Emory University
AC-10: Support for Research

The Office of Sustainability Initiatives provides an Incentives Fund to support research, campus-based projects, and the development of new rituals to promote sustainability on Emory’s campuses. All faculty, staff and students, including Emory Healthcare and Oxford College members, are eligible to apply. Funds may be used for supplies, materials, publicity, and travel costs (excluding equipment). Proposals are welcome in all areas, with priority given to proposals in the areas of recycling, sustainable food systems, energy reduction, alternative transportation, and connection to ‘place’. Research and rituals must be carried out on campus. http://sustainability.emory.edu/page/1036/Incentives-Fund

For undergraduate students who would like to participate more fully in meaningful research early on in their academic careers, Emory College offers Scholarly Inquiry and Research at Emory (SIRE). SIRE promotes undergraduate research projects through grants, faculty-student research partnerships, and summer research stipends. Many students take advantage of this research and funding opportunity to engage in sustainability-focused research. Past examples include a sustainability minor that used SIRE funds to research “Sustainability on Campus,” including challenges and successes toward student-engagement, and faculty-student research partnership on “Environmental Concerns: How Does "Living Green" at College Matter?: A naturally occurring field experiment at Emory to compare the attitudes, identities, behaviors, and perceptions of environmental issues of first-year students living in the “green” dorm.” http://college.emory.edu/home/academic/research/sire/

The Center for Community Partnerships (CFCP) also sponsors a Graduate Fellowship for Engaged Research, which seeks applicants experienced and interested in one or more of the following topic areas: community building and social change; equitable development and neighborhoods (especially topics related to gentrification, neighborhood revitalization, and displacement); social policy (especially public education, welfare, and workforce development); community-based health concerns; the environment and sustainability; immigrant and refugee communities; communications and media production (audio, video, print and/or web); and engaged learning or service learning pedagogy. We also have a Sustainability Fellow funded by this CFCP program who is a graduate student who develops our sustainability-related community outreach internships and other student opportunities. Additionally, CFCP’s Sustainable Partnerships for Atlanta Neighborhoods (SPAN) grant funds student research projects focusing on maximizing the well-being of the urban environment and its natural resources like green space and waterways as health-enhancing, recreational, and community-building assets, and promoting environmentally conscious land-use and housing-development strategies. http://oucp.emory.edu/our_work/community_work/environment_sustainability.html

The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry provides a variety of grants to faculty and students for various projects in the humanities, including issues of social justice, equity, and diversity. http://chi.emory.edu/

The Global Health Institute Individual Field Scholars Program promotes student learning by linking academic study with practical experience in the field. Individual scholars conduct short-term global health projects focusing on under-served and/or vulnerable populations around the world. Applicants can conduct projects either abroad or within the United States, however, they must demonstrate a significant need in the population with whom they propose to work. Scholarship recipients receive up to $3,000 to conduct their projects. http://cipa.emory.edu/programs/research/global.html

The Sustainability Minor requires all students in the program to carry out a capstone research or outreach activity on sustainability issues for which they receive two credits. This research project may be part of Honors Research, study abroad, an internship, or other academic course. Student research within this department is incentivized by course credit and mentorships. http://devstudies.emory.edu/undergraduate/research.html

At Emory, Anthropology and Sustainability are intimately related and Emory’s anthropology department is lucky to have several professors with interest in the sustainability field. For students of anthropology, sustainability research is incentivized by internships and grants. http://anthropology.emory.edu/home//undergraduate/research.html

Students in the Development Studies department are incentivized to research sustainability through mentorships and internships. http://devstudies.emory.edu/undergraduate/research.html

Students in the Environmental Sciences department are incentivized to research sustainability through mentorships and funding. http://envs.emory.edu/home/research/index.html

Doctor of Medicine students are incentivized to research sustainability by funding and mentorships.
http://www.med.emory.edu/research/index.html

Students at the Turner Environmental Law Clinic are incentivized to study sustainability by mentorship (those who conduct research work closely with one of four full-time faculty members) and externships.
http://www.law.emory.edu/academics/academic-programs/environmental-law.html

Sustainability research in the Environmental Health department is incentivized by mentorships and course credit.
http://www.sph.emory.edu/departments_centers/eh/eh_research.html

Epidemiology degree candidates are incentivized to research sustainability topics by mentorships and assistantships.
http://www.sph.emory.edu/departments_centers/epi/research/index.html

Masters in Development Practice students are highly encouraged to incorporate sustainability into their studies. Research into sustainability is incentivized by course credit, mentorships, and internships.
http://web.gs.emory.edu/mdp/about/glance.html

PBEE (Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution (PhD)) research typically involves deep appreciation for environmental systems and the importance of preserving them. Such research is incentivized by funding, mentorships, and course credit. http://www.biomed.emory.edu/PROGRAM_SITES/PBEE/research/index.html

Students in the Rollins School of Public Health Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), and Environmental Studies and Enviromental Health (BS/MPH) programs are strongly interested in sustainability and accordingly, often conduct research in the field. Sustainability research is incentivized by funding and mentorships for all three degree programs. http://www.sph.emory.edu/research/

Emory offers all faculty financial support for research through the University Research Committee.
The URC is a standing committee of the Faculty Council of the University Senate and awards competitive small research grants, especially in fields for which there is little or no external funding or to explore new areas of research that are likely to attract outside support. All regular, full-time faculty members of the University are eligible and proposals are reviewed by five broad discipline-based subcommittees. Sustainability-related projects have been awarded from this fund. http://www.urc.emory.edu/about/index.html

