Each year, the Society awards a number of research grants to UC Davis graduate and undergraduate students to carry out work that aligns with the broad goals of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity Herbarium and/or the UC Davis Botanical Conservatory.

The grants are funded from three sources:

1. Gifts designated for this purpose by Society members through the annual membership drive, and by others through this webpage: Davis Botanical Society Student Grants Program Fund.
2. The Jack Major Endowment (College of Biological Sciences) was established in 2002 in memory of the pioneering plant ecologist and professor. This fund (#122236) is actively growing through gifts from friends, former students and staff. An anonymous gift of $20,000 in December 2024 was a welcome infusion to this fund.
3. The Larry and Charlotte Mitich Endowment (College of Biological Sciences). Larry was a Weed Scientist at UC Davis, a founder of the Society and a nationally recognized expert on cultivating succulent plants. This fund (#122194) is also active.

Projects eligible for funding:

1. Field-oriented botanical research projects in taxonomy, systematics, conservation, evolutionary biology, ecology, and/or floristics of plants in California or globally (DBS and Jack Major Student Grants).
2. Research projects related to the maintenance of living diversity collections or cultivation and propagation of succulents (Larry and Charlotte Mitich Student Grant).

Want to learn about past DBS Student Grants projects? Click here.

Criteria:

Applications are evaluated based upon the fit of the student’s proposed research with the goals of the Davis Botanical Society and the individual endowments, the student’s qualifications, the appropriateness of their budget, and the letter of support from their Major Professor.

To Apply:

DBS Student Grants Announcement 2025

Applications DUE March 3, 2025, at 5:00 PM PST.