WNP awards, grants & scholarships
Honoring national park supporters
Every year, Western National Parks honors individuals and organizations that spread awareness of WNP and national parks, conduct exceptional research in parks, engage the public in the national park ideals through high-quality educational and interpretive materials and programs, and make parks accessible and relevant to a diverse audience. Meet our past honorees or browse the WNP awards, grants, and scholarship opportunities below.
Emil W. Haury
Emil W. Haury Lifetime Achievement Award
The Emil W. Haury Lifetime Achievement Award honors individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to scholarly research in the national parks and monuments over the course of a career or lifetime. Haury, a preeminent archaeologist and anthropologist, devoted his career to chronicling the prehistory of the Southwest, compiling the most complete cultural history of any region in North America. He is most famous for his work at Snaketown, a Hohokam site in Arizona. Haury was the first to claim that the Hohokam were descendants of the Paleoindian Cochise culture. In 1938, he was instrumental in founding the Southwest Monuments Association, renamed Western National Parks in 2002. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Park System Advisory Board, Haury died in Tucson, Arizona, in 1992.
Edward B. Danson
Edward B. Danson Award
The Edward B. Danson Award celebrates individuals who display exceptional support for WNP and national parks. Danson, a noted archaeologist, made Arizona his home in 1937 and discovered his passion for anthropology there. As director of the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, he helped reveal the past and reshape the future of the West and preserve the grandeur of the Southwest and the legacy of the first peoples of Arizona. He served on the WNP board of directors and the National Park System Advisory Board and received the Department of Interior Conservation Award in 1986. Danson, who was father of actor Ted Danson, died in 2000 in Sedona, Arizona, at the age of 84.
Stewart L. Udall
Stewart L. Udall Award
The Stewart L. Udall Award salutes those who work to boost park interpretation programs, carry the park message to popular audiences, or rally broad public support for parks. Udall, a pioneer of the modern environmental movement, was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona’s 2nd district from 1954 to 1961, and secretary of the interior from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Under his leadership, the Interior Department aggressively promoted an expansion of federal public lands, adding four national parks, six national monuments, eight national seashores and lakeshores, nine national recreation areas, 20 national historic sites, and 56 national wildlife refuges. A former WNP board member from 1984 to 1994, Udall died in 2010 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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James E. Cook, WNP CEO from 2011 to 2022
James E. Cook Nature’s Classroom Grant
Established in 2022, the James E. Cook Nature’s Classroom Grant is named in honor of Western National Parks' Chief Executive Officer from 2011 to 2022. This grant is dedicated to enhancing access to national parks for underrepresented K-12 youth by providing essential funding for educators to bring the wonders of national parks into classrooms and offer transformative park experiences. Reflecting Jim Cook’s commitment to educating youth and expanding access for underrepresented communities, the grant supports efforts to make national parks more accessible. Through this initiative, Western National Parks and Jim’s legacy continue to foster a deep passion for our natural and cultural heritage in the next generation of park stewards.
WNP Research Grant
WNP supports the acquisition of knowledge by providing grants in support of research that benefits the management, preservation, and interpretation of National Park Service resources served by WNP. The WNP research grant program supplements research programs of the National Park Service.
Grant projects must originate in a WNP partner park. A listing of partner parks can be found at the Discover Our Parks section of the website. All fields of scholarly research are supported, including anthropology, archaeology, botany, citizen science, ecology, geology, history, social science, and zoology.
To learn more about the research grant, download the RFP, or submit your project proposal, click button below.
Ernest Quintana
Ernest Quintana and Marty Sterkel Education Scholarship
This scholarship supports young adults pursuing careers that increase diversity in the public lands workforce. Scholarships are awarded to those working with the National Park Service (NPS), similar government agencies, and nonprofit heritage conservation organizations. Ernest “Ernie” Quintana held an illustrious 41-year career with the NPS, including a wide array of positions from ranger to associate regional director of partnerships. Quintana created the scholarship with the late Marty Sterkel, whose equally distinguished 33-year career included his role as associate director of national resources, science, and partnerships in the NPS’ Midwest region. This scholarship continues Quintana and Sterkel’s dedicated work bringing broad communities to the national parks across the country.
Donate to the Quintana-Sterkel Scholarship Fund
Read about history of scholarship
Pepe Marcos-Iga at Tucson Festival of Books
Pepe Marcos-Iga Leadership Scholarship
The Pepe Marcos-Iga Leadership Scholarship supports WNP staff who demonstrate outstanding leadership and a commitment to lifelong learning. A force in environmental education and conservation for more than two decades, Pepe was devoted to capacity-building, cultural competency development, and online training and networking. He was International Programs Director for Environmental Education Exchange and was a member of the leadership team of the EECapacity project, EPA’s National Environmental Education Program, in partnership with Cornell University and the North American Association for Environmental Education, where he served as board chair. From 2016 to 2018, Pepe was WNP’s Chief Operating Officer, having previously served on the WNP board of directors. He lost his battle with cancer in 2018.
Find out if you qualify for one of WNP's scholarships
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