The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science has issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Climate Resilience Centers (CRCs). These new centers will be dedicated to rapidly developing new science and talent to address the nation’s most pressing climate resilience challenges.
CRCs will improve the availability and utility of BER research, data, models, and capabilities to address climate resiliency, particularly by underrepresented or vulnerable communities. These science-based predictive tools and methods are critically needed to inform policies and plans for strengthening the security and resilience of critical infrastructure and natural resources.
“We anticipate the awards will go to a diversity of institutions and environments that haven’t previously had access to DOE resources in order to study and seek solutions to their local environmental and energy concerns,” said Dorothy Koch, Associate Director of Science for Biological and Environmental Research (BER). “We are excited that these centers will expand the science and talent pool in tackling one of America’s most daunting challenges while also bringing benefits to local communities.”
CRCs will extend DOE climate science, capabilities, and research by supporting non-R1 Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and non-R1 Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) to address regional resilience needs and impacts on natural, socioeconomic, and/or built systems and their intersections. CRCs also aim to foster capacity at regional and local scales by connecting with affected communities and stakeholders to translate basic research into actionable science to enhance climate resilience, as well as to identify research priorities for future DOE investments. CRCs will form a nucleus for building and empowering a future pool of local talent and expertise, including young scientists, engineers, and technicians, to address local resilience challenges and inform equitable solutions. CRCs will leverage ongoing DOE climate science and capabilities that exist at currently supported DOE national laboratories and universities and build two-way engagement between DOE funded research and community stakeholders for improved climate resilience responses.
Non-R1 MSIs and non-R1 ERIs are eligible to apply as single institution applicants or as the lead of a multi-institutional team.
