Environment

Protecting and restoring our planet’s biodiversity through scientific solutions rooted in community partnerships.
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Our Program

Healthy communities require a healthy planet. Immediate action must be taken to ensure communities can successfully respond to our changing world.  

We believe science-based innovations are most impactful when developed in partnership with communities; leading to durable and sustainable solutions that address climate change and advance biodiversity and human well-being.  

Sustainable, community-focused conservation efforts rely on community members who have decision-making authority and a sense of ownership over the resources being managed. Environmental policies created must recognize community rights and create appropriate incentives and clear governance should be established while local stakeholders are empowered and maintain accountability. When technology is developed, it should be user-friendly and affordable, able to measure progress, and enable people to adapt their approaches based on evidence as they prepare for emerging challenges.  

Our Focus Areas

Piloting community-based natural resource management

Improving human-wildlife coexistence

Supporting high-integrity natural climate solutions

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Piloting community-based natural resource management. We help locally-based practitioners implement projects that gather better data, test conservation methods, and develop technological tools that allow them to manage their ecosystems effectively .

Improving human-wildlife coexistence. We support measures to reduce conflict and competition between humans and wildlife using technology tools, education and outreach, and fostering networks and policies that support community well-being.  

Supporting high-integrity natural climate solutions. We fund community-led, rigorous, place-based natural climate solutions to protect, restore, and manage forests, wetlands, grasslands, coastal systems, and agricultural lands to mitigate climate change.  

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$74.1M current active grants in environment

Investing in organizations at the intersection of science and technology as they solve environmental challenges.


Making an impact around the globe

Supporting community-led projects working to advance research and implement technology solutions here in the Pacific Northwest and globally.


Incubating and scaling big ideas 

Encouraging bold, new ideas in community-focused environmental actions, especially advancing research and technologies that support community management and helpful policies.

Featured Grantees

Grantee Organization: Coeur d'Alene Tribe

Geography: Pacific Northwest

Duration: 3 Years

Investment: $937,212

This project restores critically endangered Palouse prairie ecosystem and implements climate-smart agriculture in Idaho and Washington’s Palouse to advance climate change mitigation and culturally meaningful outcomes like tribal food and economic development.

Grantee Organization: Earth Genome

Geography: Global

Duration: 1 Year

Investment: $1.9M

This project leverages AI and remote sensing science to develop a scalable seagrass mapping methodology, fine-tuning remote sensing AI models for 4 pilot geographies, and creating maps of seagrass extent, change, threats, and carbon stocks.

Grantee Organization: Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium

Geography: Global

Duration: 2 Years

Investment: $1.5M

This project will resurvey sharks in reef systems from the landmark Global FinPrint survey to assess changes in reef shark abundance over time and estimate the relationship between marine protected area design features and shark trends.

Environment News

Read the stories of the ordinary and extraordinary people making change every day, discover new funding opportunities, and explore other news from our grantees and team.

Environment
A beaver dam made of logs and sticks is built over a river with forest and mountains in the background
Stories

Meet the Natural Climate Solutions grantees addressing conservation needs in the Pacific Northwest

Youth
Environment
Six headshots of young women who won the Slingshot Challenge by working together on an application to fight food waste
Press Releases

Announcing the 2024 Global Slingshot Challenge award recipients

Thousands of young innovators from 87 countries submitted to the second annual environmental youth challenge

Environment
Scientists walk through a forested area. The trees are burned from a previous wildfire,  and the field is dotted with purple flowers.
Press Releases

$5M awarded to Pacific Northwest Natural Climate Solutions projects

The six grantees will tackle pressing climate challenges in the Pacific Northwest

Environment
A prairie dog, a small, furry creature, eats a grass sprig while sitting on top of its burrow.
Press Releases

Smithsonian leads groundbreaking research to track and monitor one of North America’s most endangered mammals

Tracking and understanding the secret, underground lives and behavior of the elusive black-footed ferret

Keep in Touch

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Our Programs

A young person speaks into a microphone in front of a blurred crowd of other young people, they wear a purple head-wrap and a scarf with a flower pattern.

Youth

Supporting youth changemakers who strengthen and move our communities forward.

A person sits in a chair on a stage, lit by overhead lighting, and playing a large string instrument.
Photo courtesy Shunpike

Arts & Culture

Increasing access to diverse arts, cultural, and heritage experiences for everyone.

An aerial view of a heavily forested area with a layer of mist hanging over it.

Environment

Protecting and restoring our planet’s biodiversity through scientific solutions rooted in community partnerships.

A young person speaks into a microphone in front of a blurred crowd of other young people, they wear a purple head-wrap and a scarf with a flower pattern.

Youth

Supporting youth changemakers who strengthen and move our communities forward.

A person sits in a chair on a stage, lit by overhead lighting, and playing a large string instrument.
Photo courtesy Shunpike

Arts & Culture

Increasing access to diverse arts, cultural, and heritage experiences for everyone.

An aerial view of a heavily forested area with a layer of mist hanging over it.

Environment

Protecting and restoring our planet’s biodiversity through scientific solutions rooted in community partnerships.

A young person speaks into a microphone in front of a blurred crowd of other young people, they wear a purple head-wrap and a scarf with a flower pattern.

Youth

Supporting youth changemakers who strengthen and move our communities forward.

A person sits in a chair on a stage, lit by overhead lighting, and playing a large string instrument.
Photo courtesy Shunpike

Arts & Culture

Increasing access to diverse arts, cultural, and heritage experiences for everyone.

An aerial view of a heavily forested area with a layer of mist hanging over it.

Environment

Protecting and restoring our planet’s biodiversity through scientific solutions rooted in community partnerships.