After founding the College of the Environment in 2009, the board of regents saw the UW’s potential and responsibility to contribute the knowledge and skills of researchers and students toward solving complex environmental challenges.
As a result, the EarthLab was created.
“EarthLab’s mission is to identify the places where life on our planet is at the greatest risk and to co-create solutions that will have a real impact on people’s lives and livelihood,” Anastasia Ramey, EarthLab’s Innovation Grants Program lead, said.
Through various projects and innovation grants, EarthLab combines the research and expertise from UW faculty, staff, and students with nonprofits, businesses, policymakers, and other stakeholders to develop solutions to environmental challenges.
“EarthLab is here to engage public, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors in a shared and ongoing conversation that converts knowledge to action,” Ramey said.
Through EarthLab’s Innovation Grants Program, teams who are passionate about pressing environmental challenges can receive funding. The program awards up to $75,000 per project, and funds between four to six projects each year. This year, they have $300,000 available to support new partnerships.
“We’re interested in projects that address everything from effective climate change on people in ecosystems, to environmental pollution or hazards that disproportionately affect Indigenous communities, communities of color, and low-income communities, to the impact of nature on the built environment of human health,” Ramey said.
After submitting letters of intent, a select number of teams will be encouraged to submit a full proposal. The committee is currently in the process of reviewing proposals for next year’s projects, which will be announced in April.
Each team includes at least two UW researchers from different disciplines as well as an undergraduate or graduate student. Additionally, each team has a community partner, which may be a Native American tribe, nonprofit, or a business.
“We are interested in funding research that is interdisciplinary, community-engaged, community-led,” Ramey said. “We think that the solutions will be better, stronger when there are multiple perspectives.”
The Innovation Grants Program also uses a cohort approach. During the award period, all of the teams will be brought together on multiple occasions to share their resources and knowledge. Ramey said it provides a structured environment for teams to work together collaboratively, to learn from each other, and to promote “community engaged research.”
This year, EarthLab funded five projects. One project, called “Voices Unbound,” is led by Christopher J. Schell and Robin A. Evans-Agnew.
Voices Unbound aims to incorporate underrepresented Pierce County communities, who are largely impacted by environmental issues, in policy making. To do this, they have community members write on “enviro-postcards” to share what environmental challenges are most important to them and how they are coping with them.
“This team is planning in the future to host a multimedia exhibition gallery event that will be open to the public and will help showcase community perspectives,” Ramey said. “We’ve been really excited to support their work.”
Another project, the Clean Safety & Health in Food Trucks Program (SHiFT), is led by Nancy Simcox, Grace Lasker, and Aurora Martin, founder of popUPjustice. This team collaborates with the food truck industry to promote best cleaning practices. The team assists small businesses with transitioning to safer chemicals. They are designing toolkits that also reduce the use of harsh cleaning chemicals, which can be damaging to our natural environment.
Besides the Innovation Grants Program, people can get involved with EarthLab’s member organizations and students can apply for their internships. Ramey hopes that student involvement is meaningful and promotes the skill and professional development of leaders and scholars.
“I’m looking forward to, excited about, EarthLab continuing to really center our commitment to equity and deficits in all of our work, and to expand our capacity for community engaged and interdisciplinary research,” Ramey said.
Reach reporter Kaya Bramble at [email protected]. Twitter: @KayaBramble
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