Youth Fellowship Program

The Missouri Botanical Garden Youth Fellowship Program recognizes students in the St. Louis region for their work as environmental stewards. Recipients will participate in a competitive fellowship program with like-minded peers and receive a $2,000 scholarship for higher education.

Awardees will be selected based on their past work in at least two environmental fields (including plant science, environmental research, restoration, education, advocacy, sustainability, horticulture, botany and nature immersion), as well as their intention on addressing pressing environmental issues or studying plant science in a future career.

Fellowship applicant qualifications:

  • Must reside in the 16-county St. Louis metropolitan region*
  • First-year college students preferred
  • Must have a strong interest in the environmental, horticulture or botany fields
  • Must be able to attend the Youth Fellows meetings
  • Must be willing to carry out project developed during meetings
  • Must be pursuing (or planning to pursue) a higher education degree in plant science/botany, horticulture, environmental studies, or sustainability

*St. Louis metropolitan area includes the following counties:  Missouri – Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Francois, St. Louis City, St. Louis Co., Warren; Illinois – Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, St. Clair

Application Form

 

2021–2022 Timeline
October 1 Application deadline
October 8 Reference submission deadline
October 15 Winners announced
October–May Working meetings/Complete project
Early May Presentations
Mid-May Scholarship awards distributed

 

Youth Fellowship Experiences

Fellows Virtual Meetings:
  • Fellows will get to know each other through virtual team building activities.
  • Fellows will learn about local environmental issues and plant science topics and will choose one to focus on for the duration of the program.  
  • Fellows will create an action plan that each individual student can carry out in their own community following social distancing safety guidelines, or virtually through an approved platform.

Community Involvement:

  • Fellows will individually carry out the plan they created during the Fellows meetings September–May.
  • In early May, fellows will debrief about their experience with their community and will share their experience with Garden staff and invited guests.

 

Application

To apply:

  1. Complete application, highlighting:
    • Previous work in at least at least two of the following environmental component areas during high school tenure:
      • Research
      • Restoration
      • Education
      • Advocacy
      • Sustainability
      • Horticulture
      • Plant Science
      • Nature Immersion
    • Future plans in an environmental or plant science career or how your passion for the environment plays a role in your life.
      Application Form
  2. List two (2) references who are familiar with applicant's work in environmental stewardship. Staff will contact references with a form for them to complete. References can be community members and/or teachers, but cannot include family members. You must provide the email addresses for references at time of application submission.

For more information, contact the program coordinator at ssorrick@mobot.org.

Garden Youth Fellows

Learn about the 2019–2020 fellows!