Congrats to the Environmental Studies Program (including our own Professor Sherman) on getting this important grant. Exciting stuff.
Mellon Foundation awards $525,000 to fund new International Environmental Studies position
January 9, 2008
TACOMA, Wash--University of Puget Sound is pleased to announce it received a grant of $525,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to create a faculty appointment in international environmental policy and decision-making. In total, the university has received nine grants from the foundation since 1993.
Puget Sound offers an interdisciplinary minor in environmental studies focused on policy and decision-making process which draws on cross-campus faculty expertise and engages our students with a range of stakeholders to tackle local, regional, and national environmental issues. Since its inception, the program has cultivated a strong foothold in regional decision-making issues. In 2006, the university convened a team of leaders in environmental education at the city and county levels to organize a model Leadership Summit on Environmental Education for the state. Given the results achieved by the initiative so far, Puget Sound is now poised to take the next major step in the program's development by expanding curriculum and program into the international decision-making arena.
With the Mellon Foundation's support of a new tenure-line faculty position and complementary student research stipends, faculty curriculum development funds, and support for workshops and conferences involving students, faculty, and environmental stakeholders, Puget Sound will expand the environmental decision-making and policy initiative to begin addressing international issues such as biodiversity, energy production, trans-boundary pollution, as well as more highly-publicized issues such as global warming. The grant will further enhance academic study of the environment at Puget Sound, using the strengths of the university's geographic location on the Pacific Rim and the university's success in collaborating with regional stakeholders in enhancing curriculum and research projects for students.
"We are delighted to receive this grant from the Mellon Foundation," said Ronald R. Thomas, Puget Sound's president. "It not only allows Puget Sound to continue its leadership role in this important field, but it further enhances our distinctive educational programs in science, the environment, and international affairs. With the Pacific Ocean to our west and Canada to our north, topics such as resource management in international marine waters and alteration of stream flows in rivers that cross international borders have even greater significance to our faculty, students, and the communities where we live and work."
Several faculty members will lead the initiative including Barry Goldstein, Bill Kupinse, Amy Ryken, and Daniel Sherman.
About Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, was formed in 1969 through the consolidation of two existing foundations-the Avalon Foundation established by Ailsa Mellon Bruce in 1940 and the Old Dominion Foundation, which her brother, Paul Mellon, created in 1941. When the two foundations were consolidated, the Foundation was renamed The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to honor their father.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's grantmaking philosophy is to build, strengthen, and sustain institutions and their core capacities in six key areas: Higher Education and Scholarship, Scholarly Communications, Research in Information Technology, Museums and Art Conservation, Performing Arts, and Conservation and the Environment.
