Wanted: Peer Reviewers for Environmental Education Grant Proposals

One of the best ways to become a better  grant writer yourself is to review grant proposals for another organization. The Ohio Environmental Education Fund would like to recruit 100 or so volunteers from across the state, who would be willing to lend their expertise as peer reviewers for grant applications. Reviewers are matched with proposals according to the subject matter and age group of the intended audience for the environmental education project. In late December 2005, OEEF launched the OEEF Grants Management System which allows applicants to submit and peer reviewers to score applications online. Peer reviewers and applicants are trained via webinar, then assigned user and password identification which is required to access the system. OEEF no longer accepts print applications. Peer reviewers are given approximately three weeks to review and score applications. You might not receive a proposal in a particular grant cycle if there are no good matches with your area of interest/expertise.

OEEF offers training workshops in person, as well as online tutorials hosted by our software developer, Bamboo Solutions, for new peer reviewers to explain our application process, scoring criteria, and what we think makes a strong or weak application.

OEEF does not recruit out-of-state peer reviewers. Our grant funds are exclusive to Ohio and we only train and recruit in-state peer reviewers. The US EPA environmental education grants program provides excellent opportunities for individuals throughout the country to review environmental education grants. For more information, contact Megan Gavin, Environmental Education Coordinator, US EPA Region 5, at gavin.megan@epa.gov, by phone, (312) 353-5282, or visit www.epa.gov/enviroed/grants.html.

The OEEF provides approximately $1 million annually in grants for environmental  education projects targeting pre-school through university students and teachers, the general public, and the regulated community. Grants are funded by penalties collected by Ohio EPA for violations of Ohio's air and water pollution  control laws.

If you would like to be a peer reviewer for the OEEF, please send an e-mail to: OEEF@epa.state.oh.us with "Peer Reviewer Inquiry" in the subject line, and include the following information about yourself:

• Name
• Position
• Company/Organization name
• Address
• Phone number
• E-mail address

and we will contact you about future OEEF peer reviewer training sessions.