JRS Biodiversity Foundation
Accepts applications
JRS Biodiversity Foundation is a private foundation in Arlington, Virginia. In tax year 2024 it gave $1.9 million in 38 grants; the typical grant was $47,500 and the largest $175,000. It accepts applications; its filing gives the instructions below.
From its IRS Form 990-PF for tax year 2024.
- Grants paid, 2024$1.9 million
- Number of grants38
- Typical grant$47,500
- Largest grant$175,000
- Assets$49.9 million
- New grantees20%
Giving in 2024 was down from $3.6 million the year before.
20% of its 2024 grantees had not received a grant from it the year before, a mix of repeat and new grantees.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants paid | Number of grants | Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $3.6 million | 44 | $47.6 million |
| 2024 | $1.9 million | 38 | $49.9 million |
How to apply
| Contact | Matthew V Cassetta Executive Direct PO Box 4541, Arlington, VA 22204 |
|---|---|
| Phone or email | (571) 347-0545 |
| What to submit | All applications must be submitted in writing. The format of the grant request forms vary somewhat from year to year. |
| Deadlines | Application deadlines vary from year to year |
| Restrictions | Priority is given to those applicants who submit proposals that most closely match the foundation mission of promoting the understanding of biological diversity for the benefit and sustainability of life on earth, and the foundation's scope of interdisciplinary activities primarily carried out via collaborations in developing countries and economies in transition |
Foundation website IRS filings on ProPublica
What JRS Biodiversity Foundation funds
Where it gives
Its US grants went to recipients in 5 states, the most to Florida. It also paid $1.8 million in 33 grants to recipients outside the US.
| State | Grants | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 1 | $150,000 |
| Illinois | 1 | $114,000 |
| California | 1 | $85,000 |
| Texas | 1 | $52,933 |
| Delaware | 1 | $3,000 |
Grants paid in 2024
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Sanparks Scientific Services | For the project "overcoming pandemic threats to bioinformatics in south africa's national parks." | $175,000 |
| University of Florida | For the project "freshwater biodiversity data of rivers of the lake victoria basin." | $150,000 |
| Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic | Critical biodiversity surveys in the lake tanganyika and ruzizi river basins | $114,000 |
| Wildfowl Wetlands Trust | For the project "madagascar wetlands knowledge base." | $105,000 |
| Water Journalists Africa - Infonile | For the project "nilewell: promoting trust of biodiversity information between scientists and communicators in the nile river basin." | $103,000 |
| Wildlife Conservation Society | For the project "freshwater biodiversity data collection system (fbdc) for conservation and sustainable development of the northeast protected area complex (npac) in the central african republic." | $98,000 |
| Nature Uganda | For the project "training a cohort of herpetologists to increase data knowledge in uganda and build capacity for baseline herpetology surveys in key ecosystems of east africa." | $95,000 |
| Gaea Seychelles | For the project "developing a freshwater biodiversity information system for conservation and management in the seychelles." | $87,000 |
| Conservation Action Research Network | Aspire grant projects support for scholars in congo basin and albertine rift | $85,000 |
| Royal Botanic Gardens Kew | For the project "enhancing data access to transform guinea's capacity to identify and protect its threatened plants." | $76,145 |
| International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) | For the project "increase knowledge, awareness and data accessibility for bee and dipteran pollinators, their forage plant species to support conservation of plant-pollinator interactions in cameroon." | $76,000 |
| Freshwater Research Centre | In support of its work to expand research capacity and data access for the freshwater biodiversity information system (the "project or "fbis-2"). | $75,886 |
| National Herbarium of Benin | For the project "mobilizing data for identification, taxonomy, socioeconomic importance and conservation assessment of bryophytes in benin." | $70,000 |
| Conserve Global | The project will undertake ground sampling and surveys with remote sensing data to produce accurate vegetation and land cover maps, assess threats and document traditional knowledge and usage of plant species in the tondwa gma in northern zambia. It will also build monitoring capacity among four community members and four early career zambian botanists and greater sensitization and support among zambian government and the nsama community resources board. | $65,000 |
| Hawassa University | To generate information on insect pollinators diversity, share data openly and create awareness through platforms on food security and ecosystem health values of insect pollinators under different land uses in and around kafa biosphere reserve and bale mountains national park. Expertise on insect pollinators' diversity and conservation in ethiopia will be enhanced, data will be openly shared, and trainings and communications will take place. Policy briefs will be prepared and disseminated. | $65,000 |
