Student Opportunities at Illinois Water 2014

One of the biggest reasons we started holding Illinois Water conferences on the University of Illinois campus is because it's easier for students to attend. In addition to all the talks and plenaries, we’ve created several opportunities uniquely for students. We hope you’ll take advantage of them in October.

Poster Session: The student poster session will take place on the evening of October 14. Students will have an opportunity to present their research to fellow conference attendees and compete for best poster awards. The deadline for poster abstracts is July 9, 2014. You can submit a poster abstract through this form.

Registration Scholarships: If you have submitted a poster or presentation, you are eligible to submit an application for a registration scholarship. While we try to keep the registration costs as low as possible, sometimes low isn’t low enough where you are a full time student. And if you’re not presenting, you’re still welcome to apply for a scholarship, although we try to accommodate presenting students first. If you only want to attend one session or wander through the posters, don’t worry, you don’t need to register at all. Do stop at the registration table and say “hi,” though. We love to know who attended the conference, and we could probably get you a free pen.  

Water Careers Panel: As you know by now, we here at IWRC love talking about water jobs, so of course we organize a career panel every Water Conference. This year we’ve even invited a Water Jobs alum to join our panel and tell you about the joys of water planning. Other guest speakers may include an aquatic ecologist at a nonprofit, a stormwater engineer, and a college professor. The panel will take place during lunch on Wednesday, October 15 and include lots of time for questions.      

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.