Environmental Science and Policy

Funding Priorities

• Expansion of W. M. Keck Field Laboratory. The expansion will include new teaching and research space, a GIS lab, and a community area. Funding of this project will take the college to the next level and provides the cornerstone and physical space for an expanded environmental teaching and research facility for William and Mary students and faculty. We have a naming opportunity for a new wing.
• Endowed faculty line in the Environmental Science and Policy Program. Support will build the program’s ability to offer courses, advise students, create cutting-edge research, and raises the program profile, by creating a position for a distinguished environmental scholar-in-residence.
• A green/hybrid minibus. A van/minibus with high mpg or green/hybrid fuel vehicle for field work and teaching field courses. This donation will visually showcase the donor’s support for the environment with a 25 passenger vehicle that will be seen on frequent road trips throughout the region, including Washington, DC.
• Endowed Environmental Speaker Series. Endowment for named speaker series, with 1-credit courses. Donor support for a novel teaching format brings distinguished guest speakers onto campus and into reading and discussion courses in the Environmental Science and Policy Program.

These areas are also priorities for the Environmental Studies Program:

• Named postdoctoral scholars program. With donor financial support, recent Ph.Ds partner with William and Mary faculty to teach an Environmental Science and Policy course and conduct cutting-edge research.
• Equipment fund. By funding the acquisition and maintenance of state-of-the-art equipment, donors support environmental monitoring and directed student and faculty research programs.
• Named faculty research-student grant. Most of our students collaborate with faculty in significant research projects. We require continued support to maintain this high level of cutting-edge research.
• Service learning/community-based environmental research workshop. We have developed a community-based environmental research workshop that requires continual funding. This workshop allows our students, even as Freshman and Sophomore, to have direct, positive impact on important environmental issues.
• Named local environmental internships. Internships are an important capstone experience for our students and help to translate their classroom knowledge into real world applications.
• Named faculty professional development funds. This support will keep Environmental program faculty up to date by funding their travel to conferences, attendance at workshops, and other professional development opportunities.
• K-12 school environmental education outreach program. This donation will help build education links to local elementary, middle, and high schools by funding environmental outreach programs for school teachers and students.
• Hybrid field vehicle. Many of our faculty and students perform field research. This donation will allow us to showcase your support in a smaller hybrid field vehicle that will get used extensively around the local and Washington, DC, area.
• Named undergraduate awards. At graduation, our program awards student awards for academic excellence, research achievement, and community service/action. With your support, we have opportunities to name these awards and reward our highest achieving students.
• Endowed student research scholarship. With your support, we will create a research endowment to provide funding in perpetuity for one student each year to conduct independent research with a faculty mentor. Such research experiences can transform a student's educational experience.
• Annual field trips. Your support will literally immerse our students in the environmental field, whether measuring the impacts of acid rain in the Blue Ridge Mountains, exploring the habitats of a barrier island on the Eastern Shore, or hearing environmental policy experts debate global climate change in the William and Mary DC office in Washington .
• Annual student/faculty research symposium. This donation will allow us to showcase our students in an annual public forum of poster presentations and oral talks across the breadth of environmental research topics.
• Boathouse/storage shed for Keck Lab. This donation will allow us to expand the Keck Lab field operations so that students can more readily access study sites on Lake Matoaka and in the College Woods.

If you see a match with your interests and would like to learn more about how you can contribute, please contact Timmons Roberts, Program Director.