Scholarship For Students Who Love Gardening

Now Accepting Applications!

Since 1928 when the Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture was established, The Garden Club of America has funded more than 1,400 recipients. The GCA offers 28 merit-based scholarships, fellowships and awards in 12 areas.

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Browse the scholarship offerings below:

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The Garden Club of America contacts universities, arboreta and botanic gardens to encourage them to advertise our scholarships to their students and interns. Twelve of the scholarships are managed by GCA staff and volunteers. Selection committees comprised of the GCA and community volunteers read applications and recommend candidates to be voted on in March each year. For fifteen of the GCA scholarships, the specialized level of knowledge necessary to choose the most compelling research projects requires that we collaborate with the following outside organizations:

American Academy in Rome - GCA Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture
American Public Gardens Association (APGA)-The Garden Club of America Hope Goddard Iselin Fellowship in Public Horticulture
Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI-US) - The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Conservation Horticulture
Casey Trees - The GCA Zone VI Fellowship in Urban Forestry
Center for Plant Conservation (CPC)-The Catherine H. Beattie Fellowship in Conservation Horticulture
College of William & Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Center for Coastal Resources Management-The GCA Award in Coastal Wetlands Studies
Cornell University, Cornell Lab of Ornithology-The Frances M. Peacock Scholarship for Native Bird Habitat
Desert Botanical Garden-The GCA Award in Desert Studies
Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF), Leadership in Landscape Scholarship Program-The Douglas Dockery Thomas Fellowship in Garden History and Design
Missouri Botanical Garden, William L. Brown Center-The Anne S. Chatham Fellowship in Medicinal Botany
Pollinator Partnership (P2)-The Garden Club of America Board of Associates Centennial Pollinator Fellowship
Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)-Garden Club of America/Royal Horticultural Society Interchange Fellowship
Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Gardens, Archives of American Gardens (AAG)-The GCA Internship in Garden History and Design
Student Conservation Association (SCA)-The Sara Shallenberger Brown GCA National Parks Conservation Scholarship
University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum-The GCA Fellowship in Ecological Restoration
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Education for Nature Program-The GCA Awards in Tropical Botany

These organizations each establish a panel of scientists to recommend award recipients in their respective fields.

In 2021, over $300,000 was awarded to 61 scholars to support a variety of academic endeavors ranging from summer environmental study and fieldwork to graduate-level research. Their study will take place in institutions across the nation and some will conduct fieldwork across the globe.

GCA scholars have become leaders in their fields of study. Recently, a selection panel member reviewed a list of past recipients of The GCA Awards in Tropical Botany, which were first awarded in the 1980s. These scholars are now well established in their careers. The selection panel member commented that the names appearing on the list are a "veritable who's who" of the Systematics and Forest Ecology fields today. The Garden Club of America is deservedly proud of its scholarship program.

Read the 2021 GCA Scholars Report

Click to view and download the GCA Scholarship Flyers:

Nautica Tarez Jones, 2021 Scholar, The GCA Award for Summer Environmental Studies

Brandon Quintana, 2021 Scholar, The GCA Award in Coastal Wetlands Studies

Bing Li, 2021 Scholar, The Catherine H. Beattie Fellowship in Conservation Horticulture

Luke Douglas, 2021 Scholar, The Frances M. Peacock Scholarship for Native Bird Habitat

Gabriela Sinclair, 2021 Scholar, The Corliss Knapp Engle Scholarship in Horticulture

Christopher Halsch, 2021 Scholar, The GCA Board of Associates Centennial Pollinator Fellowship

Laymon Ball, 2021 Scholar, The GCA Award in Tropical Botany

Isabel de Silva, 2021 Scholar, The Garden Club of America Fellowship in Ecological Restoration

Toshio Doroff Matsuoka, 2021 Scholar, The Elizabeth Gardner Norweb Environmental Studies Scholarship

Maria Alvarez Zavala, 2021 Scholar, The GCA Montine M. Freeman Scholarship in Native Plant Studies

Ryan Schmidt, 2021 Scholar, The Joan K. Hunt and Rachel M. Hunt Summer Scholarship in Field Botany

Renata Poulton Kamakura, 2021 Scholar, The GCA Zone VI Fellowship in Urban Forestry

Emily Edwards, 2021 Scholar, The Zeller Summer Scholarship in Medicinal Botany