The goal of this program is to help build a reliable online encyclopedia with a Web page for each of the named 1.8 million species of plants, animals, and fungi. A $2.5 million grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation along with a $10 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation initiated the project in 2007. Over 30,000 pages of the Encyclopedia were released early in 2008 and the site has since grown to include more than 200,000 authenticated species-pages. Content is being generated via the Biodiversity Heritage Library (a consortium of ten major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions), other Web-based resources, and by professional and citizen scientists. Wikipedia-style, people worldwide are invited to contribute text, video, images, and other information about a species and have it incorporated, upon review, into the authenticated pages. A 2009 three-year grant supports the EOL’s efforts to expand its worldwide institutional base of participants and its movement toward achieving self-sufficiency by 2012 when Foundation support will end. Program Director: Gail M. Pesyna Bio Visit the EOL Apply Spotlight Listen to the EOL podcast, One Species at a Time , hosted by Ari Daniel Shapiro. more Links Partners Sign up for the EOL Newsletter Read the 2010 EOL Online Brochure
This program, started in 2002, aims to speed the building and use of a library of short DNA sequences (barcodes) to identify animal and plant species reliably and inexpensively. Foundation grantmaking has supported the selection of gene regions for use in identification and the networking of stakeholder institutions in the field, which include museums and herbaria that have collections of specimens, laboratories that perform analyses, and regulatory agencies concerned, for example, about the accuracy of food labeling. The Consortium for the Barcode of Life, based at the Smithsonian Institution, includes over 170 member organizations from 50 countries. Barcodes of over 850,000 specimens from over 70,000 species have been accumulated with plans to extend the barcode library to 500,000 species over the next five years. Grantmaking for 2010 will focus on supporting the Consortium as it shifts to financial reliance on government agencies concerned both with basic science and with consumer and environmental protection. Program Director: Gail M. Pesyna Bio Visit the BoL Apply Headlines Can DNA Barcoding Really Save Endangered Fish? Canadian Technology Fights Misleading Food Labelling World Center for DNA Barcoding, Biodiversity Genomics Opens in Guelph Guelph Now University of Guelph Opens Second Facility for Barcode of Life Guelph Mercury Links Read the Barcode of Life Newsletter Visit the NYC Urban Barcode Project
Grantmaking in this program aims to improve the quality of higher education in STEM fields through the support of original, high-quality research on the factors affecting undergraduate and graduate student learning and retention in STEM fields. Grants primarily support consortia of colleges, universities, and other educational institutions with plans to develop and to study the impact and effectiveness of new approaches to STEM pedagogy, especially in “gateway” courses, with an explicit commitment to institutionalize successful initiatives.. Successful proposals are expected to be hypothesis-driven, sensitive to the heterogeneity of STEM disciplines, attentive to differences in student motivations to choose STEM majors and persist in STEM careers, and concerned with the dissemination and portability of results to other institutions. Program Director: Elizabeth Boylan Bio Apply Headlines UW Researcher to Study Why Students Drop Out of Sciences Wisconsin State Journal Studying Why Some Shy Away from Math and Science Wisconsin Public Radio Study Looks at Why Students Leave STEM Majors University of Wisconsin - Madison
Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and women are underrepresented among M.S. and Ph.D. recipients in the natural sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics, a trend that continues throughout the academic pipeline–from starting assistant professors to senior academic administrators. Grantmaking in this Foundation program aims to increase the diversity of higher education in STEM fields through college and university initiatives to support the education and professional advancement of high-quality scholars from underrepresented groups. Grantmaking is divided into three subprograms. In the Sloan Minority Ph.D. program (MPHD), the Foundation partners with select faculty, departments, and universities with proven track records of successfully recruiting and graduating minority Ph.D. candidates in STEM fields. Funds provide fellowships to minority students, allowing successful degree programs to enroll, train, and eventually graduate more students than would otherwise be possible. In the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP) , the Foundation provides fellowships and administrative funds to four regional centers that foster supportive, interconnected communities devoted to successfully training Native American and Native Alaskan graduate students in STEM Master’s and Ph.D. programs. In the Leadership Diversity program , the Foundation supports college and university efforts to promote the effective professional development of women and minority faculty for positions of academic leadership. The MPHD and SIGP programs are administered by longtime Foundation partner, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), which receives applications, selects students for scholarships, administers awards, and supports recruitment efforts by participating faculty. This program does not make grants to support projects in public or private schools at the pre-college level. Program Director: Elizabeth Boylan Bio Apply Links Minority Ph.D. Program Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership
The Foundation supports a range of radio programs that deal with science and technology and seeks to increase both the quantity and the quality of science and technology coverage. Previous Sloan grants started the science and technology desk on National Public Radio and on Public Radio International’s The World , while current grants include support for Radiolab, Studio 360, Science Friday, Planet Money, PRX, and BURN: An Energy Journal . The Foundation also supports LA Theatre Works in recording full-length science plays as part of a series called Relativity , broadcast on public radio. The recordings include numerous plays originally commissioned by the Foundation’s theater program. Sloan has supported limited radio series, such as the Peabody-Award winning The DNA Files and has also sponsored science coverage on commercial radio, such as The Osgood File . Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Listen to Alex Chadwick host BURN: An Energy Journal. Check out feature episodes on Nuclear Power after Fukushima, America's hunt for oil, and America's energy policy. more Headlines Radiolab's "Apocalyptic" Tour Hits NY's Beacon Theatre in October Broadway World Links PRX STEM Story Project Explore the Science and Creativity Series on Studio 360 Visit Science Friday for the latest podcast Check out Radiolab Let Planet Money explain economics Listen to BURN: An Energy Journal on Marketplace Program Updates March 2013 June 2013 Public Understanding Sub Programs Books Film Television Theater New Media
