Botany and Beyond: PLANTS Grants

Botany and Beyond: PLANTS Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Botanical Society of America
Last Updated: February 11, 2026

Summary

The Botany and Beyond: PLANTS III program, funded by the National Science Foundation and the Botanical Society of America, aims to support diverse undergraduate scholars attending the 2025 Botany conference. Participants will engage in immersive mentoring, scientific talks, workshops, and networking opportunities while exploring various botanical fields. With full funding for travel and accommodations, this program fosters an inclusive environment for budding botanists, encouraging professional development in a supportive community.

Overview

The Botany and Beyond: PLANTS III pathway program is funded by the National Science Foundation (DEB-2138730) and Botanical Society of America to bring talented and diverse undergraduates to the 2025 Botany conference, where we will provide mentored training opportunities. BSA leads this program, in conjunction with our partners at the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and the Society for Herbarium Curators, in support of a more diverse, inclusive and accessible culture in the botanical community. Description The Botany and Beyond: PLANTS III pathway program will provide an immersive mentored experience for a diverse cohort of undergraduate PLANTS Scholars attending the Botany conference. Botany conference is composed of scientific talks, workshops, field trips, a poster session and networking events. Conference presentations cover a variety of academic areas related to botany such as climate change, pollination biology and other plant-animal interactions, conservation, paleobotany, ethnobotany, systematics and biodiversity including field, greenhouse, and genomic techniques, pedagogical methods, etc. PLANTS scholars are paired with mentors who help you better understand the scientific talks, discuss your questions about the BOTANY meetings in general, grad school and funding, and different careers; and can introduce you to people you wish to meet. Each scholar is matched with a near-peer (graduate student) and an established (career professional) mentor. With the understanding that people with different backgrounds offer different perspectives, PLANTS mentors are chosen because they are interested in you and your perspective, and they are often happy to discuss their own career paths, work-life balance and how they came to be interested in plants. Mentors may also help after the meetings with further questions about applying for funding, internships, fellowships, graduate school, etc. Annually, we fund up to 20 undergraduates from throughout the US and Puerto Rico (applications from international students cannot be accepted due to limitations from our funding source) to attend the summer conference; receive mentoring from graduate students, postdocs and faculty; explore botanical research; network and engage with the broader botanical community from several scientific societies; and explore pathways and opportunities to pursue botanical careers. The program offers programming and student-centered experiences across the conference and includes full funding to support meeting registration, travel, meals throughout the conference, a per diem on travel days and lodging for the conference. Participants must be available and commit to attend the entire meeting, participate in PLANTS programing, including at least 3 scientific talks per day with a mentor, as well as professional development and networking activities like field trips, PLANTS scholar and alumni gatherings, the Belonging in Botany special lecture, a Careers in Botany lunch event, etc. You and your mentors will pick a few talks to attend together each day, followed by discussions together about these talks. You will also have the opportunity to participate in a field trip to nearby natural areas. The Botany meeting also provides a chance to attend social events centered around different affinity groups (e.g., LGBTQ+, AAPI, Indigenous, BIPOC groups, first time attendees, undergraduates, those from specific academic institutions, and gatherings of different scientific societies).

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. undergraduate students from US and Puerto Rico