Scholarships

The Garden Club of America Award in Desert Studies

For Graduate Students and Advanced Undergraduates

The Garden Club of America Award in Desert Studies was established to promote the study of horticulture, conservation and design in arid landscapes. The award is a one-year scholarship for graduate or advanced undergraduate students studying horticulture, conservation, botany, environmental science and landscape design relating to the arid landscape.

Students must be enrolled at an accredited U.S. university. The award is intended to have a wide scope pertaining to the arid environment, with preference given to projects that generate scientifically sound water and plant management. Selection is by a panel appointed by the Desert Botanical Garden.

Scholarship Information

• Established in 2006
• Funds one or more scholars annually at $4,000
• Deadline: January 15, 2011
• For more information contact:
  Cathy Babcock, director of horticulture
  Phone: (480) 481-8162
  Email: cbabcock@dbg.org

Application Information

There is no application form. Candidates should submit the following required information to cbabcock@dbg.org, with GCA Award in Desert Studies as the subject line:

1. A current resume that includes:
   
   • Current address
   • Phone and email
   • Educational background including relevant education, work experiences and publications
   • Names and contact information for two references qualified to describe student’s character and ability
2. A 2-3 page essay describing the proposed project explaining how it relates to the subject area, what will be achieved during the project, and how the project relates to the student’s academic and professional development.
   
   • The proposal should contain an abstract at the top of the page and specify how the work directly applies to this scholarship.
   • The proposal should also specify the exact hypothesis motivating your work.
3. An itemized budget for the funds requested.
4. A letter of recommendation from the student’s graduate advisor, using the Academic Advisor Recommendation form (download form as a word document), should be completed and signed by the faculty advisor and sent to:
   Desert Botanical Garden
   Attn: Cathy Babcock
   1201 N. Galvin Parkway
   Phoenix, AZ 85008

The successful applicant will submit a written report of project results at the completion of the project to both The Garden Club of America and the Desert Botanical Garden.

Dates & Award Notifications

DEADLINE
Applications must be received by January 15, 2011.

NOTIFICATION
Award selection will be completed early in March. The Award recipient will be notified and the award made by the GCA Scholarship Committee by March 31, 2011.
The Garden Club of America policy conforms with and strongly supports applicable federal and state laws that forbid discrimination on the basis of sex, disability, religion, age, national origin or sexual orientation with regard to the application for any of the scholarships The Garden Club of America sponsors.

AWARD IN DESERT STUDIES GRANTED
The Desert Botanical Garden, Administrator of the Garden Club of America's New Award in Desert Studies, is pleased to announce the 2010 winner!

Eugenio Larios is a PhD candidate from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona. Eugenio is interested in the evolution of seed size. He is proposing to see whether low water availability or seedling competition more strongly favors larger seeds in variable environments. He is measuring natural selection on seed size in the wild in a desert annual plant in a multiyear study to catch variability in the timing and amount of precipitation and competition.