The National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology awarded a $389,950 project grant to the Florida Institute of Technology Inc., doing business as Florida Tech, located in Melbourne, Florida. The grant period runs from June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2024.
The grant supports collaborative research titled "Are Amazonian and Andean Ecosystems Close to a Tipping Point?" under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074). The goal of this program is to promote advancement in the biological sciences and strengthen the nation's scientific enterprise by increasing knowledge and understanding of major problems facing the country. Specifically, this award will fund research examining whether ecosystems in the Amazon and Andes regions may be approaching critical thresholds beyond which small changes could result in large and potentially irreversible environmental changes. Insights from this research could help identify strategies to promote ecosystem resilience and sustainability.