California Native Plant Society - Orange County

Education

Orange County Celebrates California Native Plant Week!

Laura Camp

The inaugural California Native Plant Week ("CNPW") is being held the third week of April - April 16-24, 2011. The events listed below have been scheduled in Orange County. If your organization is sponsoring an event and you'd like to be included here, please contact OC CNPW Coordinator Nancy Heuler at nheuler@cox.net. Please check this site for more information about California Native Plant Week and for a list of statewide events.

Grants

administrator

Orange County Chapter CNPS Grants

The Charlie O’Neill Grant

The Charlie O’Neill Grant is awarded to a university student involved in research in field botany, ecology, floristics, taxonomy, ethnobotany, and other related topics. A limited number of proposals per year are funded ranging from $500 to $1000 based on the number of proposals and their relative quality and merit. A one-year membership in CNPS is included in the funding. Grants may cover expendable items such as film, supplies, and travel not otherwise available to the researcher. Grant recipients must send a copy of the final report, thesis, dissertation or an in depth newsletter article upon completion of the project with acknowledgment of support from Orange County CNPS.

The Acorn Grant

Purpose: We realize that the future health and diversity of our state’s flora will depend upon the youth of today. It is hoped that given engaging educational opportunities, students will begin to appreciate how mankind fits within the network of ecology, biology, and of course, botany. The purpose of the Acorn Grant is to encourage such understanding.

Goal: The Acorn Grant targets Orange County students in Kindergarten through 12^th grades to acquaint them with Southern California’s rich plant diversity and habitats. Examples of programs that might be funded include: class visits by qualified personnel who incur expenses related to the visit; purchase of materials for simple botany experiments involving native plants; funding of school gardens that highlight native plants; and instructive field trips to native gardens or to natural areas where the role of native plants is explored.

How much? Depending upon the number of grants awarded, the amount will range from $150 to $400. Grant recipients are asked to contribute a short article about the project for the chapter newsletter.

Questions? Contact Sarah Jayne at sbjayne@cox.net or (949) 552-0691 or Dan Songster songster@cox.net or (949) 768-0431

The Horticultural Grant

The Horticultural Grant is awarded to a high school, community college, or university student involved in utilizing native plants in ornamental horticulture, landscape design/architecture and other related fields. The grant is to be used to complete a project assigned and overseen be a faculty member. Possible projects might include ornamental horticulture with an emphasis on natives, a naturalistic demonstration garden, or a native revegetation effort. Up to $500 will be provided to offset material and supply costs. The grant could be awarded to a class project or to an individual.

The Traveler’s Grant

The Traveler’s Grant pays expenses for a deserving person to attend a workshop or seminar on native plant-related topics.

To apply for one of these grants, contact Sarah Jayne: e-mail at sbjayne@cox.net or phone 949-552-0691.

Newsletters

Our newsletter is published six times a year and is the best source of information about current activities. The newsletter also contains useful and fun articles.