Backed by funding from Alibaba Group, the National Geographic Society has launched an air and water conservation fund for China that will provide grants of up to $50,000 to Chinese scientists and environmentalists.
The newly established National Geographic Air and Water Conservation Fund is designed to provide financial support for talented individuals who are working in research, technology and in the field to clean up the country’s dirty air and water. “This partnership with Alibaba Group will enable National Geographic to continue to work toward its goal of extending grants to deserving scientists and conservationists throughout the world,” said Terry Garcia, executive vice president for Mission Programs at National Geographic. The Air and Water Fund will support “cutting-edge projects with practical applications for China’s future,” including those that involve risky or unproven approaches, he said. Grants amounts will range from $20,000 to $50,000.
Since 1890, the National Geographic Society, one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations, has handed out some 10,000 grants worth $153 million. Past recipients include polar explorer Robert Peary; Hiram Bingham, excavator of the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu; Robert Ballard, underwater explorer and discoverer of the sunken Titanic; and Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing, who advanced understanding of the origin of bird flight.
By becoming a founding partner of the fund, Alibaba Group is furthering its efforts to help solve China’s massive air and water-quality problems. China’s largest e-commerce company in 2010 committed to contribute 0.3 percent of annual revenues to fund environmental awareness and conservation. Alibaba Group founder, chairman and CEO Jack Ma is a global board member of The Nature Conservancy. “The National Geographic Society has a long history of facilitating impactful projects worldwide and we are happy to be supporting such meaningful work in China,” said Susan Jin, Alibaba Group managing director of corporate social responsibility, in a prepared statement. The amount of Alibaba Group’s contribution was not disclosed.
Grants will be available to resident citizens of mainland China doing work in the country. A scientific advisory board of five Chinese experts will review grant applications and help raise awareness of the Fund within the scientific and conservation communities. For more information about the fund click here.
