As communities in Wyoming continue to suffer from the effects of a changing climate, the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Western Water Assessment, has rolled out the “Adapting to Climate Change in Wyoming” grant program. The program will award over $30,000 to four separate projects over a two-year period. The fund will support climate change adaptation projects for historically underserved, Indigenous, and rural communities and organizations.
Corrine Knapp is a professor at UW, and she said the projects funded would help underserved communities in the state to become more resilient to climate change-related risks like drought, wildfires, heatwaves, flooding, and more. Knapp said project submissions are open to the public.
“We are very excited to launch this initiative,” Prof. Knapp said. “It's a small grants program for community organizations and entities that are interested in doing projects on the ground that are helping them to adapt to climate change. So building resilience in communities across Wyoming.”
Proposals may include activities such as understanding perceptions and risk, community outreach and engagement, assessing vulnerability, funding applied adaptation projects, addressing baseline vulnerabilities and stressors, or extending existing programs to serve rural and underserved communities.
Prof. Knapp said despite the political disagreements over greenhouse gas emissions, communities in Wyoming are feeling the life-changing effects of climate change.
“Although climate change can become a politically divisive topic, I think when you talk to people who really understand those landscapes, they're seeing these changes. And so this grant is really just a way to address the changes that people are seeing on the ground,” Prof. Knapp said.
The public can submit proposals here. The proposals are due on March 31 and funding decisions will be made by May 1, 2023. Projects must be completed by July 2025.