The Center for Faculty Development and Excellence, an office of the Provost, offers small grants to support Academic Learning Communities that foster faculty collaboration and often lead to future research efforts. Currently, CFDE has supported work in both Climate Change and Sustainable Food Studies areas. Also available are mini-grants to support engaged scholarship in teaching which have been used by faculty for sustainability-related efforts. The CFDE has a focus on Public Scholarship, and it also supports faculty with subvention funds for publication. http://cfde.emory.edu/index.html

The Office of Sustainability Initiatives provides an Incentives Fund to support research, campus-based projects, and the development of new rituals to promote sustainability on Emory’s campuses. All faculty, staff and students, including Emory Healthcare and Oxford College members are eligible to apply. Funds may be used for supplies, materials, publicity, and travel costs (excluding equipment). Proposals are welcome in all areas, with priority given to proposals in the areas of recycling, sustainable food systems, energy reduction, alternative transportation, and connection to ‘place’. Research and rituals must be carried out on campus. http://sustainability.emory.edu/page/1036/Incentives-Fund

The Piedmont Project is a curriculum development effort that seeks to foster an invigorated intellectual community to address global issues and local environmental awareness. Faculty workshops, graduate student work, new course and module development as well as cross-disciplinary dialogue are key efforts for the project, and these sometimes result in research collaborations and grants as well as teaching innovation. http://piedmont.emory.edu/

The Center for Community Partnerships sponsors a mini-grant program for faculty, which provides financial, technical, and personnel support to faculty and staff for pilot research projects that provide a direct and tangible benefit to communities in the greater Atlanta area. While this grant does not directly specify sustainability-research, a number of grant recipients conduct research in areas of social justice, equity, and the environment. The research must be sought by one or more community organizations, government agencies, or nonprofit organizations and must have a direct and tangible benefit for or application in the community. Grants of up to $5,500 are available and awards are made three times a year. http://oucp.emory.edu/about_oucp/

The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry provides a variety of grants to faculty and students for various projects in the humanities, including issues of social justice, equity, and diversity. http://www.chi.emory.edu/

The Institute of Critical International Studies helps promote Emory College's goal of global citizenship in a plural world. This goal entails scholarship and outreach to understand societies and cultures and to help reduce inequality and injustice, both across the world and in our international community at home. This mission entails recognition of and interchange with foreign scholars, students and immigrants, as well as the promotion of international scholarship and foreign experience among Emory faculty and students. http://www.icis.emory.edu/

For promotion and tenure, scholarship is evaluated based on its advancement of knowledge and is not restricted by departmental or disciplinary boundaries. Reviews of candidates whose research is interdisciplinary tend to be expanded by seeking input from experts from multiple fields, including those outside the department or outside the school/college, as appropriate. The promotion and tenure process has shown that Emory values and rewards research efforts that impact multiple fields and cross disciplinary boundaries. The university-wide committee that advises the president and provost on promotion and tenure issues is itself multi-disciplinary and seeks additional input in its decisions from a broad spectrum of experts to ensure that interdisciplinary research is adequately reviewed. Special mention is made of encouragement for interdisciplinary research in the Principles for Promotion and Tenure, but Emory's size and strong history of support for interdisciplinarity in hiring, retention, and funded programs speaks for itself.

Several specialized librarians cooperate to build the university’s collections in sustainability-related fields. There is a dedicated Environmental Studies librarian, as well as Anthropology and other related fields. Collections in Theology, Law, Business, and Public Health also support sustainability-related teaching and research.

More information about support for sustainability research and learning includes:

Specific Library Resource Guides Currently on line:
• Sustainability Films for the Social Sciences by Selina Gallo-Cruz
• Sustainable Development by Lori Jahnke
• Development Studies by Tim Bryson, Hikmat Faraj, Phil MacLeod, Elizabeth McBride, Robert O'Reilly, Michael Page, Guo-Hua Wang
• African Studies Research Guide: News by Elizabeth McBride
• Development Data Resources, including Social Indicators by Robert O’Reilly.
• Environment and Natural Resources by Robert O'Reilly
• Development Studies by Tim Bryson, Hikmat Faraj, Phil MacLeod, Elizabeth McBride, Robert O'Reilly, Michael Page, Guo-Hua Wang
• Selected Data Resources for ECON 362-000 Economic DevelopmentEnvironmental Studies Films List by Kristan Majors Chilcoat
• International Environmental Policy
• Environmental, Health & Development by Kristan Majors Chilcoat
• African Studies Research Guide by Elizabeth McBride
• Climate Change and Society Resources to support SOC 389-002: Sociology of Climate Change
• DANC 190/THEA 190 - The Art of Eating by James Steffen
• Research Guide to Urban Atlanta by Elizabeth McBride
• International Environmental Policy by Kristan Majors Chilcoat
• Political Science 385: Labor, Policy and Development (Spring 2014) by Chris Palazzolo
• ENVS 458: Fishers & Fisheries by Kristan Majors Chilcoat
• Health and Disease in Africa by Elizabeth
• Economics 411: Money and Banking by Robert O'Reilly, Chris Palazzolo
• Political Science 385/African American Studies 385: New Black Political Leadership by Chris Palazzolo
• ENVS 225: Institutions & the Environment by Kristan Majors Chilcoat
• Readings in Anthropology •Biocultural Anth by Lori Jahnke
• Literature and Environment Research Guide •Ecocriticism section by Christina Colvin |