Focus Areas
- Projects that align with Ohio State’s sustainability goals
- Projects that align with advancing access, engagement and inclusive excellence goals
- Projects that provide research opportunities (in all disciplines) to students who have limited exposure to undergraduate research and experiential learning opportunities
Funding Levels and Eligibility
- Awards between $10,000 and $50,000 will be given to select proposals.
- Proposals must be submitted by an active member of the Ohio State faculty, staff or student body. If a proposal is from a student, a letter of support from an advisor is required.
- Proposals that focus on coal energy or on political advocacy are not encouraged.
Timeline
The OSEP Academic Collaborations awards program follows a standardized process. This application period has closed. The timeline below is for reference from the previous award cycle.
January 2024: Call for proposals.
March 18, 2024: Proposal submissions due.
March – April 2024: Applications reviewed.
May 2024: Awarded proposals are announced.
June 2024: Funding is made available for approved projects.
Department of Athletics
$50,000
Cecil Okotah; Advancing sustainability through the utilization of electric leaf blowers to achieve cleaner air, reduced noise levels
Facilities Operations and Development
$50,000
John Irwin; Facilities Operations and Development’s Campus Shop: Paving the Way for a Sustainable Campus
Wexner Medical Center
$50,000
Richard Niese; Real-time utility dashboard for Off-Campus Medical Center Facilities
College of Arts and Sciences
$50,000
Patrice Hamel; Experiential Learning in Sustainability: An International Perspective
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center/Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge
$40,402
Geddy Davis; Improving Weather and Climate Understanding and Teaching Among Ohio Environmental Professionals and Volunteers
College of Engineering/Knowlton
$37,900
Jack Gruber; Solar GPS Tracking of Animal Behavior and Landscape Use Dynamics at the Wilds
College of Arts and Sciences
$22,900
Emma Kline; Lost Waters: The Secrets of Neil Run
In addition to the above, the Ohio State Energy Partners supported the following projects this year:
Smart Campus Challenge: $185,000
Targeted Investment in the Arts: $175,000
Center for Automotive Research Battery Challenge Grant Match: $50,000
State Science Day: $25,000
WOSU Annual Fundraiser Support: $25,000
Wexner Center for the Arts General Support: $25,000
Ohio State Hackathon: $22,500
WestFest Community Science Day: $15,000
College of Arts and Sciences
$50,000
John Beacom; Expanding the Reach and Infrastructure of SciAccess
STEAM Factory
$50,000
Charlenne Brenner; Ohio State Third Spaces Pilot Project: Phase 1 - Building a Foundation and Galvanizing Community-Centered Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Efforts in Academic-Adjacent Spaces
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
$50,000
Doug Jackson-Smith; Enhancing Ecological Services through Agroecosystem Management on the Wooster Campus
Ohio State Lima
$50,000
Robin Bagley; Connecting Regenerative Farming and the Classroom at the OSU Lima Campus
Wexner Medical Center
$50,000
Lauren Koch; Reduce Scope 1 emissions through nitrous oxide leakage study
Administration and Planning
$50,000
Mary Leciejewski; Food Scrap Compost Expansion
OSU Extension
$50,000
Kyle White; Solar Energy for Extension Research and Informing
College of Engineering
$50,000
Jeff Bielicki; EmPOWERment Program
College of Engineering
$37,900
Georgina Baronian; Ambient Architecture
College of Engineering
$33,500
Shawn Midlanm-Mohler; EcoCar Competition
College of Arts and Sciences
$32,800
Michelle Wibbelsman; Kawsay Ukhunchay Andean and Amazonian Indigenous Art and Cultural Artifacts Research Collection –Diversity Impact and Community Collaboration
College of Nursing
$22,325
Inga Zadvinskis; Improving Health Equity in Diverse Communities through a Personal Health Literacy Course
College of Engineering
$14,799
Andy Vogel; The VR Explanation Center
College of Arts and Sciences
$14,344
Laura Wagner; Public Engagement and Peer Mentoring in a Museum Setting
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
$11,000
Kristen Fussell; OSU’s Stone Laboratory Solar Energy Dashboard
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
$10,500
Jaden Tatum; Design Tool for Implementing Shallow Geothermal-Assisted Season Extension for Greenhouses on Campus and in Community
College of Engineering
$8,000
Paul Berger; Solar Do-It-Yourself Phone App
College of Arts and Sciences
$6,000
Iyana Hill; Black Health and Wellness Day
College of Arts and Sciences
$3,500
Susan Melsop; Design Activism, Mobile Pop-Up Engagement Stations for Sustainability
