OARS funding Environmental Sustainability

On behalf of the Estuary Habitat Restoration Council (Council), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is soliciting proposals for estuary habitat restoration projects.

A sustainable world is one in which human needs are met equitably and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.  Meeting this formidable challenge requires a substantial increase in our understanding of the integrated system of society, the natural world, and the alterations humans bring to Earth.  NSF's Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES) activities aim to address this need through support for interdisciplinary research and education. Coastal SEES is focused on the sustainability of coastal systems.  For this solicitation we define coastal systems as the swath of land closely connected to the sea, including barrier islands, wetlands, mudflats, beaches, estuaries, cities, towns, recreational areas, and maritime facilities; the continental seas and shelves; and the overlying atmosphere.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological patterns and processes at all spatial and temporal scales. Areas of research include biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, molecular evolution, life history evolution, natural selection, ecology, biogeography, ecosystem structure, function and services, conservation biology, global change, and biogeochemical cycles. Research on organismal origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and evolutionary history may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative experiments; synthesis activities; as well as theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling.

Small grants are available to fund a wide variety of projects which provide a direct benefit to Lake Erie and its tributary watersheds in Ohio. Small grants up to $15,000 will be available during quarters one and four of the fiscal year. Two grants up to $30,000 will be available during quarter three of the fiscal year. All projects require a 25% match. Themes for the $30,000 grants include "Internal Loading as a Source of Phosphorus in Lake Erie" and "Inventory of Water Conservation Measures by Industry Sector." Please see the RFP for "Internal Loading as a Source of Phosphorus in Lake Erie" and the RFP for the "Inventory of Water Conservation Measures by Industry Sector."

The U.S. Standard Grants Program is a competitive, matching grants program that supports public-private partnerships carrying out projects in the United States that further the goals of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. These projects must involve long-term protection, restoration, enhancement and/or establishment of wetlands and associated uplands habitats for the benefit of all wetlands-associated migratory birds. A 1:1 match is required. Research funding is ineligible.

Travel bursaries are available to participate in this project, which uses Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' to explore the relationship between arts and science research through two workshops at the University of York and Birkbeck, London in 2013, the first at York on Friday 1st March 2013. We can offer a limited amount of bursaries for up to £50 (on provision of receipts) to post-graduates and early career researchers for travel to York. We welcome applications from students across the Humanities and Sciences and hope this will be a lively day full of discussion, inviting participants to share an informal five-minute summary of their work in a final roundtable. To apply, please send your CV and a statement of up to 500 words on how your research intersects with the workshop theme, to silentspring2013@gmail.com by Monday 28th January at 5:30pm. Please state your institutional affiliation, and if your research is AHRC-funded.

Sustain Our Great Lakes is a public-private partnership that works to sustain, restore, and protect fish, wildlife, and habitat in the Great Lakes basin by leveraging funding, building conservation capacity, and directing partners and resources toward key ecological issues. The program achieves this mission, in part, by awarding grants for on-the-ground habitat restoration and enhancement. Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the program is accepting applications for competitive funding to be awarded through the 2013 funding cycle. In 2013, grant funding will be awarded in three categories - habitat restoration, delisting of beneficial use impairments within Great Lakes areas of concern, and private landowner technical assistance. Applicants must indicate which of these categories are pertinent to their proposed projects. A single proposal may address more than one of these categories, but proposals need not address multiple categories to be competitive. In past years, Sustain Our Great Lakes offered funding through two grants programs, Stewardship Grants and Community Grants, which differed primarily in terms of dollar amount. This year the program is offering funding through a single funding opportunity, and all applicants are asked to submit applications to the comprehensive program regardless of the size of the funding request. Full consideration will be given to all applications irrespective of the amount requested.

The objective of the proposed work would be to critically review the numerous hypotheses that have been proposed to describe the causes of the formation of sediment plugs and identify those that are most viable. This will help provide a better understanding of the mechanics behind sediment plug formation. This may lead to better management of the conditions that affect sediment plug formation, maximizing the environmental benefits, while minimizing the risks for river maintenance on the Middle Rio Grande.

The goal of this NOAA Environmental Literacy Grants (ELG) Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) is to build the capacity of informal educators (including interpreters and docents) and/or formal educators (pre- or in-service) to use NOAA data and data access tools to help K-12 students and/or the public understand and respond to global change. Successful projects will enhance educators' ability to use the wealth of scientific data, data visualizations, data access technologies, information products, and other assets available through NOAA (plus additional sources, if desired) to engage K-12 students and/or other members of the public in a minimum of two U.S. states or territories. Partnerships with NOAA entities and/or involvement of NOAA scientists to facilitate the use of such assets by educators are strongly encouraged. As an ultimate outcome, successful projects should aim to increase educators' effectiveness in promoting stewardship and increasing informed decision making by a diverse pool of K-12 students and/or other members of the public. The impact of the proposed project on the target educators must be measurable during the award period.

