Illinois Water Related Scholarships, Fellowships, and Grants

The following is a list of possible future funding sources available to students from and in Illinois. If your organization is not listed here and you would like to be included, please contact us.

Illinois Only:

• The Illinois Water Environment Association awards two annual $1,000 scholarships to students preparing for careers in the water environment. Applications are accepted December 1, 2014 until January 31, 2015. Scholarships are awarded at the IWEA Annual Conference in March. Full information can be found on IWEA’s website.
• The Illinois Section of the American Water Works Association provides a variety of scholarships, including undergraduate, adult continuing education, and high school enrichment. While the 2015 scholarships are not open, yet, the application deadline is usually January 31. Complete information can be found here.
• The Illinois Groundwater Association provides small research grants on a biannual basis to both graduate and undergraduate students attending a college or university in Illinois. Research must address topics relevant to Illinois groundwater and grant recipients can present their research findings at IGA meetings.
• The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts provides a $500 award to agriculture students enrolled in an Illinois state college. Applications are due in May and awarded for the fall semester.
• The Illinois Lakes Management Association offers an Undergraduate/Graduate scholarship of $1,000 for students enrolled in an Illinois college or Illinois residents attending college in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, or Wisconsin and studying lake or watershed related topics. They also provide the Robert Esser Student Achievement Scholarship for $500, which is offered to Illinois residents attending Illinois colleges. Both applications are due December 31. Full information about both scholarships is available here.
• Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is offering a $500 scholarship opportunity for students enrolling in their one-year Water Quality Control Operations Program. This scholarship is offered through the Environmental Resources Training Center for any relative of a water or wastewater professional. The program begins August 19^th, so applications can be filed online here.

National or International:

• The Society of Wetland Scientists provides student research grants of up to $1,000 to both undergraduate and graduate members of the organization. Grant applications are not currently being accepted, but check back for updates. Application packages require a proposal, budget, curriculum vitae, and two letters of recommendation.
• The Ivanhoe Foundation provides small fellowships to Masters students from developing countries conducting water related research in the United States. Applications include a description of the projects and a nomination letter from the student’s professor.
• The American Water Works Association provides information about a myriad of (mostly) graduate level scholarships. Deadlines vary, but for those of you interested in drinking water or water supply, make sure you take a good look at their Scholarship page.
• The American Water Resources Association makes two $2,000 scholarships to one graduate and one undergraduate student members of AWRA. Applications are due in April. Awards are based on academic performance, research, and water-related extra-curricular activities.
• Funding of up to $7,000 per year can be potentially awarded to an undergraduate mechanical or chemical engineering student that demonstrates interest to seek a career in the water technology field. Through the International Water Conference, the Joseph A. Levendusky Memorial Scholarship is available to any student of sophomore or higher class standing in an accredited U.S. institution. The deadline is September 5, 2014 and applications can be found here.

National Competitive Grants Request for Proposals [104(g)]

Illinois investigators, it’s time to think about proposals for the National Competitive Grants program!

The National Competitive Grants Program is funded through collaboration between the National Institutes of Water Resources and the U.S. Geological Survey. It provides 1 to 3 year grants of up to $250,000 to projects addressing: research on the topic of improving and enhancing the nation’s water supply, including evaluation of innovative approaches to water treatment, infrastructure design, retrofitting, maintenance, management, and replacement; evaluation of the dynamics of extreme hydrological events and associated costs; development of methods for better estimation of the physical and economic supply of water; alternative approaches and governance mechanisms for integrated management of ground and surface waters; and the evaluation and assessment of conservation practices.

•  Collaboration between USGS scientists and applicants is not only encouraged, but proposals showing extensive collaboration will be given more weight in evaluations.
• Investigators must have a match of non-federal dollars for any federal dollars requested in proposals. Investigator salary may be used as a match.
• Any investigator at an institution of higher learning can apply for the grant, but he or she must do so through the Water Center or Institute in his or her state. For example, Illinois researchers must submit their applications to the Illinois Water Resources Center, and should contact us before February 20^th to arrange that submission.  
• Applications are due by 3pm Central Time on February 20, 2014
• Funding for these grants depends on appropriations from the federal government. If money isn’t allocated to USGS for these awards, then grants may not be funded.
•  For the complete RFP, please visit NIWR’s website.

If you have any questions about this request for proposals or want to submit an application, please contact IWRC at iwrc@uiuc.edu. 

If You Missed the Grant and Money Postings on Twitter.....

We’ve posted a lot of grant and funding opportunities on Twitter, but haven’t replicated them for easy use on the blog. So, today, consider your wish our command and enjoy the list of grant programs or RFPs we’ve posted. In no particular order:

Due Soon:

1. The Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks, LLC is a partnership involving many volunteers working to achieve common landscape conservation goals, mainly centered on the Gulf states, but also including the Mississippi River Watershed. Currently, they have issued an RFP to address priority knowledge gaps, and applications are DUE AUGUST 30, 2013. 
2. James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation provides mid-career grants to “those working in preservation, landscape architecture, urban design, environmental planning, decorative arts, architectural design, and architectural history.” Those mid-career grant applications are DUE SEPTEMBER 15, 2013.
3. The Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion and Sediment Control is a federal/state partnership working to improve water quality, land use, and agricultural productivity. Round Two grant applications are due September 6, 2013. 

