History major wins grant for Central Coast seed library to serve local farmers, gardeners

UCSC junior Andrew Whitman plans to build a regional seed library for the Central Coast. Whitman will fund the project with a $10,000 grant that he won from the Strauss Foundation.
(Photograph by Kevin Johnson/Sentinel)
“Initially people are surprised to hear that UC Santa Cruz student Andrew Whitman is a history major.

At first glance, it seems odd that a proposal for a seed library to catalog the Central Coast's plant diversity came from a student who spends most of his time in the library instead of one of the many UCSC students getting their hands dirty focusing on field research in environmental studies or sustainable agriculture.

Yet, it is a sound knowledge of the past that led Whitman, 20, to apply for and win a $10,000 grant from the Strauss Foundation for his seed library project..."

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