In addition to the above, the Ohio State Energy Partners supported the following projects this year:
The Arts Initiative: $175,000
Wexner Center for the Arts: $25,000
WOSU: $25,000
Batelle Center for Science, Engineering & Public Policy: $20,000
Office of Outreach and Engagement (State Science Day): $20,000
Hack OH/IO: $15,000
STEM Collaborative: $15,000
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences; and College of Engineering
$50,000
Ryan Winston; Using campus as a Living Laboratory: Curbing Sediment in Stormwater to Improve Campus Sustainability
Planning, Architecture and Real Estate; and Facilities Operation and Development
$50,000
Steve Volkmann; Graves Hall Green Space
Administration and Planning; Facilities Operation and Development
$50,000
Ed McGowan; Quietly Mowing Campus with Zero Emission Mowers
College of Engineering
$50,000
Jordan Clark; Attacking one of the OSU campus's biggest energy sinks: laboratory exhaust fans
College of Engineering
$48,162
Matilde D'Arpino; Planning Tool for Assessing OSU Options for a Sustainable and Responsible Energy Usage
College of Engineering
$45,000
Allison MacKay; Sustainable Cities, Equitable Societies – Case Studies to Develop Student Competencies in Sustainable and Just Infrastructure Design
Fisher College of Business
$44,000
Jennifer Heckscher; Evaluating a One-of-a-Kind Experiential Energy Innovation Hub: Human-Centered Innovation Spring for the Energy Advancement and Innovation Center (EAIC Spring)
College of Engineering
$40,000
Gisell Jeter-Bennett; Engineering House Learning Community's Service-Learning Program with South Side Family Farms
College of Engineering
$35,000
Ramteen Sioshansi; Convergent Graduate Training and EmPOWERment for a Sustainable Energy Future
College of Engineering
$33,500
Shawn Midlam-Mohler; EcoCar Competition
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
$28,000
Qian Chen; Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Building Energy & Water Use Intensities
Office of Student Life
$15,000
Tom Reeves; Student Video Production Project
STEM Impact Collaborative
$15,000
Courtney Price; WestFest Community Science Day
Knowlton School
$13,000
Parker Sutton; Praire Baroque
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences
$11,410
Liam Nigro; The Green Renaissance Project: Sustainable Pathways to Community Wellness and Resilience Through Art
College of Arts and Sciences; and Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences
$10,307
Andrew Leber; Climate and Cognitive Science Mini-Conference
College of Engineering
$7,000
Michelle Franco; The Diggers Studio: Cultivating an ethic of social and ecological sustainability in landscape labor
In addition to the above, the Ohio State Energy Partners supported the following projects this year:
Ohio State Arts Initiative: $200,000
WOSU Sustainability Programming: $25,000
EmPOWERment Program Capstone Project: $20,000
Hack OH/IO: $15,000
Ohio State Mansfield
$50,000 Dawn Kitchen; Developing STEM leadership in traditionally underrepresented groups through near-peer mentoring, role modeling, and experiential learning
College of Engineering/Knowlton School
$50,000 Jacob Boswell; Sustainable Ohio Urban Landscape Lab (SOULL)
Wexner Medical Center
$50,000 Lauren Koch; Zero Waste initiatives at Wexner Medical Center locations
College of Arts and Sciences
$49,959 Amy Youngs; Emerge: The Network for Prototyping the Future
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences/School of Environment and Natural Resources
$46,241 G. Matt Davies; An ecosystem carbon account for OSU’s forest properties – towards a budget for carbon storage, sequestration and offsets
College of Engineering
$44,000 Michael Groeber; Workforce Development for a Digital World
Administration and Planning
$42,976 Ed McGowan; Creating a greener campus through zero emission landscape equipment
College of Engineering
$35,000 Ramteen Sioshansi; Convergent Graduate Training and EmPOWERment for a Sustainable Energy Future
College of Arts and Sciences/Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center/Center for Applied Plant Sciences
$13,075 Courtney Price; WestFest 2021: The West Campus Science & Sustainability Festival
Office of Student Life/Recreational Sports
$12,698 Brian S. Gaydos; Semester-Long Bike Rental Pilot Program
College of Arts and Sciences
$10,000 Barbara Harvey; Career Accelerator Fund for Visual and Performing Arts
College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences/Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics
$10,000 Sathya Gopalakrishnan; Professional Development for Sustainability Leadership
In addition to the above, the Ohio State Energy Partners supported the following projects this year:
