Research Scholarships
Botany Research Scholarship Program
Northern California Botanists provides competitive botany and plant ecology research scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students attending a college and university. Research scholarships will be funded by NCB with the goals of encouraging undergraduate students to pursue academic endeavors toward a career in botany, promoting undergraduate and graduate botany and plant ecology research, and implementing objectives of the NCB mission.
The geographic range for defining the Northern California
Botanists (NCB) area of interest for student research scholarships includes
the area extending northward--from the southern boundary of San Luis Obispo
County and western slope of the Tehachapi Mountains, following the eastern slope
of the Sierra Nevada, to the southern boundary of Mono County. Students from any accredited college or
university doing research within the NCB geographic range may apply for NCB
student research scholarships.
Research scholarships consist of $1,000 awards, designed to support basic undergraduate and graduate research. Students may reapply and receive a scholarship award up to a maximum of two years for undergraduates and graduates pursuing a Masters degree and up to a maximum of four years for graduate students pursuing a Doctorate degree.
2012-2013 Application
Applications for the 2012-2013 school year are due March 31, 2012. Download the application package here.
Congratulations to our 2011-2012 Scholarship Recipients
Eighteen applications for research awards, from ten different universities, were received by the Scholarship Committee in the fourth annual scholarship competition offered by the Northern California Botanists.
We are pleased to announce the seven awardees of $1,000 each, along with their degree programs and universities, and the titles of their research projects.
Meredith Gosejohan M.S. University of Nevada, Reno
Plant community dynamics in Modoc Plateau vernal pools: evaluating ecohydrology, vegetation structure, and Orcuttia tenius seed bank distribution.
Kristie Haydu M.S. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Modeling plant biodiversity hot spots in San Luis Obispo County.
Diana Jolles Ph. D. Claremont Graduate University
Foliar and floral adaptations to environmental heterogeneity among cryptic lineages of the Pyrola picta species complex (Ericaceae).
Rosa Schneider M. S. San Francisco State University
Investigating causes of rarity in an endemic wetland thistle.
Rebecca Stubbs M. S. San Francisco State University
From sea level to mountain peaks: the evolution and biogeography of the rare Polemoniums.
Marit Wilkerson Ph.D. University of California, Davis
Plant invasion in conservation linkages: what have we been overlooking?.
Jenn Yost Ph.D. University of California, Santa Cruz
Edaphic adaptations and speciation in California goldfields..
Past Recipients
2010-2011
Carla Fresquez Ph. D. University of California, Santa Cruz
High marsh—upland ecotonal community dynamics: seed bank analysis and native and non-native germination and seedling physiological tolerances.
Barbara Going Ph. D. University of California, Davis
Climate change and California grassland: are some communities more resistant than others?
Matt Guilliams Ph. D. University of California, Berkeley
Phylogenetic relationships and ecological speciation of the popcorn flowers (Plagiobothrys, Boraginaceae).
Tim Hanson M. S. California State University, Chico
Assessing the ecology and life history traits of a rare California endemic, Monardella douglasii ssp. venosa (Lamiaceae).
Allison Kidder Ph. D. University of California, Berkeley
Water relations of Baccharis pilularis DC seedling establishment in a changing climate.
Luc Lagarde M. S. Humboldt State University
Developing tools for the estimation of the impact of invasive Spartina densiflora on the primary productivity of a Northern California salt marsh.
Susan Magnoli M. S. Sonoma State University
Residual and community-level effects of iceplant on a coastal dune ecosystem in California.
2009-2010
Erin Gottschalk-Fisher M. S. California State University, Chico
Sacramento Wildlife Refuge Complex vernal pool restoration for Neostapfia colusana and Tuctoria greenei.
Dena Grossenbacher Ph. D. University of California, Davis
A test of pollinator-mediated community assemblage patterns in three California genera: Limnanthes, Mimulus, and Clarkia.
Maya Hayden Ph. D. University of California, Berkeley
Abandoned channels as an alternate recruitment pathway for pioneer riparian forest.
Jeremiah Mann Ph. D. University of California, Davis
Pre-commercial screening of the leading biofuel crop Miscanthus X giganteus for invasive plant traits.
Michal Shuldman Ph. D. University of California, Berkeley
Differences in plant functional traits between multiple populations of Heteromeles arbutifolia.
Jenn Yost Ph. D. University of California, Santa Cruz
Relationships among Dudleya species: the role of hybridization and polyploidy in speciation.
Johann Zaroli Senior. San Jose State University
Assessing the impact of nutrient enrichment on native and invasive species in California's serpentine grasslands.
2008-2009
Gavin Archbald M.S. San Francisco State University
Evaluating the potential for spread of an invasive forb, Limonium ramosissimum, in San Francisco Bay salt marshes.
Christopher Dolanc Ph.D. University of California, Davis
Current and future vegetation change in Sierran subalpine due to changing climate.
Steven Johnston M.S. Sonoma State University
Evolutionary ecology of a host-pathogen interaction in California woodlands.
Laura Saunders M.S. Sonoma State University
The effects of mammalian herbivory on the growth and establishment of oaks.
Lisa Schile Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
Tidal wetland vegetation response to climate change in the San Francisco Bay-Delta.
Marit Wilkerson Ph.D. University of California, Davis
Downsides to habitat corridors' potential for exotic plant invasion.
Cara Witte M.S. Humboldt State University
Floristic inventory of Horse Mtn., Board Camp Mtn., and surrounding areas, with special consideration to plants on serpentine outcrops.