Environmental Sciences

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Patagonia accepts one proposal per group in a given fiscal year (May 1–April 30), with deadlines varying from program to program. Patagonia's typical grant size also varies from program to program but generally ranges between $5,000 and $20,000.

Patagonia funds only environmental work. We are most interested in making grants to organizations that identify and work on the root causes of problems and that approach issues with a commitment to long-term change. Because we believe that the most direct path to real change is through building grassroots momentum, our funding focuses on organizations that create a strong base of citizen support.

We support small, grassroots, activist organizations with provocative direct-action agendas, working on multi-pronged campaigns to preserve and protect our environment. We help local groups working to protect local habitat, and think the individual battles to protect a specific stand of forest, stretch of river or indigenous wild species are the most effective in raising more complicated issues—particularly those of biodiversity and ecosystem protection—in the public mind. We look for innovative groups that produce measurable results, and we like to support efforts that force the government to abide by its own—our own—laws. Your efforts should be quantifiable, with specific goals, objectives and action plans, and should include measures for evaluating success.

Because we're a privately held company, we have the freedom to fund groups off the beaten track, and that's where we believe our small grants are most effective. We support the use of creative methods to engage communities to take action, including film, photography and books. However, media projects will only be successful in our proposal process if they are tightly linked to a direct-action campaign on the issue, with specific goals that go beyond education and awareness.

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Institutions may submit one nominee to the 2025 New Innovator Award program.

* Please note this selection process is running on an anticipated deadline.

The New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award provides early-career scientists the investment needed to propel them into successful research careers.
Young faculty in the sciences often struggle to secure grant funding. We established the New Innovator Awards to launch the careers of promising scientists whose research addresses significant food and agriculture challenges. These awards allow the grantees to focus exclusively on research without the pressure of securing additional funding.

 Eligible Individuals

Faculty members at eligible institutions with the creative ideas, skills, knowledge and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research program as principal investigator are invited to work with their institution to develop an application for support.

• The nominated faculty member must have been hired on or after August 1, 2021 for a tenure-track or equivalent position and may work in any discipline or any department within the institution.
• Preference will be given to individuals near the onset of their independent research career and who are within eight (8) yearsof receiving a Ph.D. or equivalent degree.
• Individuals with significant research experience prior to obtaining their faculty position will not be considered for this award. For the purpose of this funding opportunity, significant research experience is defined as a nominee that has been awarded a substantial research grant (three to five years of support) or has received project funding totaling over $1M within the time of their tenure position or has been awarded similar career development awards with similar budgetary scopes.
• This research concept must directly benefit U.S. agricultural interests.

FFAR recognizes that agriculture and food sciences are highly complex, requiring individuals from a variety of disciplines to realize the potential in each field or research area. Particularly for early-stage investigators, collaborators are often essential for success. While this award is made to an outstanding early career investigator, applicants should include information regarding any essential collaborators and include letters of support from those collaborators. In these letters, the collaborators should comment on the potential of the individual to achieve success.

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Duplicate or Multiple Submissions – duplicate or multiple submissions are not allowed. 

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) National Workforce Strategy (WIC Workforce National Strategy),  is part of a joint agency initiative between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s  (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) that is expected to cultivate comprehensive and sustained solutions for WIC workforce development. The joint agency initiative aims to strengthen the diversity and cultural competency of the WIC workforce, with the ultimate goals of increasing: 1) WIC participation through reaching those populations that are eligible, but not enrolled; and 2) WIC participants use of benefits and services, including nutrition education and breastfeeding support.

In support of the WIC Workforce National Strategy, this RFA seeks projects that will increase the diversity and cultural competency of the WIC workforce and address barriers to recruitment and retention of WIC staff. Implementation projects must respond to and implement components of the WIC Workforce National Strategy, assess and address regional and national priorities, and target critical workforce needs. 

AVERAGE INDIVIDUAL AWARD RANGE: $150,000 - $5,000,000 

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Duplicate or Multiple Submissions – duplicate or multiple submissions are not allowed. 

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) National Workforce Strategy is part of a joint agency initiative between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s  (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) that is expected to cultivate comprehensive and sustained solutions for WIC workforce development. The joint agency initiative aims to strengthen the diversity and cultural competency of the WIC workforce, with the ultimate goals of increasing: 1) WIC participation through reaching those populations that are eligible, but not enrolled; and 2) WIC participants use of benefits and services, including nutrition education and breastfeeding support.

For this RFA, NIFA requests applications for a WIC Workforce Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center to provide technical assistance and evaluation oversight to implementation projects that will be funded to respond to the National WIC Workforce Strategy. 

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Nationwide will not accept multiple proposals from one organization. 

