The Meteoritical Society Endowment Fund supports a variety of activities through grants that are made twice a year. We are very pleased to announce that three Community Grants were recently selected for funding during the second selection opportunity in 2024, following on to the seven Community Grants awarded earlier in 2024. Thank you to the Endowment Committee for their efforts leading this opportunity. The summaries below, provided by the lead of each project, give more information about the worthwhile activities being supported through these new Community Grants.
- Hasnaa Chennaoui (University of Casablanca, Morocco)
- "Science Passport Initiative" (SPI) Series "Our Solar System stories". The Science Passport Initiative aims to prepare educational material to disseminate science among students of primary and secondary schools as well as the public. It’s composed by short videos, booklets and flyers about one topic “Meteorites, Impact craters, Water origin and Solar system” in a series “Our Solar System stories”.
- David King (Auburn University, USA)
- Proposal to enhance public understanding of Wetumpka impact structure, Alabama USA. This proposal is specifically targeted to broaden public awareness and knowledge of meteorite impact structures among visitors to the city, local people, teachers, and public school students, specifically regarding Wetumpka impact structure, Alabama. The specific goal of the project proposed here is to produce a new book about Wetumpka impact crater, which will be titled “Wetumpka impact crater: understanding Alabama’s greatest natural disaster.”
- Jessica Siraco (Maine Mineral & Gem Museum, USA)
- Space Rocks Exploration Pilot Program. We will develop educational activities and exercises to meet Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for curriculum in conjunction with science teachers at middle schools in western Maine. These activities will incorporate unique interactive meteorite exhibits at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum during field trip visits, as well as educational materials and activities for classroom learning about small solar system bodies.
The Meteoritical Society is delighted to be able to support these worthwhile projects that further the society’s goals to promote research and education in planetary science. The next application deadline for Endowment Fund requests is 15th January 2025. Guidelines for submitting your requests can be found on the Endowment page of the website.