- College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Scienes and Ross Heart Garden Project: $250,000
- Deliver Black Dreams in partnership with Greater Columbus Arts Council: $50,000
- Holistic Building Data Gathering for Optimized Energy Usage: $50,000
- Wexner Center for the Arts: $31,051
- Residence Hall Energy Competition: $10,000
- Hack OH/IO: $5,000
Student Advocacy Center
$100,000 Student Emergency Fund
College of Public Health
$75,000 Community and Partner Response/Recovery
College of Arts and Sciences
$60,000 Mid-east Studies
$12,884 Dance in Conversation with Global Issues
College of Medicine
$50,000 Office of Research for COVID-19 Projects
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
$50,000 Education Abroad Access and Affordability Initiative
$20,000 Hale Ambassadors Leadership Development Program
$12,500 A Symposium on Leadership for Women of Color in Higher Education
College of Engineering
$48,350 STEAM Interdisciplinary Outreach and Research Program in Sustainable Urban Systems
$47,831 Building Energy Living Lab Digital Twin Pilot
$42,000 Olentangy River as Campus Laboratory
$35,000 NRT Program Coordinator
$25,000 Fuel Cell Test Station Refurbishment and Access for All
Fisher College of Business
$30,000 Distinguished Teaching Fellows
$30,000 Staff and Faculty Recognition Awards
Office of Industry Partnerships
$30,000 UDIP Conference Support
College of Nursing
$30,000 Expanding Mental Resilience and Wellbeing Utilizing MINDSTRONG
College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences
$26,690 Environmental and Social Sustainability Lab: Campus Sustainability Survey
$14,000 Zero Waste Initiative at the Parker Food Science and Technology Dairy Store Café
Department of History
$20,900 1619 and Beyond: Explorations in Atlantic Slavery and its American Legacies
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
$6,400 WestFest
$6,000 Creating a Culture of Care: a collaboration between OSU Harding Hospital and Office of Student Life
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
$8,000 WestFest
Center for Automotive Research
$30,000 Student experiential learning programs
College of Engineering
$2,000 Engineering Recharge Retreat
$50,000 Women in Engineering
College of Social Work
$10,000 LiFEsports Youth Leadership Academy
Department of Dance
$10,000 National dance collaboration
Department of English
$24,000 Scholarly research database
Fisher College of Business
$30,000 Distinguished teacher fellows
$30,000 Staff and faculty recognition awards
Kirwan Institute and Moritz College of Law
$70,000 Virtual toolkit for community resilience
Office of Academic Affairs
$200,000 Campus Student Sustainability Challenge
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
$50,000 Create Education Abroad Access and Affordability Initiative
Office of Outreach and Engagement
$900 Community Engagement Conference
Ohio State ADVANCE and Office of Research
$50,000 REACH for Commercialization
School of Earth Sciences
$24,000 Mirror Lake Water Science Learning Lab
School of Environment and Natural Resources
$10,000 Campus bike parking at Kottman Hall
$80,000 Ohio State forest research
School of Music
$13,500 Music and Science Colloquium and Teaching Seminar
Institute for Materials Research
$10,000 Annual Materials Week conference
Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory
$70,000 Waterman Farm sustainable food-waste disposal
WOSU
$25,000 WOSU
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
$25,000
Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
College of Arts and Sciences
$50,000
Arts and Humanities
$10,000
Ottoman and Turkish History Lesson Series
College of Engineering
$50,000
Women in Engineering Program
Fisher College of Business
$30,000
Distinguished Teaching Fellows
$30,000
Distinguished Staff and Faculty Recognition Awards
Institute for Materials Research
$10,000
OSU Materials Week
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
$50,000
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Office of Energy and Environment
$25,000
2018 Climate Engagement Forums
Office of Research
$100,000
OSEP Research Seed Grant Fund in support of sustainable energy collaborations
Office of Student Life
$50,000
Collegiate Recovery Community
$20,000
Women on Fire Retreat
$50,000
Undergraduate Student Government Sustainability Committee
$50,000
Student Projects Fund for energy projects that engage Undergraduates
$60,000
Support for sustainability-related Undergraduate, Graduate, and Professional student organizations
School of Environment and Natural Resources
$50,000
Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability (EEDS) Program
The STEAM Factory
$50,000
The STEAM Factory
University Libraries
$100,000
Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum