|
|
|
|
Pitch and Pilot: Fairfax County Innovation Challenge
Registration is now open for an innovation competition to develop smart city solutions centered on carbon neutrality & climate action.
The goal of the challenge is to find innovative solutions that improve energy efficiency, increase the use of renewable electricity, and accelerate the use of electric vehicles to shift from a carbon-based economy to a carbon-neutral community.
| |
Climate Disasters Mobilize the Rich and Suppress the Poor: Voter Turnout Post-HarveyFriday, October 21, 2022, 12pm - 1pm
On Zoom or in-person at Exploratory Hall 3301
Join the monthly Society, Culture and Environment seminar by Zoom or in-person in Exploratory Hall 3301 on Fri., Oct. 21st at noon!
Ted Chen will present on "Climate Disasters Mobilize the Rich and Suppress the Poor: Voter Turnout Post-Harvey.” Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy who works in the areas of environmental politics, political science, and international relations, with recent work statistically analyzing social media data to analyze the polarization of climate politics.
Abstract:
Prior work on the impacts of climate disasters link exposure to a host of adverse outcomes and to changing preferences toward climate policy, but its relationship to political participation remains an open question. Drawing on studies linking victimization to political participation, we posit that following exposure to a climate disaster, the general population will become mobilized while underprivileged segments will exhibit the opposite pattern. To examine the impact of exposure to climate disasters on political participation, we use the case of Hurricane Harvey, which was the costliest environmental disaster in U.S. history, and look at how exposure impacted voter turnout in the Greater Houston Area. Using a difference-in-difference design with data from voter files and satellite flood maps, we show that the Harvey floods changed political participation patterns in Houston. Whereas exposure to flooding mobilized most segments of the population, leading to increasing likelihood of voting, individuals from poorer neighborhoods instead became less likely to vote. Our findings have direct implications for environmental justice and democratic representation, illustrating a clear pathway for climate change, through increasingly disenfranchised populations, to exacerbate existing social inequalities.
| |
Workshop: Incorporating Systems Thinking within Environmental Curricula
Friday, November 11, 2022, 9:00am - 3:00pm
Registration
Potomac Science Center
Systems thinking is often described as a core capacity for understanding sustainability and a critical skill for the 21st century. As such, this workshop is part of a George Mason University Curriculum Impact Grant-funded project that seeks to convene faculty and graduate students to examine the current state of systems thinking pedagogies and explore how they are being incorporated within two undergraduate degree programs–the BS in Environmental Science offered by the Department of Environmental Science & Policy (ESP), and the BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies offered jointly by the School of Integrative Studies and ESP. Faculty and graduate students from other departments who teach related courses are also welcome. Workshop participants will share their own best practices in teaching students about systems and identify opportunities to integrate systems thinking within courses and throughout program curricula. The event will be held at Mason’s Potomac Science Center and will include a catered lunch for participants. The first half of the workshop (9:30-11:30 am), comprised of introductory talks and a curricular review, will be live-streamed for those who wish to attend but are not available for the full day. Please register HERE and email organizers K. L. Akerlof, Andrew Wingfield, Jeremy Campbell, Ted Chen, and Meaghan Caruso with any questions you have about the event.
| |
MITRE Capstones Project Portal
As part of its University Innovation Exchange (UIX) initiative, MITRE is partnering with universities to offer technical advisors and capstone project ideas that reflect real problems facing the United States government. The MITRE Capstones Project Portal is a web-based platform for university faculty and students to browse, select, and execute capstone projects with a MITRE technical advisor. There are several exciting opportunities currently on the Project Portal. You can review the full list here.
| |
25Live Guide – Feature Your Sustainability Events
| |
ISE Faculty Profiles
The ISE faculty directory is a tool for you to find others with complementing expertise and for external and internal audiences to find you! If you haven’t yet submitted your research profile information for the directory, please complete your profile here.
| |
|
Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Conference
Monday, October 24, 2022, 8am - 6:30pm ET
Mason Square, Arlington, Virginia
Registration
You are invited to George Mason University’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Initiative at Mason Square. The ARIE Conference will provide a forum for higher education, industry, government, nonprofit, and other stakeholders to critically discuss anti-racism and inclusive excellence in the academy; share effective practices and resources to advance anti-racism and inclusive excellence; and amplify the visibility and impact of research, scholarship, and creative activities conducted by Mason researchers and other national scholars on anti-racism and inclusive excellence.