The Fluid Dynamics program supports fundamental research and education on mechanisms and phenomena governing fluid flow.  Proposed research should contribute to basic understanding; thus enabling the better design; predictability; efficiency; and control of systems that involve fluids.  Encouraged are proposals that address innovative uses of fluids in materials development; manufacturing; biotechnology; nanotechnology; clinical diagnostics and drug delivery; sensor development and integration; energy and the environment. While the research should focus on fundamentals, a clear connection to potential application should be outlined.

The Combustion, Fire, and Plasma Systems program supports fundamental research and education relevant to these subjects.  Among the broader societal impacts of the program are cleaner global and local environments, enhanced public safety, improved energy and homeland security, useful new materials, and more efficient manufacturing. This program is not an applied program, but rather it endeavors to provide basic knowledge that is needed to develop useful combustion and plasma applications and for mitigating the effects of fire.  Broad-based tools - experimental, diagnostic, and computational - that can be applied to a variety of problems in combustion, fires, and plasma systems are the major products of this program. 

The Environmental Engineering program supports fundamental research and educational activities across the broad field of environmental engineering.  The goal of this program is to encourage transformative research which applies scientific and engineering principles to avoid or minimize solid, liquid, and gaseous discharges, resulting from human activity, into land, inland and coastal waters, and air, while promoting resource and energy conservation and recovery.  The program also fosters cutting-edge scientific research for identifying, evaluating, and monitoring the waste assimilative capacity of the natural environment and for removing or reducing contaminants from polluted air, water, and soils.

The Environmental Sustainability program supports engineering research with the goal of promoting sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems.  These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival.  The long-term viability of natural capital is critical for many areas of human endeavor.  Research in Environmental Sustainability typically considers long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. This program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society's need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions.  There are four principal general research areas which are supported, but others can be proposed by contacting the program director by email at:  bhamilto@nsf.gov Industrial Ecology Green Engineering Ecological Engineering Earth Systems Engineering

The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) is a Presidential award established by the White House in 1995. The purpose of the award is to recognize U.S. citizens or permanent residents and U.S. organizations that have demonstrated excellence in mentoring individuals from groups that are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and workforce. Groups that are underrepresented in STEM include women, people with disabilities, underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, as well as individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds and some geographic regions such as urban and rural areas. The PAESMEM program is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Nominations, including self-nominations, are invited for Individual and Organizational PAESMEM awards. Individuals and organizations in all public and private sectors are eligible including industry, academia, primary and secondary education, military and government, non-profit organizations, and foundations. Nominations are encouraged from all geographical regions in the U.S., its territories or possessions, particularly jurisdictions designated by Congress under NSF's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

Pollution Prevention Information Network (PPIN) grant program seeks to improve development and dissemination of P2 information by funding regional P2 information centers. These centers serve state, tribal, and local government needs in addition to providing P2 information directly to businesses. The regional centers collaborate and coordinate on P2 information development and dissemination activities nationally in order to decrease duplication of effort and promote efficiency. Information and training are used to assist businesses in identifying better environmental strategies for reducing or eliminating waste and conserving natural resources. Grantees of this program have created a national network called the Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx) which provides information and services on their websites (see: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/p2home/pubs/p2rx.html ).

The Ethics Education in Science and Engineering (EESE) program funds research and educational projects that improve ethics education in all fields of science and engineering that NSF supports, with priority consideration given to interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international contexts.  Although the primary focus is on improving ethics education for graduate students in NSF-funded fields, the proposed programs may benefit advanced undergraduates as well.

The purpose of the NIH Summer Research Experience Program (referred to as the Summer Research Program) is to provide a high quality research experience for high school and college students and for science teachers during the summer academic break. The NIH expects that such programs will: help attract young students to careers in science; provide opportunities for college students to gain valuable research experience to help prepare them for graduate school; and enhance the skills of science teachers and enable them to more effectively communicate the nature of the scientific process to their students. The programs would also contribute to enhancing overall science literacy. Summer Research Programs that expand and complement existing summer educational and training programs are encouraged.

The foundation is focused on making grants to support environmental, human services and other causes although our interests are fairly diverse and may lead us into other areas on an occasional basis. We make both program and operating grants and do not have any geographic restrictions on our grants. Nonprofit organizations that qualify for public charity status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or public schools and libraries are eligible for contributions or grants. Grants Made by the Foundation The foundation makes grants to US based qualified charitable organizations. To date we have funded organizations that address the following areas of interest: Environment (US headquartered organizations operating programs in the US or elsewhere in the world), Human Services Disaster relief (US headquartered organizations responding to disasters in the US or elsewhere in the world on an occasional basis), Other (US headquartered organizations operating programs in the US or elsewhere in the world).

The Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC) is an applied conservation science partnership; see http://www.greatplainslcc.org/about/ for a map of the GPLCC geographic area. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is soliciting Letters of Intent (LOI) on behalf of the GPLCC for applied scientific work to inform resource management decisions that address landscape-scale stressors to fish, wildlife, and plants of the Great Plains.

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.