OARS funding Environmental Sustainability

A number of travel bursaries are available for postgraduates and early career researchers to participate in this project on Friday 7th June 2013 at Birkbeck, University of London, which uses Rachel Carson's Silent Spring to explore the relationship between arts and science research.

The objective of this FOA is to develop and implement a variety of activities that deploy U.S. technical expertise in areas such as strategic and policy planning and analysis, energy market analysis, energy modeling, workforce development, and technical analysis to prime markets for increased use of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies in South Africa and Saudi Arabia. Benefits to the U.S. include potentially increased exports of domestic clean energy technologies and services in rapidly expanding markets, as well as access to data on clean energy policy and program successes and challenges that can inform U.S. national and subnational policy development. DOE anticipates providing two awards totalling $900k (one $450k award for activities in South Africa; one $450k award for activities in Saudi Arabia). The awardees will implement these activities over a period of up to three years to accomplish the goals of this funding opportuni ty. This FOA directly supports the goals of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), International. The full Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is posted on the EERE Exchange website to be considered for award. The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE Exchange website. A User Guide for EERE Exchange can be found on the EERE website http://eere-exchange.energy.gov/Manuals.aspx afer logging in to the system. Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of the announcement and where to submit questions regarding submission of applications is found in the full FOA posted on the EERE Exchange website.

The Department of Energy (DOE) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) invite input from the public regarding a research campaign to inform our understanding of offshore wind energy development that could be conducted in the next two to five years during the construction and operation of the first generation of deployed facilities. We aim to quantify the impact-producing factors (i.e. the characteristics of a project that may cause an impact, such as the sound produced during construction) associated with a project and to evaluate the efficacy of monitoring technologies and techniques deployed at offshore wind farms selected at a future date. Information on where to submit questions regarding the content of the announcement and where to submit questions regarding submission of responses can be found in the full RFI posted on the EERE Exchange website at https://eere-exchange.energy.gov. THIS RFI IS NOT A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT (FOA); THEREFORE, DOE IS NOT ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS.

The tasks to be performed under this agreement are as follows: Task 1: Project Planning and Design The planning and design phase of the project will draw on work completed to date with information and analysis of existing site conditions completed by project team members. The Planning and Design process will include the following: Obtain and set up base maps for the project Develop an architectural design of greenhouse compatible with the existing historic structures including structural engineering Conduct an energy analysis including design of integrated system; for example a combination of alternative energy options. Complete final plans, including construction documents. Task 2: Determine Water Supply and Augmentation Needs The Recipient will determine demand and design water-related systems to irrigate greenhouse and outdoor plots. This task includes any water related engineering and legal services required to complete documents to legally use water for the project. Task 3: Determine Design of Outdoor Plots and Environmental Data Collection The Recipient will, with assistance from the Service, collect environmental data regarding existing conditions on the property as well as to assist in design of outdoor plots. Outdoor plots will be designed for optimal irrigation, drainage, plantings, and fencing. Task 4: Project Coordination The Recipient will provide overall project management and administrative oversight of the Upper Arkansas River NRDAR Native Plant Propagation at Hayden Ranch from greenhouse outdoor plot planning through implementing those plans.

The Concentrating Solar Power: Efficiently Leveraging Equilibrium Mechanisms for Engineering New Thermochemical Storage (CSP: ELEMENTS) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking applications that integrate Thermochemical Energy Storage (TCES) systems with a minimum of 6 hours of thermal storage to be used in ≥1 Megawatt-electric (≥1 MWe) scale CSP electricity generation that have promise to achieve a cost target of ≤$15 per kilowatt-hour-thermal (≤$15/kWhth) are the focus of this FOA. Successful projects will culminate in an on-sun demonstration of the thermochemical reactor along with reliable projections of the full scale performance of the integrated storage system through the utilization of validated performance models developed as part of the research and development effort.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation makes grants on six broad subject matters, known within the Foundation as major program areas.  Basic Research STEM Higher Education Public Understanding of Science Economic Performance and the Quality of Life Select National Issues Civic Initiatives

The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program. This solicitation features two mechanisms for support of student research: (1) REU Sites are based on independent proposals to initiate and conduct projects that engage a number of students in research. REU Sites may be based in a single discipline or academic department or may offer interdisciplinary or multi-department research opportunities with a coherent intellectual theme. Proposals with an international dimension are welcome. (2) REU Supplements may be included as a component of proposals for new or renewal NSF grants or cooperative agreements or may be requested for ongoing NSF-funded research projects.

