History:
This new scholarship is made possible through the generosity of two trailblazers who helped establish and grow UC Merced and subsequently made their formidable footprint even more significant. In 2021, Christopher W. Swarth, former Reserve Director of the Merced Vernal Pool and Grassland Reserve and Project Scientist for the Natural Reserve System (NRS), and Marilyn L. Fogel, former Professor and Chair of the Life and Environmental Sciences Department in the School of Natural Sciences, as well as a Professor of Geo-Ecology and Director of the Environmental Dynamics and Geo-Ecology Institute (EDGE) at UC Riverside, established the first-ever endowed scholarship for the UC Merced Natural Reserve System.
About the scholarship:
This scholarship supports UC Merced undergraduate students who wish to conduct field research at UC Merced NRS sites, or other sites housed within the UC Merced NRS administrative unit: the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve, the Yosemite Field Station, the Sequoia Field Station, the UC Merced SCICON Sierra Foothills Field Station.
Student(s) must identify a UC Merced faculty or UC Merced NRS staff member to serve as a mentor and supervisor. While all students are encouraged to apply to this scholarship, students who have made or are making substantial contributions to diversity, equity, inclusion and access in science, technology, and mathematics (STEM) fields and/or research are encouraged to apply.
Application information:
Students can apply here. Applications are typically due in Spring of each academic year, for funding support in the following year.
