Mellon Aid

$1.4 million grant to launch major environmental initiative

February 19, 2008

Environmental-science students planted marsh grass to protect wetlands during the watershed field semester trip to coastal Louisiana in November.

Dickinson is well on its way to developing a comprehensive environmental initiative thanks to a $1.4 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

By combining existing institutional strengths with new programming, the college intends to make the study of the environment a defining characteristic of a Dickinson education, on par with its renowned global-education program.

"As a campus we already are engaged in numerous environmental and sustainability efforts, but as a college, the greatest and longest lasting contribution we can make, in keeping with our core mission, is education," said Dickinson President William G. Durden '71.

Dickinson will use the grant funds to create:

• a faculty appointment to direct the new Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education, to be located at Kaufman Hall
• a new faculty position in the field of environmental health
• a postdoctoral program in geographic information systems (GIS).

"These enhancements, all identified as key priorities by our planning group, will strengthen our existing majors in environmental studies and environmental science, connect their work to that of other existing disciplines and interdisciplinary programs, and make possible the introduction of new curriculum and research/field study opportunities for our students," said Provost and Dean Neil Weissman.

A leadership position

"Our expectation is that this grant will launch our circular environmental and sustainability initiative in the same manner that our National Endowment for the Humanities grants in international education in the 1980s launched our global education program," said Durden. "The grant from Mellon will move the college into a leadership position on the environment, such as we have in global education."

In accepting the Mellon grant, the college has agreed to raise matching funds to endow the faculty positions long-term and to hire a technician to teach the GIS course and support the post-doctoral program.

The Mellon Foundation provides grants in six core program areas, including the Liberal Arts College program through which Dickinson received the award. Institutions and programs receiving support are often leaders in fields of foundation activity, but they may also be promising newcomers or in positions to demonstrate new ways of overcoming obstacles to achieve program goals.

The foundation's grant-making philosophy is to build, strengthen and sustain institutions and their core capacities, rather than be a source for narrowly defined projects. As such, the foundation seeks to develop thoughtful, long-term collaborations with grant recipients and invest sufficient funds for an extended period to achieve meaningful results.