ACS 2012 President Bassam Z. Shakhashiri is pleased to announce grants of up to $3000 are available to ACS Local Sections and Divisions for proposing and implementing innovative ways to use the ACS Climate Science Toolkit to engage a wide variety of audiences in dialogue on issues of climate science.
This call follows upon the enthusiastic response to the first Climate Science Challenge Grants, where 11 of the Society's local sections received grants of $3,000 each. Congratulations to the following ACS local sections: Central New Mexico; Dallas-Fort Worth; Illinois Heartland; Iowa; Kalamazoo, Mich.; New York; Northern W.V.; Portland, Ore.; Puerto Rico; Puget Sound; and Wakarusa Valley in Kansas.
Grants will be made for 2014. Proposals are due October 1, 2013. Awards will be announced on November 15, 2013.
Please see below for more information.
Frank E. Walworth
Assistant to the Secretary & President | Office of the Secretary
American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society Climate Science Initiative
Climate Science Challenge Grant Opportunity
Grants of up to $3000 are available to ACS Local Sections and Divisions for proposing and implementing innovative ways to use the ACS Climate Science Toolkit to engage a wide variety of audiences in dialogue on issues of climate science. Proposals are due October 1, 2013. Awards will be announced on November 15, 2013.
Background & Challenge
In keeping with its mission, ACS must help address global challenges including climate change. ACS members can participate in meaningful initiatives to deepen understanding of both the natural causes and human causes of climate change.
Because the mechanism of climate change is based on fundamental physics and chemistry, scientists, including chemists, bear a responsibility for understanding climate science themselves and helping others who are not scientists understand the issues relevant to maintaining a livable climate.
To help ACS members develop a robust understanding of climate science, the first activity of the ACS Climate Science Initiative was to develop the ACS Climate Science Toolkit. The Toolkit covers the basic science of climate change and can be used by every ACS member and other scientists. Also included are materials, including slideshows, that provide suggestions for outreach to various audiences. www.acs.org/climatescience
The second activity of the ACS Climate Science Initiative was the first round of these ACS Climate Science Challenge Grants. Summaries of the successful proposals are available at the above link. Now is the time for more ACS Local Section and Division members to take up the mantle as scientist-citizens and reach out with climate science information to their colleagues, teachers, college and university faculty, industrial scientists and business leaders, civic and religious groups, professional science and educational organizations, and elected public officials at all levels and in all branches of government.
F. Sherwood Rowland (1927-2012) was an outstanding example of a scientist-citizen who persisted for years in bringing attention to, and catalyzing worldwide action on, ozone depletion by CFCs in the stratosphere. Later, at a White House climate change roundtable Rowland asked:
"Isn't it a responsibility of scientists, if you believe that you have found something that can affect the environment, isn't it your responsibility to do something about it, enough so that action actually takes place? If not us, who? If not now, when?"
This is a multifaceted task that requires different approaches for different audiences and even multiple approaches for audiences with similar, but not identical backgrounds, such as civic organizations in different parts of the country, for example, the northwest and southeast.
Finding ways to engage audiences positively and productively in discussion and dialog around the issues of climate science and climate change is the challenge you are being presented as ACS Local Section and Division members. To help you meet this challenge, competitive grants to Local Sections and Divisions of up to $3,000 are available to support innovative ways to do so. Proposals are due by October 1, 2013 with
awards to be announced on November 15, 2013. These grants will be for 2014-2015 with final reports of the results due December 1, 2015. A review panel will select the successful proposals.
Proposals
Proposal narratives should be no longer than five (5) pages plus not more than a two-page budget sheet. Proposals should contain these elements (which may overlap in some cases):
(1) Describe the audience(s) you propose to engage in discussion and dialog on climate science and climate change.
(2) Describe how you will organize or bring about the engagements you propose.
(3) Describe the climate science and climate change issue(s) you propose to focus on with your audience(s).
(4) Describe the outcome(s) you anticipate during the grant period and how you will assess whether they have occurred.
(5) Provide a timeline for the planning, execution, and assessment of your engagements.
(6) Describe the climate science knowledge and background of your members who will carry out the engagements. Include in your description how the ACS Climate Science Toolkit resources will be used to provide required background information. Also include a description of any materials you propose to develop or collect and distribute as part of your engagements.
(7) Describe the local/other resources and expertise you will draw on, if applicable. Examples might include schools (including ACS Chemistry Clubs), colleges and universities, ACS college student chapters, museums and science centers, businesses, industries, government offices, the ACS Leadership Institutes, invited experts, and so on. Such collaborations are encouraged as a way to leverage your impact.
(8) Provide a budget for your proposed project through the end of 2015. Your budget should include any funds or in-kind contributions from the Local Section or Division and others as well as the funds requested from the ACS.
(9) Attach a brief endorsement letter from the Local Section or Division chair or officer who will be responsible for overseeing the grant funds.
(10) Include as a cover document for your proposal a 250 (or fewer) word abstract/summary describing your proposed project in non-technical language that would be suitable for an announcement in a local newspaper.
Submit all materials electronically as a single PDF file by October 1, 2013 to:
ACS Climate Science Challenge Grant Program
f_walworth**At_Symbol_Here**acs.org
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post