Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced plans to provide $1.5 million for new grants to colleges and universities that are underrepresented in DOE’s climate, Earth, and environmental science investments to help provide technical assistance to build capacity and achieve the goal of broadening institutional participation.
“With enormous challenges facing the country to solve the climate crisis and promote equitable solutions and practices, we must diversify and expand the talent pool in climate and Earth science disciplines in order for science to exert even greater impacts on society,” said Sharlene Weatherwax, DOE Associate Director of Science for Biological and Environmental Research. “These grants will promote a strong and diverse talent pool as we move into the future, where climate science will make major and impactful contributions in support of the DOE mission.”
A goal of this funding opportunity is to foster the development of climate, Earth, and environmental science research and training capacity at underrepresented institutions. To do this, the funding opportunity fosters engagement between underrepresented institutions and national laboratories and universities currently participating in the DOE’s climate, Earth, and environmental sciences research supported by the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program. Funding will include support for underrepresented institutions to develop partnerships with DOE projects at national laboratories and universities, develop plans for capabilities for future research, and leverage the DOE user facilities. In addition, projects will support participation in outreach and training being planned by DOE’s climate, Earth, and environmental sciences programs and facilities. Institutions with a history of training students from populations that are underrepresented in climate and environmental sciences, such as those served by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions (MSIs), are encouraged to apply.
The Department anticipates that $1.5 million will be available for this program in Fiscal Year 2022. The Funding Opportunity Announcement, issued by DOE’s Office of Science, can be found here. An informational webinar will be held on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 3 pm EDT. Webinar registration details can be found here.
BER supports fundamental research and capabilities to improve understanding and predictability of the climate, environmental, and Earth systems. Research areas include atmospheric science, ecosystem and watershed sciences, climate and Earth system modeling, climate resilience, and data management. BER also supports the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility, the world’s premier ground-based observations facility advancing atmospheric and climate research, and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) user facility, which provides world-class resources to explore the molecular and atomic processes that control biological and ecosystem functions.
More information on the Office of Biological and Environmental Research can be found here and more information on BER’s Earth and Environmental System Sciences Division can be found here.
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