For more information, click here.
| |
Faculty Affairs-Research Development Services November Faculty Matters Workshop
We invite faculty to the next Faculty Affairs & Research Development Services Faculty Matters Workshop, How to Write Research, Scholarship, and Creative Work Statements, which focuses on effectively conveying the impact of your research, scholarship, and/or creative work for promotion, renewal, and tenure. This workshop is recommended for tenured and tenure-line faculty. Participants will have the chance to win a free book, On Writing Well by William Zinsser. The Zoom workshop is on November 1st from 1:00-2:30pm. Registration is required.
| |
From Server Farm to Vertical Farm: A Case Study of Building Adaptive Reuse
Join the Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship for an on-site case study tour featuring the firm Beanstalk which is building the farm of the future by refurbishing commercial buildings with indoor vertical gardens. Their newest urban vertical farm repurposes a long-vacant and obsolete data center in Herndon with a fully automated indoor farm.
Co-founders Mike and Jack Ross will talk about their venture and vision for sustainable farming. Growing salad greens, herbs, and mushrooms, this vertical indoor farm doesn’t need pesticides, is not limited to growing seasons, and helps the environment by recycling water and reducing carbon emissions with a growing system that is 100x more productive.
For more information, please contact: Eric Maribojoc
| |
RISE Launches $1.5M Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge
RISE, a Virginia-based, non-profit organization providing one-stop-shop resources to coastal resilience entrepreneurs, announced the launch of its Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge. The innovation competition will award up to $1.5 million to businesses with solutions that reduce flood insurance premiums and payouts by 50%.
Individual Challenge winners will receive up to $300,000 in funding and support, while teams of companies submitting integrated solutions will receive up to $750,000. All winners gain access to resources from the RISE Resilience Innovation Hub & Testbed, a tailored business accelerator through 757 Accelerate, co-working office and testing space, and introductions to regional stakeholders to help shape and iterate upon their idea, among other benefits.
The Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge is possible with support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development. Winners of the Challenge will join more than 30 RISE-funded pilot projects, including sensors that collect critical stormwater system capacity data, applications to re-route drivers in real time using Waze to avoid flooded roads, and the nation's first home raising academy.
Submissions for the Flood Insurance of the Future Challenge are open through November 30. To learn more and apply, please visit the RISE website.
| |
20th Annual People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Now Open: P3 20th Annual RFA
EPA’s People, Prosperity, and the Planet’s (P3) Program is seeking applications from teams of U.S. college students proposing to research, develop, and design solutions to real-world challenges that respond to the needs of people across the U.S, including those in small, rural, tribal, and underserved communities. P3 highlights the use of scientific principles in creating innovative technology-based projects that achieve the mutual goals of improved quality of life, economic prosperity and environmental protection.
Using a team approach, P3 empowers undergraduate/graduate college students to transform classroom learning through hands-on experience to create tangible solutions to environmental issues in their communities.
EPA is looking for research in the areas of clean and healthy air, clean and safe water, safeguarding and revitalizing communities, and ensuring the safety of chemicals.
Applications may incorporate climate change and environmental justice as appropriate.
Informational Webinar: October 25, 2022 at 2 p.m. ET
| |
NSF launches entrepreneurial fellowships for engineers and scientists
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a new $20 million investment in Entrepreneurial Fellowships through a multi-year cooperative agreement with Activate.org. The Activate Fellows supported by NSF will be scientists and engineers from a variety of backgrounds and regions across the U.S. who will translate research breakthroughs to new products and services with broad societal benefits.
The Entrepreneurial Fellowships will help make entrepreneurship more accessible for people in less-developed innovation ecosystems, expanding geographic diversity and increasing participation of women and others who have been traditionally underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
| |
Dear Colleague Letter: Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS): Innovative Solutions to Sustainable Chemistry (CAS-SC)
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announces the establishment of the Critical Aspects of Sustainability (CAS): Innovative Solutions to Sustainable Chemistry Program (CAS-SC), under the CAS metaprogram umbrella. The CAS-SC Program recognizes the importance of sustainable chemistry in addressing many societal challenges and aims to encourage the expansion of the Nation’s research capacity in this topic area through submissions of research proposals. Proposals that emphasize a detailed and quantitative understanding of sustainable chemistry and include industrial partnerships are of particular interest.
| |
WMGIC x NATO Countering Disinformation Challenge 2022
Friday, October 21, 2022, 8am - 2:45pm ET
This challenge will be held virtually over Zoom on Friday, October 21, 2022, from 8am to 2:45pm ET (12pm to 6:45pm GMT).