| Wildtracktswalu Foundation | The overarching goal is to develop a new technique that will provide a cost-effective and community-generated metric as an index to monitor biodiversity in africa. The benefits for partners will be equitable engagement by providing greater capacity for local students and indigenous groups, and assistance in transformative actions to be implemented as identified in the africa 30x30 draft. Assessing impacts on biodiversity is key to this; there are currently no reliable and cost-effective metrics to do this. | $55,000 |
| Namibian Chamber of Environment | This project's primary aim is to bring together the widely scattered information and data on namibian near-endemic plants for the benefit of those entrusted with the conservation of the country's flora. | $53,000 |
| Re Wild | For project lost species african symposia for ugandan, tanzanian, and drc researchers | $52,933 |
| East African Wildlife Society | For the project "unlocking biodiversity data to facilitate designation of lake of bolossat as the 7th ramsar site in kenya." | $50,000 |
| International Crane Foundation | For the project "designing and implementing an ecological monitoring plan and a wetland information system for the adaptive management of the kafue flats, zambia" | $45,000 |
| University of Parakou Benin | For data mobilization and long-term conservation of wild edible fungi in benin. | $45,000 |
| National Museums of Kenya | Implement a comprehensive inventory of bats in two caves in kenya, representing two types of caves. This will contribute to the use of scientific data to gain formal protection of caves through existing policy and legal instruments. | $45,000 |
| Kabale University Uganda | For the project "site selection to protect papyrus endemic biodiversity in uganda." | $44,000 |
| Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute | In support of its work "assessing landscape level impacts of climate change on montane forest pollinators in tanzania." | $43,443 |
| University of Namibia | For the project "establishing capacity for sustained production of national spacial biodiversity data products: guiding progress towards the post-2020 global biodiversity framework goals." | $40,000 |
| National Museums of Kenya | Illuminating understudied caves to highlight plant pollination and seed dispersal services by bats | $38,500 |
| Makerere University | 3rd international conference on geographical science for resilient communities, ecosystems and livelihoods under global environmental change | $36,380 |
| Tanzania Forest Conservation Group | For the project "biodiversity data collection and training conservationists in east and west usambaras". | $31,500 |
| Bamenda University | Conference on biodiversity and conservation for early career scientists | $30,000 |
| Endangered Wildlife Trust | For the project "developing a 30-by-30 landscape planning tool for south africa that balances the need for conservation, agriculture, and renewable energy. | $28,000 |
| International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe) | 2024 support for a session on bioinformatics at the bioeconomy summit | $25,000 |
| Threatened Species Alliance | Reinforcing the capacity for conservation science and planning for young west african conservationists. | $22,500 |
| Tusk Trust | Support to conservation symposium entitled: evolution and leadership in african conservation | $20,000 |
| Conservation Society of Sierra Leone | Developing national key biodiversity area (kba) assessment protocol and evaluating the status of a pilot legacy | $17,500 |
| Northwest University South Africa | To support training and guides to build bee taxonomic capacity among citizen scientists in south africa. | $11,000 |
| Freshwater Research Centre | Payment amendment for: demand-driven, high impact expansion of the freshwater biodiversity information system, south africa | $9,873 |
| Iucn West and Central Africa Program | For the project "support for the sustainable management of databases for aquatic ecosystems in the chari-logone sub-basin" | $8,966 |
| Sos Sahel USA Inc | Niokolo-training and biodiversity surveys in koba national park buffer zone | $3,000 |
Officers and trustees
- Matthew Cassetta
- Michael Nkonu
- Julius Ecuru
- Alasdair Philip
- Baldwyn Torto
- Michelle JL Martin
- Guy Midgley
- Mohammed Bakarr
- Grace Mwaura
- Alecia Chen
- Benjamin Rader
Questions people ask
Does JRS Biodiversity Foundation accept grant applications?
Yes. Its latest IRS filing says it accepts applications, with this on deadlines: Application deadlines vary from year to year.
How much does JRS Biodiversity Foundation give?
$1.9 million in tax year 2024, across 38 grants, with a typical grant of $47,500.
Who runs JRS Biodiversity Foundation?
Its 2024 filing lists Matthew Cassetta (Executive Director), Michael Nkonu (Trustee), Julius Ecuru (Secretary) and Alasdair Philip (Trustee) among 11 officers and trustees.
What does JRS Biodiversity Foundation fund?
Based on its grants, mainly international, environment and conservation and science and research.