The Innovation in Environmental Science and Engineering Education (EdEn)
venture fund at the National Science Foundation offers an internal
source of matching funding for proposals that address education and
training priorities in the environmental sciences.
This is not a program that can be applied to directly. Proposals to
existing solicitations or supplement requests should be sent to the
cognizant program officers. NSF program officers may then enter
proposals into the EdEn venture fund competition if they address EdEn
venture fund priorities and review well in their respective
competitions. The EdEn venture fund provides 50/50 matching funds with
the cognizant program up to $75,000 for one year only. EdEn venture fund
priorities are described below.
For more information please contact Renee Crain (rcrain [at] nsf.gov) in the
Office of Polar Programs or Dave Campbell (dcampbel [at] nsf.gov) who
administers the EdEn venture fund in the Education and Human Resources
Directorate.
In its recent report, NSF's Advisory Committee for Environmental
Research and Education (AC-ERE) stressed the need to build workforce and
institutional capacity to provide quality environmental education that
"is based on the natural, engineering, and social sciences, utilizes
current educational technology, and prepares students for a broad array
of careers." The Committee anticipates that within the next few years
scientists and engineers-and increasingly the general public--will be
called upon to understand complex environmental systems, use advanced
information technologies, and interpret results for a wide array of
interested groups. At all levels, innovative approaches to education
about the environment are needed to train individuals to undertake
interdisciplinary, collaborative, and synthesis activities. The
Committee expressed special concern about the need to broaden
participation in careers in environmental science and engineering. See
the ERE web site for more information
http://www.nsf.gov/geo/ere/ereweb/index.cfm.
To begin to respond to the needs identified by the Advisory Committee, a
"venture fund" for Innovation in Environmental Science and Engineering
Education (EdEn) is again being offered in FY 2004. The EdEn venture
fund is an internal NSF funding mechanism available to program officers
to request joint funding on proposals that review well rather than an
opportunity for researchers to submit proposals directly. Nevertheless,
it is important for the research and education communities to be aware
of this internal funding opportunity in order to address EdEn priorities
in proposals to programs throughout the Foundation.
The EdEn venture fund will support activities that promote the education
of students and the public in environmental areas, broadly defined, as
well as address the special concerns described above. Projects
supported by the venture fund must:
- Enhance the preparation and encourage the participation of
underrepresented groups in environmental education so they can enter the
environmental science and engineering workforce, and/or - Relate to one or more of the topical areas outlined in Complex
Environmental Systems: Synthesis for Earth, Life and Society in the 21st
Century, and/or - Address the impact of interdisciplinarity, complexity, and
collaboration on environmental education.
The following features will be considered positively during evaluation of
the proposals:
- Activities aimed at underrepresented groups
- Inclusion of inquiry and field-based experiences
- Well-thought-out evaluation plans
- Emphasis on diverse educational settings, particularly inner cities
- Potential for advancing careers in environmental science and
engineering - Inclusion of learning experiences for the general public.
Some examples of appropriate activities are:
- Research on the effectiveness of the environment as a teaching tool
for spatial and temporal learning or for introducing complex and
interdisciplinary topics into the curriculum - Projects that enhance the training and professional development of
in-service and pre-service (education majors who are still pursuing
their degrees) K-12 teachers - Outreach activities, including international efforts and meetings,
that utilize or encourage innovative approaches to collaboration and
partnerships.
Cross-over activities that provide environmental research experiences
for educators and environmental education experiences for researchers
are encouraged. Proposals that request funding for research activities
that are required of, or contribute to the program of study for, a
graduate degree in the environmental disciplinary sciences will not be
considered for co-funding.
Proposals, portions of proposals containing focused environmental
education projects, and supplement requests that have been reviewed and
recommended for funding in FY 04 are eligible for nomination for
funding. Continuing grant increments are not appropriate. Projects from
Biocomplexity in the Environment (BE) awardees or the FY 2004 BE
competition are eligible. Requests for funding of technology or
equipment development are appropriate as long as the anticipated outcome
of the project is new capability that will have benefits beyond the
proposer. Standard REU supplement requests are not eligible, unless
they contain a field experience that includes a significant
environmental education component that addresses one or more of the
first three bullets above.
Proposals for Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) may be eligible
for submission to the EdEn venture fund. The proposals must be topically
appropriate and facilitate the professional development of K-12 teachers
that teach science through environmental research experiences at the
cutting edge of science and engineering. RET proposals should follow the
guidelines for RET submission as articulated in the following examples
of the "Dear Colleague letter" for ENG, BIO and CISE:
http://www.nsf.gov/pubsys/ods/getpub.cfm?ods_key=nsf03554. Since it is
expected that the RET-supplement experience will lead to transfer of new
knowledge to classroom activities, the RET-supplement description should
indicate what sustained follow-up would be provided to help in
translating the teacher's research experience into classroom practice.
RET proposals should include a brief biographical sketch of the teachers.
The EdEn venture fund will provide up to 50% in matching support, not to
exceed $75,000 per award. The grant mechanism will be through
co-funding. There will be no future year commitments against the venture
fund. Awards will be administered by the primary program for each
selected project. EHR has contributed $500,000 and BE has contributed
$250,000. NSF anticipates that the EdEn venture fund will be available
in FY05.
As an example, the Alaska Lake Ice and Snow Observatory Network (ALISON)
project (http://www.gi.alaska.edu/alison/) received EdEn venture fund
support through its proposal to the Arctic Research and Education
Program in the Office of Polar Programs. For more information please
contact Renee Crain (rcrain [at] nsf.gov) in the Office of Polar Programs or
Dave Campbell (dcampbel [at] nsf.gov) who administers the EdEn venture fund
in the Education and Human Resources Directorate.