The February 2022 edition of the RWFI E-Note Monthly, the newsletter of NETL’s Regional Workforce Initiative (RWFI), will include details on funding opportunities for advancing undergraduate STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is vital for ensuring the growth of a future work force.

The NSF’s Education and Human Resources Directorate seeks to significantly enhance its support for research, development, implementation, and assessment to improve STEM education at the nation’s two-year colleges. NSF encourages bold, potentially transformative projects that address immediate challenges facing STEM education at two-year colleges. These projects may also anticipate new structures and functions of the STEM learning and teaching enterprise. 

The NSF’s Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education program is a targeted approach for advancing innovative and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges. It also seeks to support systemic approaches to advance inclusive and equitable STEM education practices. The foundation is interested in projects that will make systemic improvements in STEM education; promote diversity, equity, and inclusion; and mitigate the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on two-year colleges.

The deadline to apply for funding proposals is May 2, 2022.

The NSF has also announced funding opportunities for the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) program. This program aims to enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education and to increase the recruitment, retention and graduation rates of students pursuing associate's or baccalaureate degrees in STEM-related fields. The intended outcomes of the HSI program include broadening participation of students that are historically underrepresented in STEM and expanding students’ pathways to continued STEM education and integration into the workforce.

The deadline to apply for funding proposals is March 28, 2022.

The February newsletter will also include information on finding opportunities from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Environmental Literacy Program. The goal of this funding opportunity is for communities to have sufficient collective environmental literacy to take actions that build resilience to extreme weather and climate change in ways that contribute to community health, social cohesion, and socio-economic equity. Efforts to build environmental literacy should ultimately aim to reduce risks from current and future environmental hazards through climate-smart and inclusive decision-making and long-term stewardship of healthy ecosystems, all the while promoting a low-carbon economy.

March 17, 2022 is the deadline for funding proposal applications for NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program.

Learn more about these and other exciting programs in the February edition of the RWFI E-Note Monthly.
 
Previous editions of RWFI E-Note Monthly can be found in the newsletter’s online archive. Click here for more information about the NETL Regional Workforce Initiative.

NETL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory that drives innovation and delivers technological solutions for an environmentally sustainable and prosperous energy future. By leveraging its world-class talent and research facilities, NETL is ensuring affordable, abundant and reliable energy that drives a robust economy and national security, while developing technologies to manage carbon across the full life cycle, enabling environmental sustainability for all Americans.