Climate Resilience Centers

closed

The DOE SC program in Biological and Environmental Research (BER) hereby announces its interest in applications from the scientific community for Climate Resilience Centers (CRCs) that will improve the availability and utility of BER research, data, models, and capabilities to address climate resiliency, particularly by underrepresented or vulnerable communities. BER’s mission is to support transformative science and scientific user facilities to achieve a predictive understanding of complex biological, Earth, and environmental systems for energy and infrastructure security, independence, and prosperity. BER research furthermore advances the fundamental understanding of dynamic, physical, and biogeochemical processes required to systematically develop Earth system models that integrate across the atmosphere, land masses, oceans, sea ice, subsurface, and human systems. These science-based predictive tools and methods are critically needed to inform policies and plans for strengthening the security and resilience of critical infrastructure and natural resources. First launched as a program in FY 2023, CRCs extend DOE climate science and research capacity by supporting non-R1 Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and non-R1 Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs) to address the needs for regional resilience; including new science to describe climate change induced impacts and recovery in natural, socioeconomic, and/or built systems and their intersections. CRCs also aim to foster capacity at regional and local scales by connecting with affected communities and stakeholders to translate basic research into actionable science to enhance climate resilience, as well as to identify research priorities for future DOE investments. CRCs form a nucleus for building and empowering a future pool of local talent and expertise, including young scientists, engineers, and technicians, to address local resilience challenges and inform equitable solutions. CRCs will leverage ongoing DOE climate science and capabilities that exist at currently supported DOE national laboratories and universities, and build two-way engagement between DOE funded research and community stakeholders for improved climate resilience responses.