Small grants
Small grants, long ripples
A small grant can carry a field project through a season. The Center's Clark Frazier program has supported research and education on neotropical birds with modest awards and a preference for local involvement.
Who Clark Frazier was
Clark Frazier was an artist who made drawings for the Center. His work appears in the Center's educational materials, including a coloring book about parrots. The small grants program was named in his honor.
The program's purpose is practical: help people answer a question about birds in the place where they live. Earlier guidelines set awards in the 500 to 700 United States dollar range, with a yearly renewal option.
What the program has supported
The record lists projects on Harpy Eagles in Colombia, an endemic bunting in Mexico, Blue black Grassquit behavior in Brazil, a bird observatory in Venezuela, swans in Chile, Singing Quail in Mexico, Bearded Wood Partridge, Village Weavers in Hispaniola, parrotlets in Venezuela, parrot education in Mexico, Tumaco Seedeaters in Colombia, and Andean Teal in Ecuador.
The list is a sample, not a complete inventory. It shows the range of the program: species, places, and questions that larger funders might not reach.
How proposals were reviewed
Reviews took place four times a year. Local leadership and resident species carried weight. Reviewers were less interested in projects led by outside researchers studying migratory birds, and they looked for work with a clear education or management payoff rather than a purely academic aim.
Formal requests were asked to include a justification, methods, budget, timeline, and list of participants. That structure helped reviewers compare very different projects.
A note on availability
The terms above come from the Center's earlier public materials. The program may be seasonal, paused, or changed. Contact the Center before preparing a proposal. The field reports page shows how two supported projects described their work.