Home / Conference

Central Coast Bioneers is committed to making the annual conference an experience accessible for participants with diverse backgrounds from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Monterey Counties.  One way we promote that goal is through our scholarship programs.  A limited number of both full and partial scholarships to attend the annual Central Coast Bioneers Conference is made available through grants, generous donations from attendees, sponsors and others who believe in our mission.

Terms Applicable to All Scholarships

Scholarships are based on need and the individual’s capacity to benefit from Conference attendance.  Scholarships provide from 1-3 day passes to attend activities at the conference, including all plenaries, workshops, films and keynote events.  Transportation, lodging and meals are not included. 

The deadline to apply for a scholarship is September 15, 2011.  Scholarship application forms will be available to download online beginning August 1, 2011.  No fee is required to apply.  Applicants will be notified no later than September 30, 2011, if they have received a scholarship.  Successful applicants will receive a confirmation package via e-mail that includes additional information registration materials.  The scholarship application is not a registration form for the Central Coast Bioneers Conference; upon being confirmed as a recipient, registration must be completed and either mailed or faxed by October 7, 2011.

Scholarship Programs and Applications

Central Coast Bioneers has three defined scholarship programs:

• A General Scholarship Fund  for individuals 14 years of age or older at the time of the conference in October 2011. 
• A Youth Group Scholarship Fund for groups ages 14-23 of age at the time of the conference.  Youth Group Applications will require that at least one adult age 21 or over accompany every 5 youth, the group leader complete and supply a letter of intent, and each youth in the group complete the youth essay.  All other terms and deadlines that apply to individual scholarship applications shall apply to group applications.
• The Anne McMahon Scholarship for individuals 18 years of age or older as of the time of the conference and who have demonstrated leadership potential in the fields of public policy, politics, education and/or journalism.  See more information about the Anne McMahon Scholarship, below.

Anne McMahon was a prominent political activist and beloved leader in the environmental community, who worked tirelessly to preserve beautiful areas important to San Luis Obispo County, such as the Santa Margarita Ranch and Carrizo Plains.   Anne wore many hats, including reporter for New Times, staffer to the late Walter Capps, aide to former county supervisor David Blakely, and Federal Program Manager with the California Coastal Commission.  Jim Hayes, her former journalism professor at Cal Poly, remembered her as “…smart, shrewd and determined to learn.  Annie – as her friends knew her – had a heart as big as the outdoors she loved so well.”  Congresswoman Lois Capps, eulogizing Anne in the House of Representatives on January 21, 2010, described her as a tireless advocate for the environment and someone with a “relentless commitment to leaving the world a better place than she found it.”

It is in this spirit that Central Coast Bioneers is proud to offer a conference scholarship in the memory of Anne McMahon, who was taken from us in December 2009.  The scholarship is open to individuals 18 years and older as of October 1st, who have demonstrated leadership potential in the fields of public policy, politics, education or journalism.

Individual Scholarship Application (pdf)
Group Scholoarship Application (pdf)

Past Recipients:

2010:
Donna Helete
Brian Engleton
Susan Pendergast