The Nationwide Foundation also helps associates, partners and retirees maximize the impact of their personal gifts by matching their contributions to our United Way campaign and to accredited higher-education institutions dollar for dollar.

Through Nationwide’s Community Impact Model, the foundation assesses the needs in communities and awards grants to support organizations that provide emergency and basic needs and crisis stabilization.

Tier 1: Emergency and Basic Needs 
Aligned to our business, we’re there to help in an emergency. We partner with organizations that provide life’s necessities.

Tier 2: Crisis Stabilization 
Before a crisis happens or after one hits, we hold the safety net. We partner with organizations that provide resources to prevent crises or help pick up the pieces after one occurs.

Tier 3: Personal and family empowerment

We help at-risk youth and families in poverty situations who need tools and resources to advance their lives. We partner with organizations that assist individuals in becoming productive members of society.

Tier 4: Community enrichment*

We understand the well-being of a community affects all who live in it. We partner with organizations that contribute to the overall quality of life in a community.

*Tier 4 organizations, such as agriculture, arts and culture, civic and community, higher education/scholarships, and health research organizations, are by invitation only.

Any organization who wishes to apply for a grant must first attend one 45-minute virtual training. 

The Nationwide Foundation accepts applications from nonprofits in the following communities. Emphasis is placed on Tier 1 and Tier 2 organizations in these communities:

• Columbus (Metro), OH
• Des Moines, IA
• Gainesville, FL
• Raleigh (Metro), NC
• San Antonio, TX
• Scottsdale/Phoenix (Metro), AZ
• Wausau, WI

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Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization: 2

An eligible organization may participate in two Innovations in Graduate Education proposals per annual competition. Participation includes serving as a lead organization on a non-collaborative proposal or as a lead organization, non-lead organization, or subawardee on a collaborative proposal. Organizations participating solely as evaluators on projects are excluded from this limitation.

The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Program is designed to encourage development and implementation of bold, new, and potentially transformative approaches to STEM graduate education training. The program seeks proposals that a) explore ways for graduate students in STEM master's and doctoral degree programs to develop the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed to pursue a range of STEM careers, or b) support research on the graduate education system and outcomes of systemic interventions and policies.

IGE projects are intended to generate the knowledge required for the customization, implementation, and broader adoption of potentially transformative approaches to graduate education. The program supports piloting, testing, and validating novel models or activities and examining systemic innovations with high potential to enrich and extend the knowledge base on effective graduate education approaches.

The program addresses both workforce development, emphasizing broad participation, and institutional capacity-building needs in graduate education. Strategic collaborations with the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, national laboratories, field stations, teaching and learning centers, informal science organizations, and academic partners are encouraged.

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An organization may serve as sole submitting organization or as lead organization of a collaborative project on only one submission per cycle, regardless of track, but may serve as the non-lead organization of a collaborative project more than once per cycle.

The Directorate for Geosciences (GEO) supports the Pathways into the Geosciences - Earth, Ocean, Polar and Atmospheric Sciences (GEOPAths) funding opportunity. GEOPAths invites proposals that specifically address the current needs and opportunities related to education, learning, training and professional development within the geosciences community through the formation of STEM Learning Ecosystems that engage students in the study of the Earth, its oceans, polar regions and atmosphere. The primary goal of the GEOPAths funding opportunity is to increase the number of students pursuing undergraduate and/or postgraduate degrees through the design and testing of novel approaches that engage students in authentic, career-relevant experiences in geoscience. In order to broaden participation in the geosciences, engaging students from historically excluded groups or from non-geoscience degree programs is a priority. This solicitation features three funding tracks that focus on Geoscience Learning Ecosystems (GLEs):

1. GEOPAths: Informal Networks (IN). Collaborative projects in this track will support geoscience learning and experiences in informal settings for teachers, pre-college (e.g., upper level high school) students, and early undergraduates in the geosciences.
2. GEOPAths: Undergraduate Preparation (UP). Projects in this track will engage pre-college and undergraduate students in extra-curricular experiences and training in the geosciences with a focus on service learning and workplace skill building.
3. GEOPAths: Graduate Opportunities (GO). Projects in this track will improve research and career-related pathways into the geosciences for undergraduate and graduate students through institutional collaborations with a focus on service learning and workplace skill building.

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Institutions can receive only two awards each year and can submit a limit of two applications per year.
*The ORAU Innovation Partnerships Grant Program is a single fiscal year award for events held between September 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024.

