As a professional grant writer, it’s news George Ivey doesn’t frequently get: a call from a donor offering money before you’ve even asked for it.

But that’s how a $1 million grant awarded by Toyota to Friends of the Smokies played out. Toyota’s affinity for the Smokies sprouted in 2005, when Toyota gave four hybrid vehicles to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to promote air quality. The company soon decided it wasn’t enough.

“They came back and said ‘We really want to do something more,’” Ivey said. This time, Toyota wanted to give out cash to national parks, and the Smokies was on the short list. So Ivey worked with Friends of the Smokies and the national park to put together ideas for spending Toyota’s money. The crux of their idea was to get students interested in science and environmental fields, using the park as a backdrop.

“Parks provide a great place to teach children those building blocks of science,” Ivey said.

When Ivey and the park shared program ideas with Toyota, they were sent back to the drawing board, but for an unusual reason. Their pitch wasn’t big enough.

“It is rare that a donor asks you to keep thinking bigger,” Ivey said.

The Smokies was one of five parks to get $1million from Toyota, along with Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and the Everglades. It was something of an honor be ranked among the big guns.

“It seems there was a real affinity for these icons of the National Park Service,” Ivey said.

The grant will fund a host of programs that connect students with environmental science: high school internships, school fieldtrips, workshops for science teachers and special activities for kids on vacation here. From Toyota’s perspective, the grant is cultivating the next generation of scientists, the future inventors of advanced technology.

“We as a company want to make sure that the next generation of kids ends up understanding science and how it fits into our environment,” said Dan Sieger, a spokesperson for Toyota. “The sciences are so critical. It needs to be shown to kids as a viable career option.”

But recruiting the next generation of scientists is getting harder.

“Children are really becoming disconnected with the natural world,” Ivey said. “Kids are addicted to their electronics and they aren’t getting out there. They aren’t finding science and nature fun. If you aren’t connected to the natural world, what kind of career are you going to chose 20 years from now? The full range of science is at risk.”

It’s a field that’s also short-changed in American schools. Math and English see the brunt of testing, and ultimately a greater emphasis in the classroom than science. Using the park to entice students into the science field, rather than donating the money directly to schools for example, makes sense, Ivey said.

“The park has an outdoor classroom that a downtown school does not have. You can try to teach kids about geology in a book but when they are out seeing the rocks it is much different. A picture of bird in a book is much different than holding a bird in your hand during a mist net experiment. It brings the subject to life.”

Toyota isn’t the first company to realize the park’s potential for luring students into science fields. Pharmaceutical company Glaxco Smith Kline and Burroughs Wellcome have funded student internships and workshops for science teachers in the park.

“If you think about your automotive and pharmaceutical companies, you really have to wonder where the next scientists are coming from,” Ivey said.

Sieger agreed with the mission behind the grant.

“Maybe one of these young people will be the one that invents the next hybrid-powered train or the next great innovation that moves things forward in science,” Sieger said. “That’s what we are hoping for.”

Engaging students with environmental science fits Toyota’s image as an environmental innovator.

“When you consider the automobile industry and think about who has been innovative in applying science to reduce environmental impacts, I think Toyota comes to the top of the list,” Ivey said.

Toyota’s grant isn’t unprecedented. The company did $56 million in philanthropy in 2007.

“We have a philosophy to give back to the areas where we do business. We do this around the world,” Sieger said.