Rachel Snyder Memorial Scholarships of up to $1,000 are awarded in early 2019 to graduate students for research on prairie ecology, conservation, and/or Monarch butterflies and other pollinators native to Kansas.

 

About the Scholarship

The Rachel Snyder Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to graduate and undergraduate students attending a Kansas college or university by Grassland Heritage Foundation. The scholarship began in 2000 with funds donated in memory of Rachel Snyder. It was originally given to high school students planning to study biology or journalism at a state college. It evolved into a scholarship awarded to graduate students studying prairie-related topics. Beginning in 2011, GHF partnered with the Kansas Native Plant Society and began matching funds awarded through their Mary A. Bancroft Memorial Scholarship. Thanks to a donation by Susan Lordi Marker, a portion of the scholarship funding is available for research involving Monarch butterflies or other pollinators native to Kansas. The scholarship fund has been sustained through donations from Marker and other dedicated member donations. GHF requests that recipients of the scholarship share the results of their research through GHF newsletter articles and/or public presentations. 

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About Rachel Snyder

Rachel was dedicated to prairie land preservation. In 1974 she purchased a farm near Mayetta, Kansas that contained a native prairie. She wished for her farm to be forever conserved, and she deeded it to GHF in 1984. When GHF took ownership, her farm became known as Snyder Prairie. Rachel was a journalist and she was, for many years, the editor of Flower and Garden Magazine in Kansas City. She authored two books on gardening, The Complete Book for Gardeners in 1964 and Gardening in the Heartland in 1992.

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Scholarship Application

GHF is currently accepting proposals through February 29, 2020. GHF will award scholarship funds in March 2020. Download the scholarship application below. Submit questions or completed applications to info@grasslandheritage.org. Scholarship application materials submitted to the Kansas Native Plant Society may also be submitted to GHF for the Snyder Scholarship.

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Past Recipients

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2019: Naomi Betson

Effects of sampling date on observed biodiversity in an experimental tallgrass prairie restoration

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2019: Kent Connell

Maximizing the impact of prairie restoration on carbon sequestration within soil organic matter

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2019: Jaide Allenbrand

Investigating the effect of bison grazing on grassland soil fertility and microbial communities across the central Great Plains

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2018: Theo Michaels

Prairie Monoliths as Catalysts for Restoration

 

2018: Emily Kaemmar

Restoring Prairie Soil Microbes with Tailored Compost

 

2018: Pam Blackmore

Butterflies, Tallgrass Prairie, and Green Roofs

 

2014: Daphne Mayes

Solitary bees, wasps, and parasites in tallgrass prairies

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2013:Kathy Roccaforte

Investigating the role of prairie restoration and land-use intensification on native pollinators in tallgrass prairies

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2013: Shelly Wiggam

The effects of patch-burn grazing on plant and pollinator diversity, demographic responses and resource use in the Flint Hills of Kansas

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2013: Anna Zahner

Forb life-history responses to grazer-mediated habitat alterations

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2012: Alex Bittel

Influences on Community Assembly in a Long-Term Grassland Experiment

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2012: Miranda Gray

Bringing Genomics Outdoors: Drought Implications for Big Bluestem Grassland Conservation and Restoration

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2011: Jacob Olsen

Research: Effects of precipitation and ecotype on the physiology and anatomy of big bluestem and sand bluestem

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Support the Scholarship

To continue to award the scholarship, financial support is necessary. You can support the scholarship by designating your GHF membership dues or making a separate donation to the scholarship fund.