Missouri Botanical Garden Youth Fellowship Program

The Missouri Botanical Garden Youth Fellowship Program recognizes the top high school seniors 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 $500 scholarship for higher education.

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

Fellowship applicant qualifications:

  • Must reside in the 16-county St. Louis metropolitan region*
  • Must be a rising high school senior
  • Must be pursuing a career connected to the environmental field
  • Must be able to attend the Youth Fellows weekend (MLK weekend, Friday night through Sunday)
  • Must be willing to carry out action plan developed during Youth Fellows weekend
  • Must be willing to present about fellowship experience to near peer community (e.g., high school, youth group)
  • Must be entering a higher education program in 2020–2021 (community college, university, technical school)

*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

 

2019–2020 Timeline
July 29 Fellowship announcement, applications open
October 25 Application deadline
November 6 Reference submission deadline
January 17–19 MBG Youth Fellows Weekend
February–April Community action project completed
May 7 Final Fellow meeting
By May 15 Scholarship awards distributed

 

Youth Fellowship Experiences

Fellows Weekend:
  • Fellows will get to know each other through team building and group service activities.
  • Fellows will learn about local environmental issues through in-depth discussions and engagement with local experts.  
  • Fellows will work through the Design Thinking Method to create an action plan that each individual student can carry out between February and March in their own community.

Community Involvement:

  • Fellows will individually carry out the action plan the group created during the Fellows Weekend between February and March.
  • Fellows will present to one of their community groups (school, church, etc.) about their experience in environmental stewardship throughout high school and experience with the fellowship.
  • During Family Night at the Garden in early May, fellows will debrief about their experience with their community and will share their experience with Family Night participants.

 

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
      • Nature immersion
    • Future plans in an environmental career
    Application Form
  2. Have two (2) references who are familiar with applicants work in environmental stewardship fill out reference form. 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.
    3. Reference Form