Funding Opportunities

Spring 2018 Call for Funding

The Center for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability provides funding opportunities for research, scholarship, and working groups related to energy, environment and sustainability as broadly defined.

CEES mini grants seek to provide new opportunities for research and scholarly activities at Wake Forest. Though the center was formed with core groups in Renewable Energy Research, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and Policy, Enterprise, and Markets, we support all areas of scholarship, and actively encourage new groups of scholars—faculty and students—dedicated to addressing problems related to the center’s mission of building a community dedicated to effecting meaningful change in the areas energy, environment, and sustainability. These include, but are not limited to: (1) seed grants for scholarly activity or research, (2) competitive seed grants for interdisciplinary research/scholarship related to energy, environment and sustainability, (3) funds for half-day or full day meetings centered on developing or finishing proposals for external funding (see below). Note that funding levels are between $1,000 and $4,000 (other amounts are entertained).

To support teacher-scholars working in the area of sustainability, and to facilitate collaboration and future grant funding, CEES established mini grants in the following areas:

  • Research and Scholarship: Enables collaborative groups of Wake Forest researchers and scholars to address questions that result in tangible outcomes in energy, environment, or sustainability.  These grants are awarded to multidisciplinary research groups or activities.
  • Engagement: Designed for CEES affiliates who seek to shift their scholarly activities toward subjects that address sustainability, providing opportunities for scholarship enhancement by participating in multidisciplinary research related to CEES’s mission.
  • Collaborative: Supports faculty and students seeking opportunities with existing funded research, with a goal to develop partnerships with K-12 schools and improve of curricula. Preference is given to students, K-12 educators, and minorities or non-traditional teacher-scholars.
  • Meeting/Travel: Provides full and half-day grant-writing workshops for multidisciplinary groups, including faculty from Wake Forest or outside researchers, to gather outside of their normal routines and focus entirely on submitting proposals. Facilities where workshops are held include Graylyn International Conference Center and Reynolda House Museum of American Art.

We value your time–the application process is not long or difficult. Click here for the application for funding.

Applications will be reviewed beginning on Sunday, April 22, 2017.

For more information on the funding opportunities CEES provides, please contact Kim Couch at couchkm@wfu.edu or (336) 758-2337.

Past CEES Grant Recipients

Date Proposer Topic Amount Awarded
Spring 2017 Miles Silman Remotely sensed baselines for terrestrial and marine ecosystems at Lighthouse Reef Atoll, Belize $4,000
Spring 2017 Paul Thacker The political ecology of land use in Central Portugal $3,546
Spring 2017 Dominique Tucker Recuperation of soil nutrient cycling and decomposition in Amazonian forest following mining abandonment $2,227
Spring 2017 Alessandra Von Burg and Lauren Formica Refugee crisis in Europe $2,227
Fall 2016 Will Scott Saving Ushuaia Bay $3,760
Fall 2016 Stephanie Koscak Visiting Turtle Island $420
Fall 2016 Justin Catanoso 22 UN Climate Summit in Marrakesh, Morocco $2,450
Fall 2016 Eric Stottlemyer Ethics of Wilderness (ENV 304) $2,685
Fall 2016 Luke Johnston Writing Resistance with Terry Tempest Williams $2,685
Spring 2016 Dan Fogel and Jon Clift Corporate Strategies toward Zero Waste $2,250
Spring 2016 Paul Bogard The Ground Beneath our Feet: Adventures in Looking Down $1,500
Spring 2016 Coley Schiro and Sarah Lupton Shining a Light on Alluvial Gold Mining in Madre de Dios: Capturing Real People with Real Stories $2,400
Spring 2016 Scott Schimmel My Garden No Longer:  A Documentary Film on Climate and Cultural Change $3,000
Spring 2016 Bill Smith Age-Class demography of Frasir Fir and Red Spruce in boreal forests of Southern Appalachian Mountains $2,313
Fall 2015 Coley Schiro and Sarah Lupton  Amazon Ecosystem Protection: Stakeholder Analysis and Segmentation $4,000
Fall 2015 Justin Catanoso 21 UN Summit in Paris $4,200
Fall 2015 Farhback/Privitt  Impact of imidacloprid exposure on synaptic organization in the honey bee $1,000
Fall 2015 Eric Stottlemyer 12th International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability $200
Fall 2015 Eric Stottlemyer Contemplative Approaches to Global Sustainability $3,080
Spring 2015 Andy Chen Poachers and Snobs: Demand for rarity and the effects of anti-poaching policies $1,850
Spring 2015 Jon Clift Energy Efficiency Behavioral Modifications $1,000
Spring 2015 Green/ Curran  Sewage Pollution in Varanasi, India $4,000
Spring 2015 Nagy-Cato Food Studio Business Venture $3,000
Fall 2014 Justin Catanoso Multimedia Coverage of UN Climate Change Summit in Lima $3,000
Fall 2014 Fred Bahnson Food, Faith, and Farming Research Trip $3,000
Fall 2014 Michael Gross Synthesis and fabrication of solid oxide fuel cell technology $3,000
Fall 2014 Furnish A Legacy in Ashes Documentary Film $3,056