Help Support Plant Sciences Students at UC Santa Cruz!

Help support plant enthusiasts at UC Santa Cruz!

The Plant Sciences Fund at UC Santa Cruz supports research and educational activities for students across all departments. The UCSC Greenhouses are a focal point and gathering place for this diverse and enthusiastic community of plant lovers. Our Giving Day campaign raises essential funding to cover student research and support the activities of the Plant Sciences Club. We can’t do it without you!

Together, we can:

1. Provide grants to undergraduate and graduate students doing plant science research at the UCSC Greenhouses.
2. Support the Plant Sciences Club and provide enrichment experiences for undergraduates, including guest speakers, skills workshops, botany hikes, service opportunities, and more!
3. Foster community for plant enthusiasts on our campus, continuing UCSC's long tradition of producing passionate and knowledgeable botanists who make a difference in the world!

In just the past year, we awarded 12 new student research projects, including:

• Do seedlings of the mixed evergreen forests shift water use strategies and tissue investment under extreme drought, and what are the species-specific adaptations to prolonged drought conditions?
• How does Stachys bullata react to drought, and what is the best droughting method for this species?
• How do common beans respond physiologically to organic dry farming, and how can this information help growers?
• Sexual conflict and floral trait evolution in Clarkia unguiculata: Does it explain floral longevity?
• How do pink anthocyanin pigments affect plant responses to drought and soil toxicity in a native California wildflower?
• How do sagebrush seedlings respond to drought conditions?
• How important is fog uptake through leaves for the native coyote brush?
• Hyperparasitism in plant disease management: Can we use biocontrol to suppress powdery mildew in grapevines?

Thanks to our generous donor Linda Locatelli, you can DOUBLE the impact of your donation.

Thank you for being a champion for Plant Sciences at UC Santa Cruz!