Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation Announces 2020 Grants

Jennifer Zurko

The Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation, Inc. Officers and the Board of Directors met virtually on June 12, 2020 and awarded 13 grants totaling $131,440.00 dollars. 

Since the Foundation was established in 1960, the Gloeckner Foundation’s support of floriculture research has totaled more than $7.2 million dollars. After reviewing proposals from many colleges, universities and research institutions in the United States, 13 grants in the amount of $131,440.00 were awarded as follows:

• $10,000.00—Michigan State University (R. Lopez): Quantifying the Influence of Substrate and Water Temperature on Caladium Production    

• $9,000.00—Michigan State University (R. Lopez): Developing Propagation and Production Protocols for Potted Culinary Herbs 

• $8,000.00—University of Florida (D. Clark): Collegiate Plant Initiative: Connecting College Students to Horticulture

• $10,000.00—University of Central Florida (C. Mason): Toward Breeding a More Fragrant Sunflower: Mapping the Genetic Architecture of Floral Fragrance in Cultivated Helianthus annuus

• $10,000.00—Longwood Gardens, American Society for Horticultural Science, also North Carolina State University and the Seed Your Future movement collaboration (J. Dole, S. Yoder): Seed Your Future: Promoting Horticulture and Careers Working with Plants

• $13,000.00—Kansas State University (R. Cloyd): Integrating the Insidious Flower Bug, Orius insidiosus, with an Insecticide to Suppress Western Flower thrips, Frankiniella occidentalis, Populations in Greenhouses

• $5,095.00—North Carolina State University (B. Whipker, B. Krug): Fertilizer Mixing Calculator (FertCalc) Upgrade

• $14,000.00—University of California, Berkeley (M. Wildermuth): Targeting Powdery Mildew Genes That Act in Plant Colonization to Limit Powdery Mildew Disease 

• $10,000.00—The Ohio State University (M. Jones): Using Beneficial Bacteria to Improve Post-Production Stress Tolerance and Shelf Life

• $12,000.00—University of California, Davis (J. Del Castillo Múnera): Characterizing the Emergent Pathogen Sclerotinia minor in Ornamental Crops in California and Evaluating an Integrated Approach for Disease Management

• $10,000.00—University of Georgia (M. van Iersel): Fluorescence Imaging: A Low-Cost Method for Early Stress Detection

• $10,345.00—Cornell University (M. Bridgen): Developing In Vitro Techniques to Enhance Breeding of Ornamental Plants 

• $10,000.00—University of Wisconsin-River Falls (D. Zlesak): Sponsorship of the New Edition of the Compendium of Rose Diseases and Pests

For more information on The Fred C. Gloeckner Foundation, or to learn how you can submit an application for a Foundation grant, visit gloecknerfoundation.org. GT