Category: Community

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NPSOT Undergraduate Scholarships

News students can use… The full text of NPSOT’s announcement is here:

The Native Plant Society of Texas is offering two undergraduate student awards: the Dr. Alfred Richardson Undergraduate Scholarship and the Kate Hillhouse Undergraduate Scholarship.

Both scholarships are available to biology, ecology, or related studies, students who will be juniors or seniors at a Texas university or college in Fall 2025, and meet the below criteria:

  • The Dr. Alfred Richardson Scholarship is a tuition scholarship funded by an endowment created by Harry and Marilyn Kirk. The award is $2500-$5000 per year for up to two years and will go to a student who plans to pursue an academic or research career focusing on the study, conservation or utilization of Texas native plants.
  • The Kate Hillhouse Undergraduate Scholarship is a $2500 award and will go to a student who is planning a career that furthers the use or conservation of Texas native plants.  This award is renewable if funds allow.

Applications are now open and and close on March 15, 2025. Scholarship(s) will be disbursed prior to the 2025 Fall Semester. The Grants & Scholarships Committee administers all student awards. For more information or questions about the research grant, please contact scholarships@npsot.org.

Apply at this link https://www.npsot.org/our-work/grants-scholarships/scholarships/

Thank you,
Amy Birdwell
Vice President, Education

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Apply for Monarch Garden Grants!

Forward to/share this post with your local school district, educational community and nature centers! For details, read the Society’s full announcement and click on the grant application.

If needed, the NPSOT-Williamson County Chapter has resources to help with the application (examples include plant lists and sources). Contact the chapter at wilco-chapter@npsot.org for help.

Native Plant Society of Texas News:

monarch butterfly

Bring Back the Monarchs to Texas Grant Applications Now Open

Deadline to Apply: February 10, 2025

You can help save the Monarchs!

As their number declines and the species approaches threatened status, you can help save our iconic Monarch Butterfly. Plant pollinator gardens with native plants to provide the essential nectar that will fuel their up to 3,000 mile fall migration. Include native milkweeds to support the multi-generational spring migration.

Our Bring Back the Monarch to Texas (BBMT) garden grants can help with your efforts. Applications are now open for 2025 garden grants. 

The BBMT program awards grants up to $600 to nature centers, schools, educational groups and others to help fund development of Monarch demonstration gardens or Monarch Waystations using native plants on public sites in Texas. The purpose of this program is to educate members, applicants, and the public about Monarch conservation and native plants, and to encourage restoration of Monarch habitats throughout the Texas migration flyway.

The application process must be completed by February 10th, 2025, and awardees will be announced at the beginning of March. 

Apply Today

Grants are funded by Native Plant Society of Texas, Monarch Watch and by individual and corporate donations to the BBMT program. In 2025, additional funds through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation will be used to underwrite some of the garden grants. The Native Plant Society of Texas is grateful for everyone helping provide the funds to maintain our program.

In 2024, BBMT awarded 51 grants for a total of $29,700, delivered educational talks, helped tag Monarch butterflies with Monarch Watch, and distributed milkweed plants!

Questions – bbmt@npsot.org

Carol Clark, BBMT Committee Chair
Native Plant Society of Texas

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Leave No Trace training – Williamson County Preserves

News from the Williamson County Conservation Foundation:

The Williamson County Conservation Foundation is offering a “Leave No Trace for Williamson County Preserves” training for people who want to access county preserve areas. The class will be held Wednesday, Oct. 16, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Georgetown Annex, 100 WilCo Way, in Georgetown.

“Leave No Trace” is a program by the Center for Outdoor Ethics and covers seven principles emphasizing mindfulness while hiking at Williamson County Preserves.

The class is free to attend but space is limited and advance registration is required. Participants must first complete the free Leave No Trace 101 course online here, and email your certificate to the Williamson County Conservation Foundation at wccf@wilco.org. To register, click here.