External Opportunities

A continuously updated list of external research funding and green job opportunities geared towards students, faculty, and other members of the Earth Commons network.

Last updated Nov 25th, 2023

Research Funding

The Mellon Foundation has issued a call for concepts for Exploring Democracy, Environmental Justice, and Social Justice. Through its Higher Learning grantmaking area, Mellon invites humanities-grounded ideas for research and curricular projects focused on any of three topics: Cultures of U.S. Democracy, Environmental Justice Studies, Social Justice and Disciplinary Knowledge. Envisioned projects should be achievable with contributions from Mellon of $250,000 to $500,000, with durations of up to three years. Institutions interested in being part of the process or learning more are encouraged to register by November 30, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. For eligible registrants, applications will be due February 15, 2024, at 3:00 p.m.

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The Grass Foundation invites applications for its 2024 Grass Fellowship program. Administered by the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, the fellowship program supports investigator-designed, independent research projects by scientists early in their careers, providing 14-week fellowships and support including a stipend, laboratory space, animals, equipment, and supplies for a summer in residence at MBL. Supported approaches include neurophysiology, biophysics, integrative neurobiology, neuroethology, neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology, systems neuroscience, cellular and developmental neurobiology, and computational approaches to neural systems. In partnership with the Grass Foundation, the Kavli Foundation supports Grass Fellows who explore research related to neurobiology and changing ecosystems. Applications are due December 1st.

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The mission of the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) is to advance scientific research and create educational pathways that enable sustainable innovation in sustainable waste management practices.

The EREF Board of Directors has set an initiative to ensure the research funded reflects EREF’s long-term strategic plan to address all areas of integrated solid waste management, with a strong focus towards research that increased sustainable solid waste management practices and has identified three key priorities that focus on the impacts of solid waste management, circular and sustainable materials management, and mitigating environmental risk and/or harm: Climate Change Impacts/Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Emerging Contaminants, and Advancing Materials Circularity and Recycling. Pre-proposals are due December 1st.

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This solicitation calls for proposals that integrate the study of genomic, physiological, structural, developmental, neural, or behavioral mechanisms of organismal response to climate change (ORCC) with eco-evolutionary approaches to better manage the effects of a rapidly changing climate on earth’s living systems. Specific areas of emphasis include but are not limited to: integrating physiology and genomics into the next generation of species distribution models; mechanistic understanding of plastic responses to climate change; functional genomics of organismal response to climate change; the role biological interactions play in organismal responses to climate change; and improving our ability to predict how organisms will respond to climate change and the consequences these responses will have across biological scales.

Full Proposal Due Date: December 13, 2023

$45 million in funding is available for projects that will advance the coastal habitat restoration and climate resilience priorities of tribes and underserved communities. Through this funding, NOAA will help support community-driven habitat restoration and build the capacity of tribes and underserved communities to more fully participate in restoration activities. Proposals are due December 19, 2023.

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The northeast region of the National Park Service (NPS) has proposed an ambitious effort to improve forest resilience and prepare for the effects of climate change by addressing forest regeneration debt in 17 northeastern and mid-Atlantic parks. If funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, this initiative will include environmental assessments and implementation of management action to increase tree regeneration in park forests. An important component of the effort will be evaluating current park-level efforts to estimate deer population size and developing a consistent regional approach for long-term deer monitoring. The deadline for responding to this request for LOI is December 29, 2023.

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Events & Programs

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Science, Technology and Policy (STP) Program. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Science, Technology and Policy (STP) Program is seeking to develop leaders in energy efficiency and renewable energy policy. The EERE STP program provides an opportunity for highly talented scientists and engineers to participate in policy-related projects at EERE Offices in Washington, D.C.

This is a continuous posting.  Applications will be reviewed and selected as opportunities become available.

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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (new window) and the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) (new window) are offering a free online course in  ’Nature-based Solutions for Disaster and Climate Resilience’. Students will join a learning community of 75,000+ course participants from 192+ countries. The course is self-paced, and participants will receive a UN Environment Programme course certificate upon course completion. The course is available until August 2024.

Find more information here

Green Jobs

Want more opportunities?

The following are jobs and internships shared with our institute. For a more complete listing of internships and post-graduate opportunities, please visit Handshake. (new window)

Green Internships

Climate Defiance is hiring paid campus fellows to organize against fossil fuel extraction. We are a new, youth-led group focused on using peaceful, direct action to call on Biden to stop fossil fuel leasing on federal lands. This fellowship begins immediately and involves 10 hours per week of work. The hours are flexible, and pay is $17 an hour. Apply >>

The ORISE Research Participation Programs at the EPA are educational and training programs designed to provide college students, recent graduates, and university faculty opportunities to participate in project-specific EPA research and developmental activities. Discover open opportunities here

NASA Summer 2024 Internship Opportunities

The International Agricultural Internship Program gives graduate students a chance to gain first-hand experience working at one of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA/FAS) overseas posts in U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world. Interns will carry out tasks in support of the Agricultural Counselor, Agricultural Attaché, and/or Agricultural Trade Officer in connection with USDA’s agricultural trade policy, analysis, and market development programs. Apply by December 1st. Find more information here.


Work With Us

Looking for internal opportunities at the Earth Commons? Work with us on the development and implementation of a variety of environment and sustainability initiatives as well as research and teaching. Check out job openings on our “Work with Us” page.