How We’re Funded

Grants

The National Science Foundation’s Science and Technology Studies (STS)

August 2022 - July 2025 

$465,888  ”Data, Science, and Environmental Justice at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency”

EDGI is utilizing these funds to investigate how the environmental justice (EJ) movement in the United States has affected data- and science-related values, methods, and practices at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the last four decades. Building on prior studies of this agency undertaken by interdisciplinary researchers at the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI), the proposed project hones in on a pivotal yet problematic arena of the EPA’s incorporation of environmental justice into its work: its approaches to cumulative exposure. Our research team includes academics, Environmental Justice groups, and the academic advisory committee. 

Research Team: Christopher Sellers, Mark Chambers, Jessica Varner, and Gretchen Gehrke

Academic Advisory Committee: Phil Brown, Ellen Kohl, Marianne Sullivan, Gwen Ottinger

Environmental Justice Groups: Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), Community In-Power and Development Association (CIDA)

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Individual Donations

Our work is made possible through grants and direct tax-deductible donations from the public.

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Fiscal Sponsorship

EDGI is fiscally sponsored by Multiplier, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports projects that are turning game-changing ideas into planet-saving impact.

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In-kind resources:

Amazon Web Services

PageFreezer

Sentry

 

 

 

Previous Support

 

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

June 2021 - May 2023

$450,000  “Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) General Support”

EDGI is utilizing these funds to sustain and further develop our work at the intersection of US federal environmental, science, and information policies and practices. In our first four years, our analyses demonstrated that just and effective environmental governance will require significant work to improve three critical functions: agency operations, public information, and community engagement. With programs rooted in these three areas, over the next two years we will explore how environmental, climate, and data governance can be rebuilt and reimagined to protect the most vulnerable, and how governing agencies and industries can be held more accountable through transparent, collaborative, community-centered environmental research, technology, and decision-making.

Proposal Developers: Gretchen Gehrke, Christopher Sellers

Organizational Coordinator: Aparna Sundar

Communications Coordinator: Shannan Lenke Stoll

Development Director: Muhi Khwaja

Web Monitoring Project Leader: Gretchen Gehrke

Data Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman

Interviewing Co-Curator: Leif Fredrickson

Interviewing Co-Curator: Jessica Varner

Environmental Data Justice Coordinator: Lourdes Vera

April 2020 - June 2021

$450,000  “Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) General Support”

EDGI used this funding to continue and expand its successful work documenting and analyzing changes to federal websites involving environmental issues, interviewing past and present staff of EPA and other agencies, analyzing federal environmental policy changes, publishing lay and academic articles on federal environmental concerns, and developing new democratic approaches to environmental data production, access, and use. This funding allowed us to lay vital groundwork for a brighter future for environmental data and governance in which justice and equity stand at the center. 

Proposal Developers: Christopher Sellers, Gretchen Gehrke, Sara Wylie, Kelsey Breseman

Organizational Coordinator: Aparna Sundar

Communications Coordinator: Kelly Wilkins

Web Monitoring Project Leader: Gretchen Gehrke

Archiving Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman

Environmental Data Justice Coordinator: Lourdes Vera, Sara Wylie

April 2018 - March 2020

$500,000  “Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) General Support”

The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) is using this funding to continue and expand its very successful work in archiving federal environmental data, monitoring and reporting on changes in federal websites involving environmental issues, interviewing past and present staff of EPA and other agencies, producing analyses of federal environmental reports and rules changes, publishing lay and academic articles on federal environmental concerns, and working with data justice organizations to develop new democratic approaches to environmental data production, access, and use, as well as additional general organizational support.

Proposal Developers: Phil Brown, Michelle Murphy, Nick Shapiro, Raymond Cha

Organizational Coordinator: Aparna Sundar

Community Coordinator: Kevin Nguyen

Web Monitoring Project Lead: Gretchen Gehrke

Web Monitoring Software Developer: Jason Sherman

Archiving Project Manager: Kelsey Breseman

Grant Coordinator: Stephanie Knutson

October 2018 - September 2019

$35,200 “Organizational Effectiveness Grant”

This project involves working to build more organizational effectiveness within EDGI, including working with two consultants with complementary skills. Zulakya Santiago of Libélula Consulting is focusing on EDGI’s internal structure and Susanne Moser is focusing on EDGI’s external relationships with many different audiences and types of organizations. This funding also supported a two-day in-person meeting of EDGI’s core membership.

