The National Endowment for the Humanities is spending over $50,000 to publish a book about the relationships between humans and trees.
The grant to Stony Brook University in New York was one of nearly 300 new projects approved by the agency this month.
The project, "The Latest Oldest Tree: Survival Stories for a Time of Extinction," received $50,400 for "research and writing leading to publication of a book on human relationships to long-lived trees."
The list of projects also includes over $400,000 to install green lighting at museums, and $200,000 to produce research papers on the immigration policies in Arizona, New Mexico, Maryland, and Virginia.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art received $190,000 for an "energy efficient lighting environment," replacing the lighting with LED lamps for its exhibits of African, American, Asian, European, and contemporary art.
The Makah Cultural and Research Center in Washington received $232,000 to convert to LED lighting, and the museum will also train its staff on "environmental monitoring."
"The proposed project requires moving a collection from the current gallery to nearby temporary storage, installation of LED lighting, and reinstallation of the exhibit, as well as staff training in environmental monitoring protocols," the grant said.
Another $50,400 is going to Texas Tech University to publish a book on failure.