The FESIRES project, directed by the Institute for Earth Science Research and Education (IESRE), is made possible by a generous three-year 2014 grant from the Toyota USA Foundation, whose goal is to "Develop the Engineers and Scientists of Tomorrow by Supporting STEM Education Today." (For more information, visit this link.)

In support of Toyota's goal, consistent with IESRE's mission to facilitate authentic teaching, learning, and research about Earth's environment and climate, the FESIRES project will:

1. Improve the ability of teachers and their students to conduct meaningful environmental science inquiry and research projects.
• Hold workshops for teachers and their students, onsite or online.
• Create a collaborative scientist/teacher/student research implementation model that includes science background and templates for designing successful environmental inquiry and research projects.
• Work individually with students and teachers to implement authentic environmental research.
• Develop writing and communication skills, with opportunities for online publishing of research results.
2. Build an infrastructure that supports environment- and climate-related student inquiry and research.
• Create "research project abstracts" to stimulate student research.
• Provide access to instrumentation for collecting environmental data, in return for research proposals.
• Provide experiment protocol support throughout the life of student research projects.