Proposal Developers: Phil Brown, Gretchen Gehrke, Stephanie Knutson, Susanne Moser, Zulayka Santiago, Aparna Sundar, Sara Wylie

Organizational Effectiveness Consultants: Libélula Consulting, Susanne Moser Research and Consulting

Grant Coordinator: Stephanie Knutson

May 2017 - June 2018

$97,020 “Collaborative Website Monitoring, Analysis, and Strategic Communications to Protect Science Infrastructure Under the Trump Administration”

Climate Central is partnering with The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) to comprehensively assess which government-based climate science resources (including databases) are threatened and to establish a model and plan for ongoing monitoring and strategic communications that protect vital scientific infrastructure.

EDGI Proposal Developers: Andrew Bergman, Toly Rinberg, Sara Wylie, Rebecca Lave, Nick Shapiro

Remote Project Manager: Raymond Cha, Weather Pattern, LLC

Grant Coordinators: Stephanie Knutson, Nick Shapiro

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

September 2020 - August 2021

$50,000 “Building Foundations for the Environmental Right to Know in the Digital Age”

Over the last three years, EDGI’s analyses have demonstrated that we need to not just restore but enhance the rules and principles guiding how our federal government protects our ecosystems and human health. EDGI has been developing detailed retrospective analyses with a view to formulating recommendations for concrete improvements to both our regulatory systems for protecting our environment and to the democratic orientation of those systems, which will better ensure that environmental protection benefits everyone. We are laying the groundwork for justice-oriented public data and information accessibility, including new standards for public oversight and our environmental right-to-know, that is tailored to the digital age. 

Proposal Developers: Gretchen Gehrke, Christopher Sellers

Data Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman

Website Monitoring Program Leader: Gretchen Gehrke 

June 2018 - May 2020

$200,000 “Archiving, Monitoring, and Ensuring the Accessibility of Federal Environmental Data: Support for the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative”

This grant will be used to promote access to government data and information, refine assessments of data vulnerability, and promote social and environmental justice movement building. Read more here.

Proposal Developers: Nick Shapiro, Stephanie Knutson, Phil Brown, Ray Cha, Lindsey Dillon, Matt Price, Dawn Walker, Sara Wylie

Community Coordinator: Kevin Nguyen

Archiving Project Manager: Kelsey Breseman

Web Monitoring System Administrator: Jonathan Buys

Grant Coordinator: Stephanie Knutson

March 2017 - September 2017

$50,000, “Environmental Data and Governance Initiative”

This grant provided funding for three of EDGI’s core working groups: archiving, website monitoring, and interviewing.

Proposal Developers: Nick Shapiro, Michelle Murphy, Sara Wylie

Contractors: Andrew Bergman, Rob Brackett, Toly Rinberg

Working Group Coordinators: Brendan O’Brien, Matt Price, Dawn Walker, Chris Sellers, Toly Rinberg

Project Directors: Nick Shapiro, Stephanie Knutson

Code for Science & Society

December 2020 - December 2021 

$20,000 “Environmental Enforcement Watch: Open Data Science for Environmental Justice” 

EDGI is using this funding to host a series of online workshops for our Environmental Enforcement Watch (EEW) project. In these workshops, we bring together environmental activist groups, environmental justice communities, subject area experts, and members of the public to collaboratively analyze & make actionable data from EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database using data science tools we have created. 

Proposal Developers: Kelsey Breseman, Gabby Trudo

Data Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman

EEW Coordinator: Lourdes Vera

EEW  Outreach Coordinator: Leslie Alanis

EEW Notebook Developer: Megan Raisle

 

Earth Science Information Partners Lab

March 2021 - August 2021 

$10,000 “Developing an Environmental Enforcement Data Portal for Grassroots and Congressional Action” 

Vital data about federal environmental enforcement actions against facilities that pollute the soil, air, and water is currently available but largely inaccessible in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database. In this project, we will build a web portal to share accessible data tools we have developed so that the public can use ECHO data to answer questions about polluting facilities in their areas of interest and draw attention to their findings. Our web portal will include new tutorials about how to access and query our database, and will create intuitive access to our existing data science tools. 

Proposal Developer: Kelsey Breseman

Data Project Leader: Kelsey Breseman