SAAB Information

Info on SAAB grant opportunities from the ENVS SAAB rep, Stella Mercer (stellamercer@lclark.edu):

Hello fellow ENVS majors,

My name is Stella Mercer, and I represent the Environmental Studies department on the Student Academic Affairs Board. Here is some information about SAAB and acquiring grants for any research projects and/or other academic-related interests.

What is SAAB?

SAAB is a student-run board made of both elected officials and a student representative from each department.

The SAAB board awards grant money for student-led projects that pertain to academic subjects that you’re interested in. This could mean conferences, thesis research, visiting speakers, or any other creative ideas that are relevant to your studies. Really the function of these funds is to help students do projects that they care about; pretty cool for something that very few students know about!

These ideas don’t have to be fully fleshed-out proposals for institutional change, but rather could mean attending conferences on topics you’re interested in or doing achievable research on a relevant topic. For example, if you’re interested or have done research on how climate change affects the oceans, you could apply for a grant to attend the International Conference on Marine Engineering and Climate Change in San Francisco next Summer. SAAB regularly funds grants from students from all departments to attend programs such as this, so don’t worry!

If you have any academic ideas that you would like to try to turn into a reality, please shoot me an email and we can begin to look into the possibility of applying for a grant!

How do you submit a grant?

If you want to submit a grant do it EARLY in the academic year or at the beginning of the spring semester because at this point in the year we have the most money, and requests are more likely to be funded.

In order to submit a grant, you will need to get in touch with two SAAB representatives (they don’t have to be me, but one of them should be if it’s related to ENVS) at least two weeks before you plan to submit your proposal. You can find a list of SAAB reps on our website.

There are different applications for different categories of grants (Research, Arts & Expression, Conferences, etc.) In‐depth instructions for each type of application can be found here. For more general information, visit SAAB’s website…it’s all there!

You can also e‐mail SAAB at saabgrants@lclark.edu or email me at stellamercer@lclark.edu.

When should you submit a grant?

If you have a grant request that is ready to be submitted (with all the necessary signatures), email it to saabgrants@lclark.edu by Wednesday, 5:00 pm in order for it to be heard the following Monday. The last day to submit a request this academic year is TBD.

What else can I help you with besides grants?

Being the SAAB representative also makes me the student liaison between the ENVS program and the student body. I will be representing all of our interests, as ENVS students, to the faculty and relevant administration. So if you have anything going on that you feel is relevant to your experience as a member of our program, and want your voice to be heard, please come talk to me.

In conclusion

SAAB is a fantastic resource, and I hope you all take advantage of it while you’re here so we can provide you with a better experience in the program that you care about!