Call for Proposals

gbowder (gbowder@EARTHWATCH.ORG)
Mon, 22 Jan 1996 15:18:54 -0500

The Center for Field Research at Earthwatch announces a CALL FOR PROPOSALS:
GRANTS FOR FIELD RESEARCH
The Center for Field Research (CFR) is a private, nonprofit organization
established in 1973 to promote significant scholarship and to improve
communication between scholars and the public. The Center receives,
reviews and recommends projects for support by Earthwatch, the funding
organization.
CFR will consider proposals for field research in any discipline that
can gainfully employ nonspecialist volunteers in the implementation of a
carefully constructed pure or applied research project. The volunteers are
highly educated citizens dedicated to improving environmental understanding
who are recruited and screened to meet scientists' needs. The Center
encourage proposals that are interdisciplinary and/or transnational.
Professionals from any nationality, for work in any geographic region, are
eligible to apply. The following list is not meant to be inclusive, but does
indicate the breadth of inquiry CFR has historically negotiated and
recommended for support:

International and interdisciplinary field research focused on the
velocity and impact of human activities on the biosphere.
Projects that assess regional and international problems such as:
deforestation, global warming, sea-level change, desertification, acid rain,
population pressures, and food security issues.
Studies of alternative energy and sustainable agriculture programs,
including those that field-test appropriate technology transfers.
Research that assesses the public health problems in developing and
developed countries, particularly those that focus on how women's
socioeconomic roles impact on health and development.
Programs that record, document, or preserve cutural property and
ethnic diversity, including music, dance, oral and folk traditions,
decorative arts, vernacular architecture, and antiquities.
Studies of indigenous and local knowledge and its application to
achieve sustained levels of development.
Integrative research in the physical, economic and social sciences in
order to understand the impacts of economic and social behavior on the
environment and of environmental degradation on local and global economies.
Research on human attitudes and behavior as driving forces central to
an understanding of the causes and consequences of environmental change and
resource use.

Grants range from $10,000-$100,000 annually, averaging $20,000. A typical
project would employ 4 to 8 volunteers each on 3 to 5 sequential teams. Teams
normally spend 10 to 25 days in the field. Shorter and
longer teams are encouraged where appropriate, as are larger or smaller
teams. Preliminary proposals should be submitted 12-14 months in advance of
anticipated field dates. Full proposals are invited upon review of
preliminary materials and will be peer-reviewed. Proposals are accepted and
reviewed year round.

For more information, please contact Gretchen Bowder, Program Manager for
Social Sciences, 680 Mt. Auburn St., Box 403 Watertown, MA 02272. Tel.
617-926-8200, ext 181. Fax 617-926-8532. Internet: gbowder@earthwatch.org