Seed Grants

Each year, the Sustainability Research Institute grants funding awards to support research promoting sustainability on campus and in our community.

2023 Seed Grant Recipients:

The Roots and Branches of Sustainability Culture: Extreme Climate Activism

  • Investigating extreme climate activism (ECA) in Germany, and how countries like Germany become leaders in sustainability and green politics, the role ECA plays in German culture, and how policy makers should respond to ECA.
  • Margaret Gonglewski, Associate Professor of German & International Affairs, Romance, German & Slavic Languages & Literatures, CCAS, and Nina Kelsey, Associate Professor of Public Policy and International Affairs, ESIA & TSPPPA

Regulating the Cruise Industry to Address Climate Change Impacts and Other Environmental Harms

  • Investigating greenwashing in the cruise industry, through analyzing marketing materials, sustainability reports, and industry practices.
  • Seleni Matus, Executive Director, International Institute of Tourism Studies, and Robin Juni, Associate Professor, Fundamentals of Lawyering Program

Communication, Conservation, and Indigeneity in Hawai’i

  • Investigating the August 2023 wildfires in Hawaii, and how Indigenous communities prepare and respond to natural disasters and climate change on Maui.
  • Imani M. Cheers, PhD, Associate Professor of Digital Storytelling, School of Media and Public Affairs, Mona Atia, Associate Professor, Department of Geography and International Affairs, and Aman Luthra, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and International Affairs

Standards for Sustainability Governance

  • Mapping out and conceptualizing sustainability standards, and analyzing how standards interact and affect both the governance and outcomes of sustainability.
  • Maryam Zarnegar Deloffre, Ph.D. Associate Professor of International Affairs and Director Humanitarian Action Initiative, GWU