Event or conference sponsorship is often beneficial to the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Council of Sponsoring Institution Members, whether as a means of fostering collaboration among Council members, gaining new and important information for a proposal or business plan, and more. Up to $4,000 may be requested to support an in-person or virtual event that involves participants from more than one ORAU member institution, including students. Innovation Partnership applications should focus on focused workshops/conferences that highlight your university’s strategic STEM research and education growth areas, and where collaborations with other member universities would add value. We are specifically interested in events that can bring more thought leadership in building a national strategy for STEM education and workforce development. Member universities are encouraged to collaborate around this topic in anticipation of federal funding initiatives. 

FY 2024 Innovation Partnerships Grant Focus Areas:

• Climate and Environment - sustainability, environmental justice, clean energy, resilience to climate hazards, emerging technologies, measurement and impact assessment, diversity and inclusion, policy, and data science and analytics
• Health Equity - telemedicine, telehealth, health literacy, health communication, behavioral and mental health, health disparities, diversity and inclusion, policy, and data science and analytics
• Future of the STEM Workforce - new ways of teaching and learning (K-16), transformative workforce capacity building and mentoring, diversity and inclusion, policy, data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence

Coordinated // J. Ruiz ( Biosphere 2)

Limit: 4* 

*Please note that due to the size and complexity of the application process, the University of Arizona will institutionally coordinate no more than four (4) applications to this opportunity.

MacArthur today announced the launch of a new round of its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world's most critical social challenges. The third round of 100&Change remains open to organizations and collaborations working in any field, anywhere in the world. Proposals must identify a problem and offer a solution that promises significant and durable change; applications will be accepted online only, from May 22 to August 15, 2024. 

For the third round of the competition, MacArthur is adding “just” as a criterion to align with the Foundation’s Just Imperative, incorporating a sharper focus on how projects advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. No topic is exempt or excluded from these commitments.

100&Change remains global and athematic. The competition is unique because no field or problem area is designated, unlike most prizes and challenges, and proposals from all sectors and anywhere in the world are encouraged. To date, 100&Change has leveraged an additional $511 million in funding, spurring the philanthropic sector to rethink its approach to achieving impact at scale.

Preparation and Proposals

100&Change seeks proposals that articulate both a problem and its solution. Competitive proposals will address a significant problem and provide a solution that is impactful, evidence-based, feasible, durable, and just.

An organizational readiness tool is available to help organizations determine whether they are ready to compete in 100&Change. This tool was designed to help potential applicants understand characteristics of the most competitive organizations and proposals, and to determine how well-suited they are for 100&Change.

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J. Hu(School of Natural Resources and the Environment) -  Track 1: Coordination Hub 

Limit on number of proposals per organization description 

FORECAST does not accept separately submitted collaborative proposals. Any collaboration among organizations should be through a subaward. An eligible organization may submit only two (2) proposals. Proposals that exceed the organizational eligibility limit will be returned without review. Potential PIs are advised to contact their institutional office of research regarding processes used to select proposals for submission.

Organizations participating only as evaluators or subawardees on projects are excluded from this limitation.

Proposals may only be submitted by certain types of PIs. Please see solicitation for details.

Focus On Recruiting Emerging Climate and Adaptation Scientists and Transformers (FORECAST) seeks to facilitate the transition from status quo graduate career preparation to a student-centered model with a particular emphasis on building entrepreneurial and innovation capacity at emerging research institutions (ERIs). Transformers are scientists ready to tackle the challenges the nation and world are facing due to climate change. This opportunity will adopt the spirit of multiple directives for the research community; for example, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report on Earth System Science and the Advisory Committee for Environmental Research and Education report on Engaged Research. These directives call on the research enterprise to support the building of a robust scientific workforce ready to work with communities in addressing societal challenges. Through convergence research approaches to address societal challenges, the transdisciplinary researchers engaged in FORECAST will foster community resilience and the translation of research outcomes for societal benefits, as well as gain a broader understanding of the governmental context related to these issues. A new generation of scientists trained in "engaged research" will be expected to have a national impact in communities that may be disproportionately affected by climate change impacts. The program will build cohorts of innovative scholars from the full spectrum of diverse talent at emerging research institutions to include groups historically excluded in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Participants, who are senior students in undergraduate programs and students who are in master's degree programs, will be supported through intentional professional development activities. FORECAST participants must be US citizens or permanent residents.

FORECAST proposals will fall into three categories: Track 1, Track 2, and FORECAST Planning grants. Track 1 will support one Coordination Hub, to coordinate support for rising seniors from emerging research institutions (ERIs) or historically excluded and underserved groups as part of a national cohort to participate in structured professional development opportunities. Track 2 projects will support cohorts of Master's degree students at ERIs. Mentorship and capacity building should be central to the cohort approach. FORECAST Planning grant proposals will build capacity at ERI institutions and with the appropriate partners to undertake the activities necessary to establish a future FORECAST track 2 cohort.