, based on dissertation, thesis, or published article.
Budget. Summarize intended use of funds. If you received or expect to receive financial or other support, show how these fit into the overall budget. We encourage applicants to seek additional funding sources; CNPS is unable to provide full funding for most proposed projects. Grant funds may be used only for expendable supplies, transportation, equipment rental, laboratory
services, and printing costs. We will not approve grants for purchase of cameras, computers, software, machinery, clothes nor for meals, lodging, or salaries. Grants are awarded to a person only once during the duration of a project.
Academic status: State whether you are a graduate, undergraduate, or high school student, or non-student.
Personal qualifications: At least one letter of support from a sponsor, such as an academic supervisor or major professor, should accompany your application. The letter can be enclosed in a sealed envelope, or sent separately to the CNPS office by September 30th.
Signature. Your signature will confirm to CNPS your knowledge of the project and your consent to participate in it.

Reviewers have diverse backgrounds: all are concerned with the appropriateness of methods, evidence that prior research related to the topic has been thoroughly considered and properly cited. Sufficient relevant detail must be included while keeping the organization concise. Shared opinions of past reviewers emphasize that we prefer to support research that is based on field observations, that is related to flora deemed to be under threat or in other ways in need of concern either directly or through indirect impacts. We presume that research for which support is asked constitutes “good” science, but we also hope it is consistent with our mission of conservation.

Proposals should be sent by September 30th of each year to:

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

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 average amount awarded in recent years has been close to $700.

Obligations of Recipients

I . Acknowledge the California Native Plant Society in reports, publications, or other products resulting from work we support.
2. Submit a short article to Fremontia, or a report to the Educational Grants Committee that summarizes the proposal and its results.
3. Send relevant rare plant data to the California Natural Diversity Data Base using NDDB's field survey forms, or plant association data to the chair of the Vegetation Program

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

Native Plant Pollinator Project: Funding for university student projects available

The California Native Plant Society is offering multiple student research projects for students interested in researching California’s rare native desert plants, and their associated pollinators. These projects are designed for students in search of valuable field research experience who plan on pursuing careers in a science field such as botany, entomology, ecology and natural resource management. Projects will be designed to parallel flowering cycles beginning in the spring of 2012.

Guided experimental design, field research and technical research reports will be components of the project. Available funding covers some travel expenses and supplies.

Learn more about the Native Plant-Pollinator Project.

Grants from other Organizations

Selected grant announcements may be posted here as they become available.

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.