Grant Programs

Fast, flexible micro‑grants to help California field researchers — from students to seasoned naturalists — collect, voucher, and archive the specimens that power tomorrow’s biodiversity science.

It is possible to see living microbes from about 100 meters away. Microorganisms can be engineered to emit gaseous molecules after sensing target chemicals, creating signatures visible to hyperspectral cameras mounted on drones. This raises the promise of planetary-scale networks of biological sensors that could monitor environmental threats, pollution outbreaks, or diseases without manual sampling. We're making microgrants to fund field-building for hyperspectral biology, a new subfield focused on long-range readouts of biological activity.