New YOUNG Act Funds $1M Annually for Students to Use Drones and AI for Wildlife Monitoring

The Youth Outdoors Using Natures Genetics Act of 2025, or the YOUNG Act, is setting up a new federal grant program designed to get students out of the classroom and into nature, armed with high-tech gear. This bill authorizes $1 million every year from fiscal year 2026 through 2032 to fund projects where kids monitor local biodiversity using advanced science tools.

The Science Class Gets a Serious Upgrade

At its core, the YOUNG Act tasks the Secretary of Commerce (through the NOAA) with distributing grants and technical support to schools, nonprofits, universities, and state/local/Tribal governments. The goal is to fund youth biodiversity monitoring projects. Forget the old field trip with a magnifying glass; these projects are required to use advanced technology. We’re talking environmental DNA (eDNA) testing—which can identify species from tiny samples of water or soil—remote sensing, camera traps, acoustic monitoring, drones, and even artificial intelligence (AI) for data crunching. If you run a high school science club, this is the kind of funding that could let your students deploy a drone to monitor coastal erosion or use AI to analyze bird calls in a nearby forest.

Prioritizing Access Where It Matters Most

One of the most important provisions in Section 2 is the mandate to prioritize applications that focus on “underserved communities.” This is a deliberate move to ensure that students who might not typically have access to these expensive, cutting-edge technologies—like those in rural areas, low-income districts, or communities of color—get a seat at the table. For parents and educators, this means the funds aren't just going to wealthy suburban schools; the program is specifically designed to bridge the technology gap in science education. The grant money can be used for supplies, transportation to monitoring sites, outreach, and even purchasing necessary scientific permits.

Where the Fine Print Gets Fuzzy

While the program is largely a win for science education, there are a couple of spots where the bill grants broad authority. Specifically, when defining what the grant money can be used for, the list includes supplies, transport, and permits, but then adds “other related expenses the Secretary approves.” This kind of open-ended language gives the Secretary of Commerce significant discretion over spending that goes beyond the explicitly listed categories. While this flexibility could be used to cover unforeseen project needs, it’s a detail worth noting, as it relies heavily on how tightly the administering agency manages the funds.

The Real-World Payoff

Beyond the educational benefits, these projects generate real, usable data. If a local nonprofit gets a grant to have high school students use eDNA to track invasive species in a nearby river, that data is valuable to local conservation efforts. The bill requires the Secretary to report back to Congress two years after enactment, detailing exactly who got the money, how much, how they spent it, and how many students participated. This accountability measure is crucial for ensuring the $1 million annual investment is actually delivering both scientific data and meaningful educational opportunities.