Elisabeth Carey Miller Graduate Research Scholarships in Horticulture
Deadline: November 7, 2025
Amount: $1,000 – $6,000
We are currently accepting research scholarship applications for the 2025-26 academic year. This scholarship was established in 1988 by Elisabeth Carey Miller to provide funds to graduate students in urban horticulture and related disciplines at the University of Washington to complete research required for their degrees. Additionally, all scholarship awardees receive a year’s complementary membership to the Northwest Horticultural Society an educational non-profit.
Research Projects Eligible for the Scholarships
The research projects must be a requirement for the completion of a degree in one of the programs associated with the UW Botanic Gardens’ Center for Urban Horticulture, such as the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences or the School of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington. The research project must be related to applied horticulture– either horticultural design or environmental horticulture. The project should focus in some way on the distinctive environmental conditions and cultural requirements faced by plants growing in urban or urbanizing environments or on some aspect of public horticulture. For example, the project might apply to understanding how plants respond to conditions found in urbanizing environments or how they cope with stress or environmental degradation. Alternately, the project might relate to the ways in which plants are used in, or contribute to, urban and urbanizing environments, such as public health and other community benefits.
Student Eligibility
To be eligible for a scholarship the applicant must be a graduate student at the University of Washington in one of the programs above, with a research project contributing to their degree. The scholarships are granted for one year only. Students may reapply if previously denied a scholarship. Students previously awarded scholarships may reapply in non-consecutive years.
Report on Research
Grantees of the Elisabeth C. Miller Graduate Research Scholarship are required to submit a 1 to 2-page written report summarizing the completed and ongoing research, include results the student considers important, and cite where the full report will be available upon final completion of the research project. Historically the oral reports have been given at the annual meeting of the Society in November.
Selection Criteria
Scholarships will be awarded based on the potential of the applicant’s research project to contribute to the practice of applied urban horticulture or environmental horticulture.
Application Procedure
A student’s application must be received by 7 November 2025.
It is to include the following:
- A one-page narrative of the student’s course of study describing how the research project relates to and will contribute to the practice of applied urban horticulture, horticultural design, or environmental horticulture
- A resume which includes work experience and the candidate’s area of academic specialization
- A complete official transcript of the student’s academic record (undergraduate and graduate)
- Two letters of recommendation, one of which must be from a UW faculty member
Recommendations are to be sent to the Northwest Horticultural Society:
By mail to Northwest Horticultural Society, Attn: Scholarship Committee, University of Washington, Box 354115 Seattle, WA 98195
By email to scholarships@northwesthort.org
Questions may be directed to the NHS Scholarship Committee at scholarships@northwesthort.org
Completed applications may be emailed or mailed to NHS at the address or email above.
The review committee will include two NHS board members and three NHS members that are not currently board members. The NHS Board of Directors will consider and approve the committee selected awardees in December, with funding awarded soon thereafter.