TGIF Mini-Grant Application Fall 2013
Total amount requested must be from $500-2,000. Submissions must be submitted in PDF or
Word format with minimum 12 pt. font and 1” margins and be no more than 5 pages in length.
Your application must be submitted by 5pm on October 7, 2013 OR November 18, 2013. Please
title your document “MG_ProjectName_YourLastName”.
Project title: Fostering Community: Clark Kerr Lawns to Meadows
Total amount requested from TGIF: $2,000
Amount Requested as:
Grant
Loan (Estimated payback period of loan in ___ months)
Sponsoring Organization/Fiscal Agent: Clark Kerr Campus
Project leader(s):
Name
Year & Major/
Title & Department
Phone
Email
Russell Huang
Freshman
Environmental Science / Global Environment Theme House
831-332-4290
russell.huang@berkeley.edu
Name
Year & Major/
Title & Department
Phone
Email
Alexandra Lalor
Freshman
Environmental Science / Global Environment Theme House
408-220-5214
allielalor@berkeley.edu
Project Details:
Describe the overall goals of the project.
The overall goal of this project is to convert an underused lawn on Clark Kerr campus
into a more student-friendly area with native drought-resistant plants. This is in following with
the Lawns to Meadows project which has already been implemented as a campus-wide
initiative to convert green grass lawns to meadows of native plants, thereby conserving water
and rehabilitating appropriate plant life. Our project will incorporate these concepts by
replacing the lawn with more suitable vegetation. It will also encourage more student
interaction with the project by converting some of the region into a study area. This will
hopefully foster more awareness of the wasteful nature of green grass lawns and our state
water predicament.
How will the project be implemented? Describe the steps.
First we will shut off the sprinklers for the lawn. Leaving the lawn without regular
watering will kill the grass, easing the task of removing it. We will also implement processes
such as layering to quicken the process. During this time, we will purchase native plants along
with all of our other necessary tools and materials. After the grass is dead, we will enlist help
from the Clark Kerr and Redwood Gardens communities in removing the grass and planting the
new plants. We will also gather free materials such as bottles and compost material in order to
construct bottle benches and walkways to be placed in the meadow area. Once the area has
been entirely converted, we will set up signs describing the project and the benefits it will give
in water conservation and biodiversity protection.
Which aspects or campus sustainability will your project tackle? What are the quantitative
and/or qualitative sustainability metrics?
Our project will promote sustainable water usage and wildlife diversity. It will foster
community though the actual construction and by providing a beautiful communal area for
students. It will also spread knowledge about our water situation in California and the
wastefulness of green grass lawns.
How will you measure the sustainability and environmental benefits?
Upon completion of this project we will measure the benefits of the meadow by
evaluating the efficiency of its water usage and its success as a suitable habitat for wildlife
diversity. For this project to be a success, the meadow should require significantly less water
than the current Clark Kerr lawn requires. After implementing a watering system we will be able
to measure just how much water is required to keep the meadow healthy, at which point we
can compare the efficiency of water usage to the current amount of water this lawn requires.
Not only does reducing the water needed to maintain this space have great environmental
benefits, but it will also reduce the costs put into this area. In addition, we can judge the
success of our meadow by observing the wildlife diversity. Lawns are unable to support wildlife
and make very poor ecosystems, but the purpose of meadows is to attract various forms of
wildlife and create a suitable habitat for both plants and animals. By observing if there is a
general increase in wildlife we will be able to determine if our meadow is serving its purpose as
a sustainable ecosystem.
What is your plan for publicizing your project? Do you have any specific outreach goals?
To publicize our project we plan to post flyers around Clark Kerr describing what we are
doing and asking for any volunteers who are interested in the project. We will put a meeting
time and place on these flyers and posters, setting up an informative meeting for those
interested. It is our hope that we can establish days and times that certain people can commit
to volunteering to help pull out the current grass and plant the new native ones. If this meeting
is not successful, we would then plan to meet with the Student Organic Gardening Association
to ask for help in carrying out this project. We can also give flyers to this organization if they are
interested in spreading the word and recruiting volunteers to help our cause. However, we
would like to specifically target Clark Kerr residents in the interest of convenience and easy
access to the lawn.
Project Approvals Needed:
Leonard Green – Facility Manager at Clark Kerr
Budget:
List all budget items for which funding is being requested under the appropriate category.
Include cost/item and total amount/item requested. Please be as detailed as possible.
Item
Cost per
Item
Quantity
Total
Request
$10-30
$20-50
15
10
$450
$500
Flyers
$1
100
$100
Signage (permanent informative signs in meadow-laminated)
$5-20
1
$20
General Supplies and Other
Native plants
$10-20
30
$600
Gardening Materials (soil, fertilizer, etc)
$10-20
15
$330
Equipment and Construction Costs
Tools (shovels, hoes, trowels, etc)
Construction materials (cement, etc)
Publicity and Communication
Personnel and Wages
TOTAL $2000
If selected by TGIF, your project must be completed by December 12, 2014.
Please email completed abstracts to tgif_grants@berkeley.edu and put the name of your
project in the subject line. Please title your document “MG_ProjectName_YourLastName”.
Questions and comments may be directed to TGIF Coordinator, Katherine Walsh, at
tgif_info@berkeley.edu /510-643-2992.