The goal of the Film program is to influence the next generation of filmmakers to tackle science and technology themes and characters, to increase visibility for feature films that depict this subject matter, and to produce new scripts about science and technology and about scientists, engineers and mathematicians. This program works primarily through initiatives with film schools, film festivals, and independent and Hollywood film producers. Film Schools Film Festivals Film Development Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Headlines Kate Mickere Wins $20K Screenwriting Prize for "Diamond in the Sky" About Pioneering Astronomer Times-Tribune Film Independent Fast Track 2013 Selections Include Projects From Nikyatu Jusua, A. Sayeeda Clark, Others indieWire James Cameron Honored by National Geographic for Deepsea Challenger Expedition National Geographic Computer Chess is a New Yorker Summer Movie Pick New Yorker Links VIDEO: Sloan at Sundance Sloan Science and Film at Museum of the Moving Image Sloan events at the Tribeca Film Festival, April 17-28 Program Updates March 2013 June 2013 Public Understanding Sub Programs Books Radio Television Theater New Media
The Foundation supports a wide range of books aimed at public understanding of science and technology. Popular categories include books that elucidate the scientific basis of issues that are often confusing or controversial or unnecessarily obscure. The Foundation also supports books that profile scientific and technological figures from varying angles, but with an emphasis on the human story. Books about the relevance of technology to daily life and about the relationship between women and technology also find occasional support. Inventing America: A History of the United States , a popular college textbook supported by the Foundation, explores the central role of science, technology and business in the nation’s development. The Foundation’s Book program aims to reach a wide, lay audience. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Supported Books Apply Spotlight The Fractalist is Benoit Mandelbrot's fascinating memoir about the man who changed the way we look at both the natural and financial world. more Spotlight Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age, by W. Bernard Carlson, is a major new biography about the inventor Nikola Tesla, one of the major contributors to the electrical revolution. more Program Updates March 2013 June 2013 Public Understanding Sub Programs Film Radio Television Theater New Media
The Foundation occasionally sponsors innovative efforts to reach a broad, cross-cultural audience or to target specific segments of the public. These efforts may take the form of, but are not limited to, Internet projects, conferences, multimedia events, performances, and science and arts festivals. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight The Foundation supports innovative efforts like the annual World Science Festival in New York City. more Links New Funding for the Science Festival Alliance Headlines Brain Scans and the Law: Watch World Science Festival Event Scientific American The Puzzle of Consciousness: Watch Full Video of World Science Festival Panel Scientific American Playwright Nell Benjamin and Explorer Sylvia Earle Set for Talk After MTC's The Explorer's Club Broadway World 30 Years in the Fight Against AIDS Huffington Post Best Things To Do At The World Science Festival Time Out New York Program Updates March 2013 June 2013 Public Understanding Sub Programs Books Film Radio Television Theater
In this program, the Foundation makes grants to encourage playwrights and theater companies to write and produce new plays about scientists, engineers and mathematicians that will break down the barrier between "the two cultures." The Foundation's major partners include: The Ensemble Studio Theatre The Manhattan Theatre Club Playwrights Horizons The Foundation has been a leading force in commissioning and producing new science and technology plays. In this role, it has helped to stimulate numerous playwrights to tackle these subjects while also creating a more hospitable environment among the theater-going public for such fare, heralding an important cultural shift. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Isaac's Eye , a play about a young Isaac Newton and his nemesis Robert Hooke, premiered at Ensemble Studio Theatre's Mainstage. more Headlines Victorian England is Comic Gold in "The Explorer's Club" New York Post "Explorer's Club" a "Hijinks-Happy" Romp New York Daily News Jennifer Westfeldt Charms in "Explorer's Club" Bloomberg Talkin' Broadway Reviews "Explorer's Club" at MTC Talkin' Broadway Time Out NY Reviews "The Explorer's Club" Time Out New York Program Updates March 2013 June 2013 Public Understanding Sub Programs Books Film Radio Television New Media
Public Television The Foundation is a major supporter of public television documentaries, docudramas and dramas about science, technology and the lives of the men and women involved in scientific and technological pursuit. Foundation-supported shows highlight the role of engineering and technology in society or broaden our view of the nation’s history and of the central role of science and technology in the country’s narrative. Some programs celebrate scientific and technological breakthroughs and milestones, while others reveal just how little we know, and how far we still have to go. The Foundation has a longtime interest in the underappreciated role of women and minorities in science and technology. The Foundation also supports television programs based on projects it has sponsored in other media, such as books and plays. Commercial Television The Foundation also continues to develop various film projects with cable and broadcast networks. Program Director: Doron Weber Bio Apply Spotlight Check out American Experience's newest Sloan-supported episode Silicon Valley more Headlines James Cameron Honored by National Geographic for Deepsea Challenger Expedition National Geographic Links Making Sen$e Minds on the Edge NOVA: Hunting the Edge of Space American Experience Program Updates March 2013 June 2013 Public Understanding Sub Programs Books Film Radio Theater New Media