Researchers are invited to submit proposals on solid waste management focus areas outlined in EREF's Strategic Research Plan. The goal of the strategic research plan is to achieve greater sustainability, good environmental stewardship, higher process efficiency and increased knowledge.

The INSPIRE awards program was established to address some of the most complicated and pressing scientific problems that lie at the intersection of traditional disciplines.  It is intended to encourage investigators to submit bold, exceptional proposals that some may consider to be at a disadvantage in a standard NSF review process; it is not intended for proposals that are more appropriate for existing award mechanisms.

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation seeks to further the development of scientific leadership in the field of environmental chemistry with a postdoctoral fellowship program. The Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry provides a principal investigator with an award of $120,000 over two years to appoint a Postdoctoral Fellow in environmental chemistry.

To evaluate body burden levels of priority contaminants in Great Lakes residents, particularly those who are at highest exposure risk.

NOAA delivers funding and technical expertise to restore Great Lakes coastal areas. Through this solicitation, NOAA seeks to openly compete funding available for Great Lakes restoration work in the Manistique River Area of Concern (AOC) that will remove the two remaining Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) and remove the AOC designation.

This announcement seeks out proposals that demonstrate and validate innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective technologies and/or methodologies that will lead to more efficient and effective solutions for environmental compliance concerns across the Air Force and serve the Air Force's future environmental needs. Validated technologies and methodologies must comply with all applicable regulatory requirements, policies and guidance in the Environmental Compliance and Pollution Prevention Programs. This solicitation is not to test theoretical concepts or technologies and methodologies that currently exist solely in a laboratory research and development (R&D) phase or that have already been tested and validated multiple times in the field (i.e., a service).

Wetland Program Development Grants provide eligible applicants an opportunity to conduct and promote the coordination and acceleration of research, investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and studies relating to the causes, effects, extent, prevention, reduction, and elimination of water pollution. All proposals submitted under this RFP must be for projects that build or refine state/tribal/local government wetland programs. Implementation of wetland protection programs is not an eligible project under this announcement.

Project Objective: The BLM is seeking a recipient with the ability to work with community members and representatives from businesses, organizations, and local, state and federal agencies who live and work in Graham and Greenlee counties for the purpose of: 1.To conserve natural resources 2.To enhance the environment 3.To increase water quantity 4.To improve water quality 5.To plan and act in order to avoid and minimize damage from large storms, floods, and other natural disasters 6.To connect local communities to the environment through education, outreach, and restoration activities. To accomplish these goals the recipient will work with community members and representatives from businesses, organizations, and local, state and federal agencies to identify and implement projects and programs to further these goals.

EPA's National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program is soliciting proposals nationwide for projects that achieve significant reductions in diesel emissions in terms of tons of pollution produced by diesel engines and diesel emissions exposure, particularly from fleets operating in areas designated by the Administrator as poor air quality areas.

Rapid Ecoregional Assessments REA synthesize the best available information about resource conditions and trends within an ecoregion. They highlight and map areas of high ecological value, including important wildlife habitats and corridors, and gauge their potential risks from climate change, wildfires, invasive species, energy development, and urban growth. REAs also map areas that have high energy development potential, and relatively low ecological value, which could be best-suited for siting future energy development. In addition, REAs establish landscape scale baseline ecological data to gauge the effect and effectiveness of future management actions.

The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner to develop hydrodynamic models that describe the transport of bacteria in the nearshore Great Lakes, specifically linking them to water chemistry and human health. This CESU project will provide support for two years.

The purpose is to support work on the ground to enhance and scale-up ongoing stakeholder engagement in developing tropical forest countries that are participants in the global Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). This engagement, which is in addition to the global and regional consultations already carried out by the FCPF, will help individual FCPF countries fill gaps in support for additional stakeholder engagement requested of them before grants can be signed, and to implement components of their REDD+ readiness strategies.

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages exploratory and developmental grant applications to lay the foundation for innovative and collaborative basic research on the role of epigenetics in social, behavioral, environmental and biological relationships, throughout the life-span and across generations. Research plans that are responsive to this FOA will use existing bio-psycho-social and environmental data from human cohorts or animal studies that have biospecimens available for epigenetic profiling. The one year exploratory/developmental awards are expected to generate preliminary data for comprehensive basic research applications to study interactions between epigenetics and social/behavioral/biological/environmental factors in both normal function and pathophysiology throughout life and across generations. The results may ultimately inform research to develop clinical decision/diagnostic tools and prevention/treatment strategies.