College of the Environment

E-Newsletter

February 12, 2010
Vol. 2, No. 2


Announcements

FY2011 President's Budget Request - The President has released the fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget request for federal agencies. Despite an overall spending freeze proposal from the Obama administration, the student aid and research priorities of the higher education community faired relatively well in the President’s Budget Request for FY11. Specifically, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is provided an 8% increase to $7.4 billion. Within NSF, the Ocean Observatories Initiative — a UW joint project — was provided $90.7 million for FY11 - as expected. The Science Mission Directorate within NASA is provided a 12% increase. The Department of Energy, Office of Science, is provided a 4.4% increase. (Reminder: Final budgets will not be known until appropriations bills are passed.) Details on specific agency FY11 budget requests can be found at the UW's Office of Federal Relations.

Federal agency reorganization - On February 8, 2010, the Commerce Department announced their intent to create a NOAA Climate Service line office dedicated to bringing together the agency’s climate science and service delivery capabilities. NOAA Climate Service will encompass a core set of longstanding NOAA capabilities, including climate research, observations, modeling, predictions and assessments. Thomas R. Karl, director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, will serve as transitional director of NOAA Climate Service. In addition, NOAA has just launched www.climate.gov as a portal for NOAA’s climate information, data, products and services. Known as the NOAA Climate Portal, the site addresses the needs of five broadly-defined user groups: decision makers and policy leaders, scientists and applications-oriented data users, educators, business users and the public.

Funding


Federal funding opportunities

  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced their intention to offer funding through a competition made available as a Notice of Funding Availablity (NOFA) under its Sustainable Communties and Planning Grant Program. This is a request for comments only. (No funding is available at this time.)


Student funding opportunities

  • The Graduate School has announced the availability of Huckabay Teaching Fellowships for the 2010-2011 academic year. These one-quarter awards are intended to give graduate students an opportunity to work on a specific project focused on teaching and learning at the college and university level. Projects are to be proposed by students, who will find faculty Teaching Mentors, either from UW or from a nearby community college, college, or university to collaborate with them in their projects. During the project, these collaborations between the Fellow and the Mentor should allow the student to benefit from the faculty member’s expertise in teaching, while maintaining a focus centered on the student’s teaching interests. The deadline for application deadline is noon on Monday, March 29, 2010.
  • The Scan|Design Foundation is sponsoring UW graduate and advanced undergraduate students to study in Denmark during Fall semester 2010, Spring semester 2011, or academic year 2010/11. Areas of study include landscape architecture, life sciences, and sustainable energy planning and management. The fellowships allow students to earn UW credit for coursework taught in English at distinguished Danish educational institutions. Fellowships cover in-state UW tuition, airfare, and most living expenses for the semester. The deadline for applications to be submitted to the UW Scandanavian Studies Department is March 1, 2010 at 5pm.
  • The Environmental Outreach Program of the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals is recruiting interns for Summer 2010. The internships will work out of host sites ranging from Seattle, Washington to Aquinnah, Massachusetts, and are designed to give students an opportunity to assist EPA/Tribal agnecies with environmental issues. Interns will receive a limited housing and travel allowance, along with $4,000 for the ten-week session. Tribal status is not required, though applicants should have an interest in working with Native American tribes. The deadline for on-line applications is February 15, 2010 (with suporting documentation due February 22, 2010).


Private funding opportunities

Please note that many corporations and foundations have requested that UW Advancement facilitate their relationship with University of Washington faculty, staff and students. As such, all solicitations, applications, or requests for private giving from foundations or corporations must be developed in partnership with UW Advancement. Please contact a member of the College Advancement Team before submitting a proposal to private organzations.


Colleagues in the News

(Jan 29 - Feb 11, 2010)

Local books: nature poems, becoming a carnivore and a 'stand-up economist' (Yorum Bauman/POE, Feb 8, 2010)

Columbia River salmon runs plentiful now, but don't count on the trend continuing (Nate Mantua/AFS & CIG, Feb 7, 2010)

Everett's battle against sediment in the port (David Montgomery/Earth Space and Science, Feb 7, 2010)

The Washington Park Arboretum is a living, giving treasure (Randall Hichin/SFR, Feb 6, 2010)

Operator Error Caused Sewage Spill (Richard Keil/OCN, Jan 29, 2010)

UW oceanographer studies Quartermaster Harbor's paralytic shellfish poisoning problem (Cheryl Greengrove/OCN, Jan 27, 2010)

UW expert to talk about warming (Peter Ward/ESS, Jan 27, 2010)

El Niño to top extreme tides (Nate Mantua/CIG, Jan 27, 2010)

Upcoming Events

Dean’s Winter Lecture - The inaugural College of the Environment's Dean’s Winter Lecture, offered in partnership with the School of Forest Resources, and featuring Professor Dave Peterson, will take place on Thursday, March 11th at 7 p.m., in Kane Hall 120. Dr. Peterson, professor of forest ecology and Team Leader and Biological Scientist for the USDA Forest Service, will present his view from the tree line and explore how interdisciplinary science can help us prepare for climate change.

Check out the College events calendar for a comprehensive list of upcoming seminars, conferences, lectures, and other public events.

You can also subscribe or unsubscribe to the weekly update of upcoming events.

If you have a suggestion for additional information that should be included in the College of the Environment bi-weekly announcements, please submit it to Becca Baughman.