Mount Holyoke College
AC-10: Support for Research

The Miller Worley Center provides support for a wide range of Mount Holyoke College student, faculty and administrative endeavors. Five different grants offer funding for student travel and workshops, faculty-student research, faculty curriculum development, course materials, and campus sustainability. Student Travel, Research and Conference Grants: The Miller Worley Center for the Environment offers grants of up to $500 for students to participate in workshops and conferences, to conduct independent research (with a faculty supervisor) or to organize on-campus education and outreach events. To qualify, events and research must be focused around the natural environment and/or sustainability, including environmental justice and the integration of DEI principles into sustainability work on campus and beyond. Campus Sustainability Grants: The goal of the MHC Campus Environmental Sustainability Fund is to enable members of the community to undertake campus projects to advance the College’s desire to reduce the environmental footprint of campus life and work, and to achieve operational sustainability with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion. Grants of up to $1,000 are considered for award to students or student groups, faculty, and/or staff to facilitate these projects. The Campus Environmental Sustainability Fund has funded a variety of projects including: "War of the Watts" energy competition Reusable water bottles for commencement Food waste reduction education campaign Exterior recycling containers Updated labeling of recycling bins across campus Faculty Curriculum Development Grants: The Miller Worley Center for the Environment supports faculty members from any discipline who are seeking to strengthen or introduce environmental or sustainability themes in their courses, particularly related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Grants of up to $500 are available for adding a module to an existing course or up to $2,000 for developing a new or substantially revised course. Two or more faculty members can also apply for $500 each to create linked courses that connect students in each class in meaningful shared work. This may be an assignment, sustained discussion or joint class meetings. Faculty-Student Summer Research Grants: The Miller Worley Center for the Environment provides short-term summer support for environmentally oriented faculty-student research in any discipline, particularly related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Grants cover the wage costs for students to work as assistants on faculty research projects, and also support projects that do not qualify for either MHConnect/Lynk funding or a Research Assistance Grant through the Office of the Dean of Faculty. Course Materials Grants The Miller Worley Center for the Environment supports faculty members from any discipline who are seeking to strengthen or to introduce environmental or sustainability themes in their courses, particularly related to issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, or integrate DEI principles into new or pre-existing environmental courses. Grants up to $250 are available to faculty only to cover the cost of course materials such as books and other supplies.

The Miller Worley Center for the Environment (and the Weissman Center for Leadership) work to convene faculty from various disciplines and programs to collaborate on public programs, new courses, faculty development, and research. While the Miller Worley Center does not directly give professors funding for research, it does fund students who work with professors. The Center supports pedagogical innovation and student-faculty research to advance student understanding of environmental issues and practical experiences in addressing them. It offers small grants to incentivize and support pedagogical innovation and student-faculty research to advance student understanding of environmental issues. The Dean of Faculty also offers support for research. Faculty Research Grants provide funding to help defray costs of publication, travel, and other important expenses related to carrying on research. A total of $130,000 is available for faculty research grants.

The Miller Worley Center for the Environment supports events and student-faculty interdisciplinary research through grant funding. The Dean of Faculty’s office also provides research grants for interdisciplinary research. Faculty Research Grants provide funding to help defray costs of publication, travel, and other important expenses related to carrying on research. A total of $130,000 is available for faculty research grants.

A librarian is designated as a liaison to the Environmental Studies program to help students, faculty and staff with research or instructional technology questions and needs.