Other Foundations:

1. Prairie Biotic Research, Inc. offers small ($1,000) grants to support the study of species in U.S. prairies and savannas.
2. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supports “original research and broad-based education related to science, technology, and economic performance; and to improve the quality of American life.”
3. The Eppley Foundation for Research supports “advanced scientific research” in medicine, life sciences, and the physical sciences on novel insights “unlikely to be underway elsewhere.”
4. The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. supports projects that “advance the science of chemistry, chemical engineering and related sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances.”
5. According to their webpage, the Great Lakes Fishery Trust provides “funding to nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies to enhance, protect, and rehabilitate Great Lakes fishery resources.”
6. The Tree Fund supports research and education in arboriculture and urban forestry. They provide many grants and scholarships that are due at various times.
7. The Surdna Foundation “seeks to foster sustainable communities in the United States…distinguished by healthy environments, strong local economies, and thriving cultures.” Letters of inquiry are accepted on a rolling basis, but grant applications must be invited.
8. We haven’t posted this, but we found the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Grant Programs page a very useful list of different foundations that support conservation research and application. 

Federal Grants:

This is nowhere near an exhaustive list of available Federal Grants (see grants.gov if that’s your hope, and good luck), but here are grants that are open and we’ve posted.

1. There’s our grant opportunity—funding by a joint agreement between the National Institutes for Water Resources and the Army Corp of Engineers, this grant application is DUE AUGUST 15, 2013. If you are an Illinois researcher interested in applying for this grant, you should contact us. If you are out-of-state, see NIWR’s listing of state institutes to find out whom you should contact.
2. The U.S. EPA has a very nice listing of open RFPs on their website. Many of these are closing in August and September.
•      Including this grant available to Great Lakes cities for green infrastructure development. Due September 15, 2013.

   

Scholarships, Fellowships, and Grants for Illinois Students

A listing of some of the funding sources available to students from and in Illinois. If we missed your organization, and you would like to be included, please contact us.

Illinois Only:

• The Illinois Water Environment Association awards two annual $1,000.00 scholarships to students preparing for careers in the water sector. Applications are due November 1, 2013 until January 31, 2014. Scholarships are awarded at the IWEA meetings in March. Full information can be found on IWEA’s website. 
• The Illinois Section of the American Water Works Association provides a variety of scholarships, including undergraduate, adult continuing education, and high school enrichment. While the 2014 scholarships are not yet open, the application deadline is usually January 31. Complete information can be found here.
• The Illinois Groundwater Association provides small research grants on a biannual basis to both graduate and undergraduate students attending a college or university in Illinois. Research must address topics relevant to Illinois groundwater.
• The Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts provides a $500 award to agriculture students enrolled in an Illinois state college. Applications are due in May and awarded for the fall semester.
• The Illinois Lakes Management Association offers an Undergraduate/Graduate scholarship of $1,000 for students enrolled in an Illinois college or Illinois residents attending college in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, or Wisconsin and studying lake or watershed related topics. They also provide the Robert Esser Student Achievement Scholarship for $500, which is offered to Illinois residents attending Illinois colleges. Both applications are due December 31. Full information about both scholarships is available here.

National or International:

• The Society of Wetland Scientists provides student research grants of up to $1,000 to both undergraduate and graduate members of the organization. Applications are due in February and awarded at the annual meetings. Application packages require a proposal, budget, curriculum vitae, and two letters of recommendation.
• Pathfinder Fellowships from the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) provide up to $5,000.00 to graduate students for travel for multisite or multidisciplinary water science research. The application period opens August of 2013 and closes in October.
• The Ivanhoe Foundation provides small fellowships to Masters students from developing countries conducting water related research in the United States. Applications include a description of the projects and a nomination letter from the student’s professor.  
• The American Water Works Association provides information about a myriad of (mostly) graduate level scholarships. Deadlines vary, but for those of you interested in drinking water or water supply, make sure you take a good look at their Scholarship page.
• The American Water Resources Association makes two $2,000 scholarships to one graduate and one undergraduate student member of AWRA. Applications are due in April. Awards are based on academic performance, research, and water-related extra-curricular activities.

NIWR and USACE Call for Proposals

The National Institute for Water Resources and the US Army Corps of Engineers have announced that this year's Water Resources Competitive Grants Program is now accepting proposals. These grants support applied research for up to the two projects, up to $200,000 per project. The RFP closes August 15, 2013.

This year, funding priorities include: identifying opportunities to improve federal and state agency interaction in water resources, assessment of alternative government involvement in water resources, risk assessment for critical infrastructure, methods to harmonize decision making processes, need for federal involvement in risk-reduction methods for coastal storms, alternative criteria for assessing infrastructure assets, how to yield self-sustaining water resources improvements in depressed communities, and methods for improving public safety issues in storms. This is a paraphrased list, so, for full details, please visit the NIWR website.

Illinois researchers who are interested in submitting proposals to this RFP should contact Illinois Water Resources Center. If you aren't in Illinois, you will need to contact your state's water center to submit a proposal. A complete list of water centers can be found here.    

You can contact us through our website, but we're going through some construction at the moment, so if that link doesn't work, you can contact us at cmlay (at) illinois.edu