The Tom and Bruce Shinn Fund provides several grants each year to support undergraduate and graduate students that are researching North Carolina’s native plants and habitats. The fund is only open to students that are U.S. citizens and attending a North Carolina college or university. Grants are awarded up to $1000.
All applications must be received by March 1. Notification will be made to applicants by May 1st of each year.
Students must be working with an advisor and conducting basic or applied research in botanical or horticultural areas that fulfill the mission of NCNPS: “to promote the enjoyment and conservation of North Carolina’s native plants and their habitats through education, protection, cultivation, and advocacy.”
Shinn grant projects may include, but are not limited to:
• floristic inventories of local greenspaces or natural areas
• research to protect and preserve endangered or threatened species at risk within their native habitat
• horticultural research of native species not found in the nursery trade
• research on species population genetics, ecology, or range distribution
• restoration of native species or their habitats
• research and management of pest plant species
• community ecology of sensitive or threatened habitats