This fund was established by the F.A.O. Schwarz Family Foundation in 2002 for the purpose of supporting research, students and outreach education programs in Environmental Archaeology in the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Elizabeth S. Wing began the environmental archaeology program in 1961. The project, which focused on the identification of vertebrate-animal remains from archaeological sites, continued with outside support until 1969 when a state-funded line for an assistant curator and a technician was established. In 1997, the Environmental Archaeology Program joined the Museum’s newly created Department of Natural History. The department combines anthropology and the natural sciences with an emphasis on the important link between the natural and cultural sciences.