6th Annual Coastal Conference in partnership with Oregon Sea Grant

The 6th Annual Heceta Head Coastal Conference will be held in partnership with the Oregon Sea Grant on October 28 - 29 at the Florence Events Center.  The them for this year's conference is "Oregon's Ocean: Working Waterfronts". 

For more information, click here.

Discovery Research K-12 (STEM focus)

The Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12) program seeks to enable significant advances in student and teacher learning of the STEM disciplines. Projects funded under this solicitation begin with a research question or hypothesis about how to improve preK-12 STEM learning and teaching and then develop, implement, and study effects of innovative educational resources, models, or technologies. DR K-12 invites proposals that meet a variety of educational needs, from those that address immediate challenges facing preK-12 STEM education to those that anticipate the future when expectations, roles and resources are likely to be aligned in different ways. DR K-12 especially encourages proposals that challenge existing assumptions about learning and teaching within or across STEM fields, envision needs of learners in 10-15 years, and consider new and innovative ways to support learning. 

Project goals, designs, and working strategies should be informed by prior research and practical experience drawn from all relevant disciplines and they should focus on concepts and skills that are central to STEM disciplines. Tthe DR K-12 program has the more focused goal of fostering the creation of a new generation of resources, models, and tools that take full advantage of the capabilities of information and communications technologies to enhance the education of K-12 learners. The DR K-12 program accepts proposals for exploratory projects, full research and development projects, and synthesis projects, as well as for conferences and workshops related to the mission of the program.

Amount: Varies

Date due: Letter of Intent (11/05/10); Full proposal (01/06/11)

For more information, click here.

NOAA Pacific Northwest Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Program

This Federal funding opportunity meets NOAA’s Mission Goal to protect, restore and

manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through ecosystems-based management. Proposals should address one of the three areas of interest: (1) Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for Students; (2) Professional Development for Teachers related to Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences; (3) Exemplary Programs combining Teacher Professional Development with long-term classroom-integrated Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for their Students.

Amount: $60,000

Date due: October 8, 2010

For more information, click here.

NASA Undergraduate Opportunity

NASA is offering undergraduate students an opportunity to test an experiment in weightless science as part of the agency's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program. Proposals are due by Oct. 27.

The program, managed by the Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, provides aspiring explorers a chance to propose, design and fabricate a reduced gravity experiment. Selected teams will get to test and evaluate their experiment aboard a microgravity aircraft. The specially modified jet aircraft flies approximately 30 roller-coaster-like climbs and dips to produce periods of micro and hyper-gravity, ranging from weightlessness to three times the force of Earth's gravity.

"This project gives students a head start in preparing for future ventures by allowing them to do hands-on research and engineering in a truly reduced gravity laboratory," Program Manager Douglas Goforth said.

Interested teams also should submit a letter of intent by Sept. 22. This step is optional, but serves as an introductory notice that a team plans to submit a proposal for the competition. All applicants must be U.S. citizens. Full-time students must be at least 18 years old.

NASA will announce the selected participants on Dec. 8. The actual flights will take place in summer 2011. Selected teams may invite a full-time, accredited journalist to fly with them and document the experiment and gravity-defying experience.

With this program, NASA continues its tradition of investing in the nation's education programs with the goal of strengthening the future workforce.

For more information, click here.

Climate Literacy

The goal of this funding opportunity is to support K-12 education projects that advance inquiry-based Earth System Science learning and stewardship directly tied to the school curriculum, with a particular interest in increasing climate literacy. To address this goal, this solicitation will support service-learning and professional development projects related to NOAA's mission in the areas of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather and climate sciences and stewardship. A successful project will catalyze change in K-12 education at the state, regional and national level through development of new programs and/or revision of existing programs to improve the environmental literacy of K-12 teachers and their students. A successful project will also leverage NOAA assets, although use of non- NOAA assets is also encouraged. The target audiences for this funding opportunity are K-12 students, pre- and in-service teachers, and providers of pre-service teacher education and in-service teacher professional development. There is a special interest in projects that address reaching groups traditionally underserved and/or underrepresented in Earth System science. One group that has been identified as underserved is elementary level teachers and students. This funding opportunity has two priorities, which are equal in their importance for funding. Priority 1 is for innovative proof-of-concept projects that are one to two years in duration, for a total minimum request of $200,000 and a total maximum request of $500,000. Priority 2 is for full-scale implementation of educational projects that are three to five years in duration, for a total minimum request of $500,001 and a total maximum request of $1,500,000.

Amount: Varies (see priorities noted above)

Date due: January 12, 2011

For more information, click here.

Office of Naval Research STEM initiative for K-12 & Higher Education

The Office of Naval Research (ONR) mission is to: foster an interest in, knowledge of, and study in science, technology, engineering and mathematics nationwide to ensure an educated and well-prepared workforce, which meets the naval and national competitive needs. In support of this mission, the following five goals have been identified:

• Inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. [Grades K-10]
• Engage students in STEM-related hands-on learning activities using Navy content. [Grades 3-12]
• Educate students to be well-prepared for employment in STEM disciplines in the Navy or in supporting academic institutions or the Naval contractor community. [Higher Education]
• Employ, retain and develop Naval STEM professionals. [Higher Education, Professional Development, Faculty]
• Collaborate across Naval STEM programs to maximize benefits to participants and the Navy.

The purpose of this announcement is to receive proposals in support of the Office of Naval Research’s mission of scientific outreach and education in working to develop the next generation of scientists capable of providing support to the continued development of critical technologies in support of the Department of Defense.

Amount: $200,000/year for 3 years

Date due: September 30, 2011

For more information, click here.

University Research Instrumentation Program (Department of Defense)

The Department of Defense (DoD) announces the Fiscal Year 2011 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP), a part of the University Research Initiative (URI). DURIP is designed to improve the capabilities of U.S. institutions of higher education (hereafter referred to as “universities”) to conduct research and to educate scientists and engineers in areas important to national defense, by providing funds for the acquisition of research equipment. This announcement seeks proposals to purchase instrumentation in support of research in areas of interest to the DoD. A central purpose of the DURIP is to provide equipment to enhance research-related education. Therefore proposals must address the impact of the equipment on the institution’s ability to educate students, through research, in disciplines important to DoD missions.

Amount: $50,000 - $1,000,000 (equipment grants)

Date due: September 14, 2010

For more information, click here.