Wednesday, January 16, 2008

W&M Gets $1.5 Million Grant

The College of William and Mary has gotten a $1.5 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to add two novel programs to its environmental studies lineup.

The first will be a Center for Geospatial Analysis, which will train students to use geographic information systems to analyze environmental data. The Mellon grant will also be used to set up a postdoctoral program in environmental science and policy. According to Carl Strikwerda, W&M's dean of arts and sciences, the program will help graduate students learn to balance the teaching and research aspects of the faculty positions they are likely to hold. The college must, however, raise $1.6 million to complete the endowment for the teacher-scholar program.

W&M's environmental studies efforts have received money twice before from the Mellon Foundation, which counts conservation and the environment among its core program areas. In 2000, the foundation funded the development of its environmental science and policy minor--now a major. It provided a second round of funding in 2004.

Image credit: The College of William and Mary

No comments: