Request for Proposals

American Keystone Species

Submission Deadline: May 23, 2025, at 11:59 PM EDT
America’s broad and diverse landscapes harbor animals and plants that have played an outsized role in the history, cultures, and ecology of our nation. These American Keystones—such as large predators, migratory herds, salmon, cod, and giant kelp—have sustained societies, driven conflict and colonization, and sparked unity through contemporary conservation and restoration efforts.
Today, modern academic research is shining new light on the critical roles that American Keystones play in holding ecosystems together, with increasing recognition of Indigenous knowledge and the role of Native American practices in sustaining them.
The National Geographic Society, in collaboration with the University of California Berkeley, has launched a rigorous search effort to identify individuals in the United States and territories implementing conservation research or applied conservation projects focused on ecological, cultural, or economic keystone species and their habitats.

This RFP aims to:

  • Identify researchers, conservation practitioners, Tribal leaders, and other community members leading conservation efforts focused on keystone species in the United States and territories.
  • Support these individuals through direct and indirect funding, including learning opportunities focused on leadership and fostering collaboration, as well as available innovative equipment, technology, and data services to support and propel their projects.
  • Elevate these individuals through regular exposure, speaking, and potential communication opportunities based on their project discoveries, accomplishments, and conservation impact.
  • Illuminate landscapes in the United States and territories containing keystone species that reflect key themes, including connectivity, blending Indigenous and academic science approaches, new technology for biodiversity monitoring and/or human- wildlife conflict management, past human relationships with American Keystones, and cutting-edge approaches to managing systems for change.

Who Should Apply

  • Individuals working on projects focused on implementing conservation actions or conducting research intended to inform the conservation and management of ecological, cultural, or economic keystone species in the United States and territories.
    • Ecological keystone: a species with a disproportionate impact on an ecosystem
    • Cultural keystone: a species with a disproportionate impact on cultural identity
    • Economic keystone: a species with a disproportionate impact on economic development
  • These grants are available to individuals new to the National Geographic network, as well as individuals in the network but not yet Explorers, including team members on previous grants and recipients of discretionary funding opportunities.
  • The funding request is up to $20,000
  • Projects must be planned to run for one to two years.

Priority will be given to projects that aim to do one or more of the following:

  • Specific and defensible priority actions to avert a keystone species decline
  • Projects focused on keystone species of more than one type. For example: species that are ecologically and culturally important, or culturally and economically important, etc.
  • Projects led by local community members implementing conservation actions through traditional knowledge or projects using an approach that blends Indigenous knowledge and academic science and research approaches.

Benefits

  • Receive up to $20,000 USD to implement the project within one to two years of receipt of funding.
  • Grant recipients become National Geographic Explorers, join the Explorer Community, and are eligible for future learning, capacity building, and networking opportunities.

Applications

To be eligible, all candidates must submit a pre-application through the grant portal by the deadline of May 23, 2025, 11:59 p.m. EDT. Applicants whose pre-applications are successful will be invited to submit a full application. All candidates will receive a decision on their pre-application at the end of June 2025.

You may submit only one proposal for which you are the project leader. We only accept applications that are submitted through our online portal. Please do not mail or email your application.

If you have questions, please email us at funding@ngs.org with “Level I Grants- American Keystones RFP” in the subject line.

For more information on eligibility and criteria, go to Apply Now.

Apply Now

Photo credits: Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark (2)