The Young Naturalist Awards is one of the projects produced by the National Center for Science Literacy, Education and Technology, a new initiative of the American Museum of Natural History aimed at addressing the urgent need to increase science literacy among the American public.

The National Center was established through a congressional appropriation of $8 million from NASA, the largest educational investment NASA has ever made in a museum. The Citicorp Foundation, the Merrill Lynch Foundation, and an anonymous donor have provided leadership gifts. Additional supporters include the Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Louis Calder Foundation; Bell Atlantic Foundation; The IBJ Foundation, Inc., of the Industrial Bank of Japan, Limited; The Garden Club of America; and an anonymous donor.