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2019-2020 Education Grant Recipients

CNPS has announced its 2019-20 student grant recipients. Get to know our rising researchers!

28 January 2020

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Each year, CNPS awards education grants to student researchers focused on California native plants. We were amazed at the number and caliber of applicants for the CNPS research grants this year, which also means our committee had to make some tough decisions. It gives us such hope that important work in the botanical field continues to be explored and researched year after year. CNPS is proud to present this year’s grant recipients, and we wish to thank the generous donors who’ve made these grants possible!

Meet the awardees

**Amelia Lawrence** Duke University, Biology
**Research:** Exploring the Evolution of Serpentine Tolerance Between Two Closely Related Species of Mimulus
**Award:** Doc Burr Grant

**Carolyn Mills** Claremont Graduate University & RSABG, Botany
**Research:** Rare Plant Conservation Plan for Monardella eremicola (Clark Mountain Monardella)
**Award:** Doc Burr Grant

**Chris Cosma** University of California, Riverside, Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology (EEOB)
**Research:** Linking plant-plant interactions with plant-pollinator interactions in California’s Colorado Desert
**Award:** Helen Sharsmith Grant

**Christina Varnava** Claremont Graduate University & RSABG
**Research:** Exploring diversity in the ashes of the Thomas Fire: A vascular flora of the upper Sespe Creek watershed, Ventura County, California
**Award:** Natalie Hopkins Award

**Jacob Ewald** California State University, Chico, Biological Sciences
**Research:** Origins and Maintenance of Species Boundaries in Two Northern California Monkeyflowers
**Award:** Hardman Native Plant Research Award

**Keir Morse** Claremont Graduate University & RSABG
**Research:** Taxonomy and conservation of the genus Malacothamnus (Malvaceae)
**Award:** Helen Sharsmith Grant

**Maria Jesus** Claremont Graduate University & RSABG, Botany
Research: A vascular flora of the southern Inyo Mountains, Inyo County, California
**Award:** Natalie Hopkins Award

**Laura Lampe** California State University, Chico, Biology
**Research:** How do climate-related phenological shifts affect plant-pollinator interactions in two northern California habitat types?
**Award:** Natalie Hopkins Award

**Martin Purdy** Claremont Graduate University & RSABG, Botany
**Research:** Flora of Coyote Ridge and Coyote Flat, Inyo County, CA
**Award:** Helen Sharsmith Grant

**Megan Szojka** University of British Columbia, Zoology
**Research:**Rethinking ecological tolerance in an invaded serpentine grassland
**Award:** G. Ledyard Stebbins Award

**Morgan Stickrod** San Francisco State University, Botany/Ecology/Evolution
**Research:** Dispersal Dynamics of a Brackish Tidal Marsh, in the Context of the Federally Endangered Suisun Thistle (Cirsium hydrophilum var. hydrophilum)
**Award:** Hardman Native Plant Research Award

**Nina House** Claremont Graduate University & RSABG, Botany
**Research:** A Vascular Flora of the Salmon and Manter Creek Watersheds on the Kern Plateau, Tulare County, California
**Award:** Natalie Hopkins Award

Thank you the 2019-2020 Education Grants Committee for their expertise and thoughtful review.

Steve Schoenig – Chair
David Keil

Steven Serkanic

Nick Jensen

AmyPatten

Education Grants are due on October 31 each year. Chapters and partners offer grants throughout the year. Learn more about student grants.
Support the CNPS Student Fund to increase educational opportunities for students.

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