Institutional Awards
Constellation – E2: Energy to Educate Grants program. $15,000. (Matt Steiman/College Farm) “Clean Energy from Waste Education Program.” This grant provides additional funding for continued work on the farm's biodigester project, which involves construction of a waste-to-energy system for conversion of food waste and cattle manure into renewable electricity and fertilizer. This grant funding will be used for unrestricted construction costs to support aspects of the project not covered by other sources. In exchange, the Dickinson College Farm will deliver educational content to local schools, farmers and the broader community through videos, field trips and course materials. This is the same arrangement that was funded by an earlier award in 2020. We have delivered substantial biogas education video content—which has been widely distributed—and we have worked with a local middle school to provide a biogas lab component for STEM classes.
Berks County Community Foundation – Metropolitan Edison Company Endowed Sustainability Energy Fund – Green Building Grant. $150,000. (Jenn Halpin, College Farm and Ken Shultes, Sustainability and Facilities Planning) “F.A.R.M. Lab Design Development.” This grant will provide the Dickinson College Farm with funding to advance the F.A.R.M. Lab project to the completion of design development. Grant funds will be used to fund RE:Vision's design of the project’s architectural, structural, systems engineering, civil engineering, and landscape architecture as well as developing compliance pathways for Living Building Challenge and/or LEED certification.
PA Liquor Control Board, Bureau of Alcohol Education – Reducing Underage Drinking and Dangerous Drinking Grant. $33,320. (Missy Taylor and Lauren Strunk, Wellness Center) “Preventing High-Risk Drinking at Dickinson College” Continued support from the PLCB would allow ongoing prevention of high-risk or dangerous drinking among Dickinson College students. The goals of this program are as follows: To continue expanding the Wellness Center alcohol peer education program. To provide accurate alcohol-related information to Dickinson students via a social norming campaign and facilitate alcohol programming for all incoming students during their extended orientation. To increase the professional competency of Wellness Center staff regarding alcohol-related issues. Assess the current scope of alcohol use and related issues among students via a campus-wide electronic survey.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection - Act 101 Section 902 Recycling Grant. $55,283 (through Cumberland County). (Matt Steiman, College Farm) “Food waste chopper for anaerobic digester” If funds are awarded, a food waste chopping machine will be purchased to be used as a component of the farm’s anaerobic digester system (currently under development). The food waste chopper will allow us to convert whole produce from Project SHARE food bank, the College Farm, and other community resources into a format compatible with the anaerobic digester system. Additionally, the chopper will allow us to utilize all food waste from campus (dorms and events), as well as dining hall waste, in the event that the cafeteria’s pulping machine is offline. All processed food wastes will be converted to renewable electricity and fertilizer in the anaerobic digester. This project is being sponsored by the Cumberland County Recycling Department.
PA Department of Human Services, Office of Child Development and Early Learning - Workforce Support Grant. $52,749. (Gina VanKirk, Dickinson College Children’s Center)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Supporting Anaerobic Digestion in Communities. $29,988 (supplement). (Matt Steiman, College Farm) “Co-digestion of Food Residues and Dairy Manure on a Diversified Small Farm” Continuation of EPA funded biogas digester development and research project.
Arthur Vining Davis Foundations – Private Higher Education program. $275,295. “Civil Dialogue Across the Curriculum, Campus, and Community” (Noreen Lape, Associate Provost) This three-year grant will be used to create a national model for the teaching and practice of civil dialogue across differences. Acknowledging that civil dialogue is a fraught concept that must mean more than just performative politeness, we aim to educate citizens who can listen with an empathetic and ethical mindset to perspectives other than their own and then reason with a depth of understanding. Our unique approach integrates classroom learning across disciplines, leadership training, campus involvement, and community engagement. Since faculty development is key to building capacity to sustain this work, we will provide resources and tools to help faculty develop assignments, lesson plans, and/or entire courses, as well as workshops for them to work with colleagues across disciplines on course design. We will develop a new elective course to train students as civil dialogue facilitators and give them opportunities to partner with campus and community groups to lead dialogues on challenging contemporary issues. This grant will 1) build a cohort of 25-35% of faculty who will use these tools to educate current and future student cohorts, and 2) impart to 30-40% of the student body the skills for conducting effective civil dialogues in their personal and professional lives.
Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association (LSRA). $77,400. (Julie Vastine, ALLARM) “Lower Susquehanna - Stream Team Expansion and Restoration Monitoring” Dickinson College’s Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring received $77,400 to support community monitoring efforts in the Lower Susquehanna watershed. ALLARM strives to engage volunteers in stream health assessments and use data for local change through two of its programs: Susquehanna Stream Team and Community-based Restoration Monitoring. From July 2022-June 2026, ALLARM specifically hopes to enhance Susquehanna Stream Team baseline monitoring efforts and to teach volunteers to implement community-based restoration assessments. This funding is derived from a consent decree in Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper v. Keystone Protein Co.¸ Civil No. 1:19-cv01307 (M.D. Pa.), for environmental projects in the Susquehanna River watershed. LSRA brought a successful citizen suit against Keystone Protein Company for violations of its Clean Water Act discharge permit. For more information, please visit https://lowersusquehannariverkeeper.org/press-release-keystone-protein-lsra/.
Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) - Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program. $15,000. (Dee Danser, Public Safety) Dickinson College has been awarded funds to enhance security at the Asbell Center for Jewish Life. Installation of additional physical security measures at the Asbell Center will serve as a deterrent against acts of violence, increase safety of those utilizing the facility, and provide a sense of calm to those attempting to worship, learn, and gather in this space. This project is supported by PCCD Subgrant # 37556, awarded by the PCCD. The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed within this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of PCCD.
Faculty Awards
Yaddo – Residency. (Adrienne Su, Creative Writing)
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts – Residency. (Adrienne Su, Creative Writing)
American Institutes for Research - COVID-19 & Equity in Education Research-Practice Partnership Network. $5,000 (supplement). (Jacquie Forbes, Educational Studies)
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. $154,669. (Matthew Pinsker, History) Slave Stampedes on the Kentucky Borderlands will be a three-year cooperative agreement with the National Park Service and House Divided Project extending our earlier project concerning Slave Stampedes on the Missouri Borderlands. Both phases of this multi-year effort focus on creating digital resources to help explain the story of mass or serial group escapes from slavery during the period from 1840 to 1865. The project involves the development of a free database of historical records, including thousands of newspaper articles, various multi-media elements (such as videos, maps, and interactive timelines) and a detailed report or monograph that helps put the story of group freedom seeking into historical context.
National Program for Scientific Research and Advanced Studies (PROCIENCIA). (Amalia Pesantes Villa, Anthropology and Archaeology) “Intercultural maternal health services during the pandemic: Learning from the experiences in the Central Amazon of Peru” The study seeks to document and analyze the changes intercultural maternal health services in the province of Satipo during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru. We aim to develop public policy recommendations to improve maternal health services for indigenous populations in Peru that stem from the perspectives of indigenous peoples and health professionals in the Central Amazon. In addition, this study will (1) improve the understanding of the experiences of indigenous peoples during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of maternal care, and (2) develop relevant evidence for indigenous women and indigenous organizations to advocate for their specific needs and demand better quality services that respect their worldview. The study will have two phases: Phase 1: a) in-depth interviews with women who sought prenatal care and/gave birth between (March 2020- December 2021), indigenous leaders, community health agents and professionals of health at the different levels of care and b) cases studies through verbal autopsies of maternal deaths and obstetric emergencies that occurred in the established time period. Phase 2: Coding using a qualitative analysis software to prepare a preliminary report that will then be shared with indigenous organizations and indigenous women in c) participatory workshops that would enable the co-creation of recommendations to improve public health and maternal health services. The study will be carried out in two Nomatsiguenga communities in the Pangoa district and two Ashaninka communities in the Mazamari district, Satipo province, Junín region, Peru. No funds will be coming to Dickinson College through this grant.
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. $19,033. (Maggie Douglas, Environmental Studies and Environmental Science) “Mapping and mitigating pesticide hazard for pollinators in the Great Lakes Basin using native bees as the focal species. Phase 1. Pesticide Hazard Decision Support Tool. Modeling and data expertise.” Agricultural pesticides pose a risk to the wild and managed pollinators essential to food production and the function of natural ecosystems. We propose leveraging recently generated novel datasets describing pesticide use by active ingredient and aggregate insecticide load for state-crop combinations in the states associated with the Great Lakes Basin to predict hazard faced by insect pollinators in the Region. These data allow mapping of pesticide indicators at fine spatial scales relevant to pollinator research and conservation. Coupled with information on pesticide fate and species occurrence, we can provide insights to pollinator conservation decision-making in the Great Lakes Basin: (1) where and how are pesticide hazards to pollinators distributed over the landscape, and (2) where and how can pesticide mitigation most effectively aid pollinator conservation? Addressing these questions will aid in planning for pollinator habitat restoration and enhancement (“low” chemical hazard areas), habitat protection (low chemical hazard environments in high-quality pollinator habitat) and pesticide mitigation (high-hazard environments otherwise suitable for pollinators).
Student Awards
