The Jill Troy Werner '71 Endowment for Research and Teaching on Climate Change and Sustainability is designed to support teaching and research on these urgent and widely applicable topics. “The purpose of this endowment is to expand the study of climate change within the Vassar community, across the disciplines and divisions.  With long term funding, our work would be oriented toward deepening our collective understanding of the impact of climate change on our world through research, coursework, collaboration and discussion. It is the donor’s intent to avoid political and divisive agendas, and to reach as many members of the community as possible.”

The endowment supports teaching and research activities that would include but not be limited to: 

• Faculty Curriculum Development Grants, including summer support for student assistance

• Visiting speakers or Conferences on climate change as selected by the faculty

• Field-based, group research on climate change, by students and/or faculty

• New multidisciplinary course development on issues related to climate change, or course development for substantial modification to existing courses 

• Senior thesis research projects that culminate in a presentation to the Vassar community or others, or research presentations at conferences

• Creation of a network of alumnae/i working on climate change who can serve as speakers, mentors and resources for our community 

• Faculty and/or Student travel for course prep, course field trips, workshops–related to climate change

• Campus outreach or events on or off campus

We encourage proposals from any discipline or areas of discourse and learning on campus. These may be individual or collaborative projects. 

APPLICATION DETAILS 

Requests are accepted on a rolling basis.  Priority deadline for Summer course development funding is May 15th.  

• Ordinarily, research funding limits are roughly in line with those established by the research committee.  However, larger requests will also be considered. 

• Faculty may request support for supplies, equipment, and/or software. 

• Summer Course Development stipends are $1000.  

• For summer student assistance, please follow the student stipend guidelines from the URSI or Ford programs (which are currently $5000 for a 10-week project). 

• All those awarded Jill Troy Werner funding will be asked to provide a brief post-award report. 

Applicants should identify intended activities, explain how those activities conform to the aims of the endowment, anticipate outcomes of the research (e.g. publication in a journal, book, creative performance), and develop a detailed budget. 

➡ Please submit your proposal via this google form. 

For questions, or to discuss whether your proposal fits the aims of the endowment, please contact Chris Bjork <chbjork@vassar.edu> Associate Dean of the Faculty or Alison Spodek Keimowitz, <alspodek@vassar.edu> Director of Environmental Studies. 

Header image: Virginia Hanusik, Lake Pontchartrain; excerpt (screenshot).