2023 Vermont Flood Event Rapid-Response Grant Awards

Events of this severity and magnitude are expected to have wide-ranging and significant effects that extend far beyond just the direct acute damage inflicted by floodwaters; research efforts are needed to better understand these impacts and inform future resilience strategies. Potential topics of research include but are not limited to:

• Understanding water and sediment flows, including deposition of environmental contaminants
• Crop and/or animal loss/contamination as well as other agricultural impacts
• Drinking water sources, wastewater, and infrastructure 
• Food systems including food security, food safety and accessibility
• Public health impacts related to disease exposure and/or contamination
• Natural systems
• Human communities, including equity and jusce for vulnerable groups.

The call was open to faculty, post-doctoral associates, and graduate students from the university.

Priority was given to funding proposals that involved a community partner (e.g., state or local agency, non-profit organization) and demonstrated a clear broader impact for the work proposed.

Rapid-response grants were intended to enable immediate engagement, with the expectation that proposed activities will be undertaken within a six-month window.  Applicants could request up to a maximum of $3,000.  Although these are relatively small awards, our goal was to provide initial seed funds for projects on a shorter timescale than regular external grant funding cycles would allow, and permit a broader range of UVM researchers to engage in flood-related research. OVPR and Gund anticipate funding a total of six awards.

1. Project title and names, affiliations and contact information of the Principal Investigator, co-Investigators(s), and Community Partner (if applicable).  This will serve as the proposal cover page.
2. A short proposal, not to exceed two pages, describing i) the research aim(s) of the proposed work, ii) a narrative justification that describes both the conceptual basis for the work and the value of the expected research outcomes for affected communities, iii) a brief description of the proposed study design and methodology; iv) details about a proposed community partner(s) if relevant.
3. Current CV of the Principal Investigator.
4. A one-page budget with justification and expected timeline of the project.