Research and Education
The Gesneriad Society – How You Can Help Support the Society, Students, and Research and Education
The Gesneriad Society, like most non-profits, must rely on its members, friends, and supporters to ensure the Society’s strong financial footing and to help with gesneriad research and education. Three endowment funds have been established by the Society with these goals in mind. In addition, the Society has established a fund to assist students and speakers to attend convention and another to help fund conservation efforts around the globe.
The Frances Batcheller Endowment Fund (FBEF) is the Society’s capital fund, from which the Society draws to help with educational programs to benefit its members and gesneriad growers worldwide.
The Elvin McDonald Research Endowment Fund (EMREF) is the Society’s research fund. This fund is used to underwrite research grants for gesneriad researchers who seek a better understanding of the anatomy, physiology, relationships, distribution, growth and development, or the pests and diseases of gesneriads. Grants may be used for a variety of specific purposes, such as travel during fieldwork to gather specimens or observe pollinators, or travel to examine specimens in herbaria or botanical gardens. Awards may also be used for manuscript preparation, photography, microscopy, molecular or ecological studies, and to supplement other funding that the researcher may receive.
The Nellie D. Sleeth Scholarship Endowment Fund (NDSSEF) was established with a bequest from the estate of Nellie D. Sleeth, a past treasurer of The Gesneriad Society. The fund provides scholarships to interested and deserving students of botany or horticulture. One or more scholarship awards are made each year to students currently enrolled in a college or university who seek a better understanding of the anatomy, ecology, physiology, relationships, distribution, growth and development, horticultural uses, or the pests and diseases of gesneriads. The award may be used for a variety of specific purposes, e.g., travel during fieldwork to gather specimens or observe pollinators, or travel to examine specimens in herbaria or botanical gardens. Awards may also be used for manuscript preparation, photography, microscopy, molecular or ecological studies, and to supplement other funding that the student may receive. Award recipients are known as Sleeth Scholars.
Students and Speakers Convention Fund enables the Society to offer convention grants to graduate and undergraduate students who are studying gesneriads and to offset the travel and lodging costs of speakers at the annual convention.
The Conservation Fund is the Society’s newest fund and will channel grants to specific gesneriad conservation efforts around the world. Grant requests will be reviewed and recommended by an advisory committee based on specific guidelines.
