2026 Research Grant Recipients

The mission of the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation (WPEF) is to “promote the conservation of whitebark pine and other high-elevation five needle white pine ecosystems through education, restoration, management, and research.” In support of this mission, the WPEF offers two research grants of $1000 each to an undergraduate or graduate students (MS or PhD) conducting research and writing a thesis on whitebark pine. Seven proposals were reviewed by the Evaluations Committee: three were from masters students, three were from doctoral students, and one was from an undergraduate. Five universities were represented: Cal Poly Humboldt, UC Davis, Univ. of Colorado-Denver, Univ. of Nevada, and Utah State Univ. The committee was enthusiastic about the quality of the research being undertaken on high-elevation five-needle pines and nutcrackers by all of the students.

The WPEF grant is funded by proceeds of the silent auction held at each annual science and management conference. Attendees have been really generous with their bids, which has resulted in the WPEF being able to fund two student research grants this year. In addition, John Van Gundy generously funds an annual grant, administered by the WPEF, that must have a connection to climate change. We are pleased to announce that Mike Mahoney and Danielle Yashinovitz were chosen as this year’s student research grant recipients, and Jennifer Hedin was chosen as the recipient of the John Van Gundy student scholarship.

JENNIFER HEDIN, an MSc student with Dr. Lucy Kerhoulas in the Department of Forestry, Fire &  Rangeland Management at Cal Poly Humboldt, was chosen as this year’s recipient of the Van Gundy grant. Jennifer’s research objective is to understand threats to whitebark and foxtail pines in the Klamath Mountains of California. Read Jennifer’s proposal here.

Jennifer Hedin

MIKE MAHONEY, a PhD student with Dr. Hugh Safford in the Department of Environmental Science & Policy at University of California, Davis, was chosen as the recipient of one of the WPEF grants in 2026. Mike is asking “Do Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) life history traits predict the efficacy of their seed dispersal services?” His study area is in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. Read Mike’s proposal here.

Michael C. Mahoney

DANIELLE YASHINOVITZ, an MSc student with Dr. Diana Tomback in the Department of Integrative Biology at University of Colorado Denver, was chosen as the second recipient of a WPEF
grant in 2026. Danielle will be exploring how to optimize direct seeding of whitebark pine in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Read Danielle’s proposal here.

Danielle Yashinovitz