Two Florida universities selected for competitive EPA grant program

Two Florida universities — Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and the University of Central Florida — recently received grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop innovative, sustainable projects as part of the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) program.

With the EPA’s selection of two of its universities, Florida joins the ranks of Illinois, Kansas, New York, Texas and Washington, all of which were bested only by Ohio, with five universities receiving grants, and California, with six.

The P3 program is divided into two phases, with phase one offering university student teams up to $15,000 to develop projects that they will present at the National Sustainable Design Expo. The EPA will then select some designs to receive more funding in a second phase, with this grant going up to $75,000, that the teams can use to further develop their projects.

“This year’s P3 teams have created innovative research projects that tackle some of our most pressing environmental and public health challenges,” EPA Science Advisor and Office of Research and Development Deputy Assistant Administrator Dr. Thomas A. Burke said. “These students have the opportunity to bring their exciting new ideas for innovation in sustainability to life, by expanding their learning experience beyond the classroom.”