About
This is the second year that NSF-funding was awarded to support U.S. faculty from under-resourced two- and four-year institutions to participate in the annual AGU conference. The 2025 program is similarly structured to the successful 2024 program. This year, it can support approximately 40 faculty to attend AGU25 in New Orleans, LA during the week of December 15-18.
Faculty at under-resourced two- and four-year institutions often have higher teaching loads and do not have access to significant travel funds, making it more difficult for them to attend scientific conferences. Attendance at conferences allows faculty to establish connections to other researchers and bring back the latest innovations in research and teaching to their classrooms.
In addition to funding to support registration and some travel expenses, the travel grant awardees will participate in a professional development workshop, networking and social events, hear from NSF program officers, and review student presentations. Feedback via an evaluation survey will be combined with data from the 2024 program to inform a manuscript on the design and impact of these programs.
Anchored in a Community of Practice (CoP) framework (Manduca and Kastens, 2018), this travel grant program recognizes each participant’s unique contributions via their engagement at the AGU annual conference. The AGU annual conference serves as a hub for gathering, building, recruiting, fostering individual growth, and collective capacity-building.
Figure Caption: An annotated conceptual model of community of practice system dynamics that build individual and community capacities through reinforcing feedback loops. Modified from Kastens and Manduca (2018). Annotations in blue text are proposed project elements (e.g., activities and characteristics) situated in the theoretical context.