Young Explorers Grants, Funding Information -- National Geographic

Explore East Asia

NGS and Luce Foundation Expand Young Explorer Grants in East Asia

More »

Featured Young Explorers

All Young Explorers

About the Program

An initial grant from National Geographic helped launch the careers of many of the Society’s, and our planet’s, most renowned explorers. We are committed—as we have been for more than a century—to supporting new generations of archaeologists, anthropologists, astronomers, conservationists, ecologists, geographers, geologists, marine scientists, adventurers, storytellers, and pioneers. Today, Young Explorers grants help cover field project costs for hard-working, passionate, creative individuals with great ideas. We focus on the disciplines we're known for, and also on emerging fields that matter most to understanding—and improving—the world we share.

Young Explorers Grants Workshops

Discover the locations, participants, and activities for this year's workshops.
Apply for a Grant

Young Explorers Grants offer opportunities to individuals ages 18 to 25 to pursue research, conservation, and exploration-related projects consistent with National Geographic's existing grant programs.

Young Explorers Sponsors

Young Explorer Grant Projects

Violent Monkey Takeover Caught on Camera

"This doesn't look good," says National Geographic Young Explorer Shayna Liberman. Young rivals are menacing a wild gelada monkey patriarch in Ethiopia, eager for control of his females and offspring. Hours pass, blood spills, and power changes hands.
"Extinct" Frog Found in Honduras, Experts Say

With funding from National Geographic's Conservation Trust, Jonathan Kolby spotted and collected a frog that he had never seen before.
Kayaking Bolivia

Andy Maser, a National Geographic Young Explorer, is tracking climate change where carbon emissions are low.
Workers Uncovering Mummified Dinosaur

Tyler Lyson, a 25-year-old doctoral paleontology student at Yale University, discovered the dinosaur on his uncle's ranch in the Badlands in 1999. Using tiny brushes and chisels, workers picking at a big greenish-black rock in the basement of North Dakota's state museum are meticulously uncovering something amazing: a nearly complete dinosaur, skin and all.
Inside Gabon's Longest Mapped Cave

National Geographic Society Young Explorers grantee and expedition leader Trevor Frost hopes to help build a case for making the cave system a protected UNESCO World Heritage site.

Explorer Videos

Young Explorers Grant Links

Celebrating 125 Years National Geographic

Jane Goodall

Over the course of 50 years Jane has witnessed the lives of three generations of chimpanzees.
Explorer Moment

Ed Viesturs shares an early morning view from Everest.