During the Challenge and over seven hours, teams will work with expert mentors in one of seven streams: Russia-Ukraine War, Public Health, Climate Change: Clean Energy, Climate Change: Climate Security, Artificial Intelligence, Gender-Based Violence, and Terrorism. Mentors will help guide students as they discuss and deliberate their proposed plan of action, and have backgrounds in government, industry, academia, and other relevant disciplines.
Each plan of action will consider NATO’s existing capacity and consider what actions NATO should implement within the next 12 months. Panels of expert judges will evaluate the proposals and select one winner from each stream for a total of seven winners, who will receive $500 each. The winners will be announced at the conclusion of the Challenge in a live Zoom event/webinar from 2pm to 2:45pm ET (6pm to 6:45pm GMT).
Any undergraduate student team from a university resident in a NATO Allied or partner nation is invited to register. No prior skills or knowledge required. Student teams will receive a detailed case study prior to the start of the challenge. This event is organized by William & Mary’s Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC) and NATO Headquarters, with support from DisinfoLab, the Whole of Government Center of Excellence, W&M Law School, and the Reves Center for International Studies.
For more information on the Challenge, please visit here.
| |
EnergyTech UP Business Plan Competition Offers $370K to Students
The next round of the EnergyTech University Prize (EnergyTech UP) from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions is now accepting applications!
This innovative prize, part of the American-Made Challenges program, asks multidisciplinary student teams to identify a high-potential energy technology, assess its market potential, and propose a strategy for commercialization—and compete for a share of $370,000!
Prize administrators are holding an informational webinar to share details about the funding available to students, inspire ideas around energy technologies that teams can use to develop their plans, and answer questions from potential participants. Register now for the webinar, taking place on Oct. 26 at 3 p.m. ET.
The competition offers students the opportunity to build their leadership and entrepreneurial skills, while providing exposure to all of the innovative energy technologies out there waiting to be commercialized.
EnergyTech UP is truly a career-building experience unlike any other. Last year, the competition welcomed more than 500 competing students from 113 schools—who had great things to say about their experience. “The prize really gives people who aren't specialized in engineering or scientific topics a chance to make an impact and learn more about sustainability,” said one competitor. “I learned how to take an idea and turn it into a vision that could actually happen,” said another.
Any interested students or faculty are encouraged to start following EnergyTech UP now. It’s the best way to stay up to date on submission deadlines and requirements, prize rules, and more.
| |
Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs
Through its program of fellowships, the Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.
Predoctoral, dissertation, and postdoctoral fellowships are awarded in a national competition administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on behalf of the Ford Foundation.
Awards will be made for study in research-based Ph.D. or Sc.D. programs; practice oriented degree programs are not eligible for support (see eligible fields). Prospective applicants should carefully review the eligibility requirements, the terms of the fellowship awards, application instructions and other information pertaining to the individual fellowship (Predoctoral, Dissertation, or Postdoctoral) for which they are applying.
2023 Competition Dates
2023 Dissertation and Postdoctoral application deadlines
December 8, 2022
5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST)
2023 Predoctoral application deadline
December 15, 2022
5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Supplementary Materials deadline for submitted applications
January 5, 2023
5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST)
| |
2023 Next System Fellows - Applications Open!
We are now accepting application for admission to the Spring 2023 cohort of Next System Fellows. Maybe you hope for a life in which you can make a real difference in the world. You seek a career in public service, research and education, social enterprise, activism, or advocacy. You need to build your practical experience and career networks. And you also want to make a difference right now.
A Next System Fellowship becomes your Spring 2023 semester. You study with the same students. You work closely with our core faculty. You emerge at the end of the semester having completed a transformative educational process. This is the kind of college experience many of you are looking for.
Consider this opportunity and --if it feels right to you-- apply soon. Your application deadline is November 15th, but our admissions committee begins formal review of applications on October 1st. Apply here: https://fellows.gmu.edu/next-system/application
| |
The Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE) aims to connect members of the Mason community with others across the Mason community–and with other communities, policy-makers, businesses and organizations–so that, together, we can more effectively address the world’s pressing sustainability and resilience challenges.
The ISE Newsletter provides up-to-date information on conferences, funding opportunities, and research pertaining to environmental science and sustainability. The biweekly newsletter aims to facilitate information sharing among researchers, practitioners, and relevant local, national, and international organization.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
