The Gunderson Family Student Research in Coastal Sustainability Fund supports undergraduate students engaging in coastal sustainability research during the summer at UC Santa Cruz.

Amount & use
Award amount: One award of $3,000 to go towards living expenses or research related costs at the student’s discretion

  • Please note: if you receive an award and are not enrolled in summer classes, the award amount will be paid to you through direct-pay. If you are enrolled in summer classes, this amount will instead be applied to your student account, which may impact financial aid. Please discuss specific questions regarding this with the financial aid office directly.
Eligibility & Requirements
  • Any undergraduate from any department who is registered and enrolled at UC Santa Cruz, in good academic standing, and will not graduate before the project is completed can apply
  • You must propose a research project relating to coastal science and sustainability
  • You must have a faculty mentor for your research project

This award is one of several science division summer research awards. You can view each of these research awards and their various eligibility criteria here.

If you have questions, please contact the awards manager at sciawards@ucsc.edu.

Please find complete application instructions below.

**All award recipients will be required to provide a handwritten or typed thank-you note and complete a questionnaire for donor stewardship purposes and may be asked to participate in other recognition events. If for any reason you would be unable to participate in the recognition activities outlined above, we will work with you on an alternative.

Deadlines
The 2023-2024 awards cycle has ended. Applications for AY 24/25 will be posted in early November, and the application deadline will be set in early spring 2025 (typically late February.)

Selection criteria
  • Strength of research proposal (e.g., quality of writing, feasibility of project)
  • Strength of faculty recommendation
  • Student qualifications (e.g., prior experience, relevant coursework)
Past recipients

2019–2020

Alex Osleger (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology)

2018–2019

Sharon Mulready (Earth & Planetary Sciences)

2017–2018

Anthony Mazzini (Earth & Planetary Sciences)

How to apply

The research awards application will be posted in early November, 2024. Until then, please review the information under "selection criteria" and begin connecting with faculty labs that could oversee your research project.