The Philip Hyde Conservation Grant is a $2,500 grant awarded by the NANPA Foundation to a NANPA member pursuing a peer-reviewed environmental project that aligns with NANPA’s and the NANPA Foundation’s missions. Applications for the 2021 grant are being accepted through 11 p.m. EDT on October 29th, so there’s still time to apply. Past recipients have been engaged in projects covering a wide gamut of locations, ecosystems, plants, and animals. As part of their responsibilities, grant awardees periodically report on their progress. Last month, 2020 grant recipient Mary Lundeberg reported on her work protecting nesting shorebirds on Florida beaches. Today, we hear from more previous awardees on how their projects are progressing.
Clay Bolt received NANPA’s 2019 Environmental Impact Award for his work documenting, raising awareness of and protecting native bees. He also received a 2019 Philip Hyde Conservation Grant for work on studying the effects of climate change on bumble bees in the Sky Islands of New Mexico. Earlier this year he reported that “My project on high altitude bumble bees and climate change is still very much in full swing but, thanks to the Philip Hyde Grant, I was able to make some exciting images and discoveries in 2020, including a photograph of a critically-endangered Suckley cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus suckleyi). This grant allowed me to make great progress toward an upcoming book project as well. These initial images have set the stage for the work that will follow
CC Lockwood received the 2005 Philip Hyde Conservation Grant for a project to develop and carry out a multimedia fine arts program that concentrates on the loss and restoration of coastal wetlands. He spent a year living on a houseboat in the swamps and marshes of coastal Louisiana, most of which are threatened by sea-level rise, canals, subsidence, storms, and other dangers. He captured images of the plants and animals that lived in those wetlands, while artist Rhea Gary painted what she saw. Together, they published a book (Marsh Mission: Capturing the Vanishing Wetlands), created an exhibit and a lecture series, as well as educational materials for schools. While the project is complete, CC says “the book is still in print. I lecture on the subject. The exhibit finished its two-year tour with stops in the United States Botanic Garden and the National Museum of Wildlife Art, among other venues.” He hopes the project will “contribute to a longer-range goal aimed at mobilizing community opinion leaders and influential throughout the state in support of expanded public works projects to address Louisiana’s crisis in coastal wetland deterioration.”
Are you involved in or planning a conservation or environmental project that might qualify for a Philip Hyde Conservation Grant? Whether your project is as small as a bumble bee or a large as a coastal ecosystem, you might be the one who is awarded the next grant. But you have to apply! Take a look at the website for full details and the application form. And, remember, applications must be received by 11 p.m. EDT October 29th!
