Fund for Climate Solutions awards innovative science, continues growth

Miles Grant Director of Publications & Media Relations

When it comes to solving climate change, cutting-edge science can’t wait. Two years ago, Woodwell Climate Research Center, through the generosity of many contributors, launched a pilot project to help our scientists spend less time writing fundraising proposals and more time doing groundbreaking research. The Fund for Climate Solutions surpassed two major milestones in the fall of 2020,

Above left: A small team of Woodwell scientists deploying a monitoring tower in Alaska’s YukonKuskokwim Delta, fall 2019. / photo by Chris Linder awarding nine new projects—the most ever in a single round—and exceeding $3 million in projects funded to date.

The Fund was established in late 2017 to accelerate innovative, solutionsfocused research that may be difficult to fund through other avenues. Funding enables Woodwell Climate researchers to extend or augment crucial research initiatives, seed new projects that offer breakthrough policy or scientific impact, or get pilot projects off the ground to show proof of concept work for outside funding opportunities. Over its first two years, the Fund has awarded 27 grants to climate science research, supporting a diverse array of projects across all five of the Center’s program areas. The most recent round includes a global assessment of forests’ capacity for continued carbon accumulation, an examination of climate-related security threats in nuclear states, and a study of climate change impacts on Chinook salmon aimed at supporting local Alaskan communities who rely on them for food and income.

We are deeply grateful for the generosity of those who have contributed to the Campaign for the Fund for Climate Solutions since the campaign’s launch in 2018. Your leadership has enabled us to achieve more than 50% of our fundraising goal of $10 million and has funded 27 research grants to date.

$1,000,000 Harbourton Foundation $500,000–$999,999 Christopher and Lisa Kaneb Wilhelm Merck and Nonie Brady Quadrature Climate Foundation Joseph and Marité Robinson $100,000–$499,999 Iris and Robert Fanger Michael Fanger and Linda Sattel Goldberg Family Foundation Jerry and Margaretta Hausman Shalin Liu Victoria Lowell Connie and Ted Roosevelt Douglas and Barbara Williamson $50,000–$99,999 Steve Bernier and Constance Messmer Stuart Goode and Nancy Cooley Susan Gray William and Margot Moomaw Georgia and John Nassikas Joseph and Eileen Mueller $25,000–$49,999 John and Mollie Byrnes Joshua Byrnes Peter and Valerie Byrnes Phil Duffy and Lauren Lempert Duffy Gail and Roy Greenwald Jeremy Oppenheim William and Rosemary Pisano $10,000–$24,999 Diane and Scott Falconer Tod and Beth Hynes Yale and Shanti Jones Karen and Sam Lambert R.J. and Leslie Lyman $5,000–$9,999 Tom Lovejoy Tedd and Ella Saunders George and Katharine Woodwell $1,000–$4,999 Lily Rice Hsia Kathy Kretman Merloyd Lawrence and John Myers John Le Coq Stephanie Tomasky and Mitchell Cohen Richard Wilson $250–$999 John and Patricia Adams Steve Curwood and Jennifer Stevens Curwood David and Betsy Hawkins “Our goal is to have the funding for our scientists so that they can spend their time doing scientific research and not inefficiently chasing money,” said Joseph J. Mueller, chair of the Woodwell Board of Directors and co-chair of the Campaign for the Fund for Climate Solutions. “The Fund enables our climate scientists to immediately conduct research needed to better understand the disruptions to our natural systems that are occurring, the implications of these disruptions, and to recommend public and private policies to assist in mitigating the disruptions and/or having to adapt to the disruptions.”

An early award from the Fund for Climate Solutions helped Woodwell scientists establish multiple permanent monitoring structures at observation sites in Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, measuring carbon uptake by plants and emissions from plants and soils, including from thawing permafrost, sending real-time data via satellite back to Woodwell’s Falmouth campus.

“When Woodwell scientists identified a need to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost in the Arctic, we were able to make a Fund for Climate Solutions grant for a monitoring station and get it set up within months,” said Connie Roosevelt, vice chair of the Woodwell Board of Directors and co-chair of the Campaign for the Fund for Climate Solutions. “Not only is that data critical for global carbon budgets, but that success helped launch Woodwell’s Arctic Carbon partnership with Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, supported by the Moore Foundation.”

The Arctic Carbon program is just one example of how the Fund for Climate Solutions catalyzes early-stage research that Woodwell Climate scientists can leverage to obtain large scale external funding. In another case, a pilot project on restoration of cranberry bogs to native habitat, led by senior scientist Dr. Chris Neill, generated preliminary data used to secure $10 million in federal funding for a much larger restoration initiative. The full-scale project is a partnership involving more than a dozen organizations working together to restore 900 acres of wetlands.

The Fund also fosters innovative, new ideas and high-risk, high-reward research that other granting agencies may be hesitant to support. Dr. Jennifer Francis’ groundbreaking research on the relationship between rapid Arctic warming and extreme weather in the mid-latitudes has always challenged prevailing wisdom. Her latest Fund for Climate Solutions award supports efforts to examine whether there has been an increase in whiplash events—abrupt transitions between opposing extremes, such as heat waves and cold spells, or flooding and drought.

“The Fund for Climate Solutions has allowed me to explore new ideas and approaches to my research on how climate change is turbo-charging extreme weather,” said Dr. Francis. “Unlike traditional funding sources, which can take years to pin down, I was able to move quickly on these exciting new projects.”

With the rapidly escalating impacts of climate change, the need to be nimble and immediately embrace new, high-impact opportunities to mitigate or adapt to climate change is more urgent than ever. To date, through the generosity of many contributors, we have raised over $5.5 million toward our $10 million goal for the Fund for Climate Solutions. The Fund plays an essential role in Woodwell’s ability to fuel bold actions that will have impacts on preserving planet Earth for generations to come.

SUPPORT

To learn more about how to support the Fund for Climate Solutions, contact Leslie Kolterman, Woodwell’s Chief Development Officer, at lkolterman@woodwellclimate.org.