- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Among previous recipients: Shawn Christensen of the Rachel Vannette lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, for research on how nectar microbes induce pollen germination to access scarce nutrients. (See Bug Squad blog)
Three to five grants of up to $2000 will be awarded for field-oriented botany projects in taxonomy, evolutionary biology, ecology, and/or floristics; or research projects related to the cultivation and propagation of succulents (or horticultural materials of these groups).
As part of the requirement of the funded projects, it is expected that plant voucher specimens and/or population samples will be obtained during the field component of the project and deposited in the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium or the UC Davis Conservatory as a return contribution, said Kate Mawdsley, chair of the Davis Botanical Society Student Grants Committee.
Grant recipients need to contact herbarium staff for information on the proper collection, preparation, and documentation of voucher specimens. Grant proposals must include the following information:
- Cover page. This page should include the project title, applicant's name, applicant's current position, UC Davis campus address, telephone number, and e-mail address. The applicant should also include the name of their faculty advisor and provide contact information. Collaborators, if any, should be identified on the cover page and their roles in the project briefly described.
- Proposed project description. The project description should include a statement of significance of the research, objectives, hypotheses to be tested, materials and methods, anticipated results, expected completion date, and plans for collection and disposition of voucher specimens. The project description should be no longer than three typewritten pages, single-spaced (12-point font size, one-inch margins).
- Applicant's qualifications to carry out the proposed research. Briefly explain why you are well-prepared to complete this project with a good chance of success. If the applicant has received a previous award from the Davis Botanical Society, a one-page summary of the results and an accounting of the funds are required.
- Proposed budget. Grant funds are intended only for travel expenses, appropriate and necessary equipment, and expendable supplies. The funds are not for salaries. Please include name and e-mail address of the accounts manager in the applicant's home department so the funds can be distributed properly.
- Letter of recommendation. If the project is being carried out under the guidance of a faculty advisor, the advisor should be identified and asked to submit a letter of recommendation directly to the selection committee at the e-mail address below. Otherwise, a letter of recommendation should be sought from a researcher familiar with the applicant's abilities and proposed research, and submitted by the letter writer to the e-mail below.
Application materials (except for the letter of recommendation) must be submitted electronically as a single PDF document titled with the Applicant's Last Name and DBS Proposal 2023 by 5 p.m., Monday, March 6, 2023. Please send to the chair of the Davis Botanical Society Student Grants Committee, Kate Mawdsley, as an e-mail attachment to wfm-kfm@pacbell.net. Applicants will be notified by early April if they are a grant recipient.
The Davis Botanical Society is the support organization for two UC Davis botanical collections that benefit all Californians: the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity and the Botanical Conservatory. Membership benefits include a subscription to the semi-annual newsletter, Lasthenia (name relates to the goldfields in the botanical family Asteraceae). Membership benefits also include invitations to talks, field trips, and other events, as well as a substantial discount on the price of field trips and classes.