From Seed to Success: How PACES Grants Turned into External Funding

Building on last year’s successful series on resource development, CU Boulder peers will share how they used their PACES grant to seed their projects and secure external funding. The panel will be moderated by Meaghan Allyn, assistant director of foundation relations for CU Boulder’s Industry and Foundation Relations.

Those new to engaged scholarship and those long-established are welcome.

Panelists:

Professor Joe Ryan, Environmental Engineering Program

Two PACES grants—one to Professor Ryan and one to his colleague, the late Professor Mark Williams from the Geography Department, funded projects designed to help Colorado communities navigate oil and gas development.  Williams and Ryan expanded these projects into the PACES-funded Colorado Water Energy Research Center to reach out to communities affected by oil and gas development around the state.  They then proposed, and were awarded, $12 million in funding from the National Science Foundation’s Sustainability Research Network for the AirWaterGas project, a seven-year collaboration involving 27 investigators at 10 institutions that used Colorado as a laboratory to examine the environmental, economic and political effects of oil and gas development on the state’s residents.

Associate Director Michelle Renée Valladares, Community Research Collaborative with Cuba Independent School District

Together, with doctoral students and colleagues, Dr. Renée Valladares used a PACES grant to launch a multi-year partnership between the CU Boulder School of Education and this rural New Mexico school district to build student voice and center students’ equity solutions in the curriculum and school climate. Initially, the project was funded by a combination of federal COVID relief money and a Kellogg Foundation grant to the school district. When federal money ran out, a PACES grant combined with an award from Women Investing in the School of Education bridged the gap.  Now in its sixth year, the partnership continues to be supported by a grant from the Kellogg Foundation to the school district. 

Director John Keller, Fiske Planetarium Engaged Outreach

As director of CU Boulder’s Fiske Planetarium, Dr. Keller regularly braids PACES support with several other funding sources.  PACES funding allows FISKE to develop innovative programming like “Expanding Hispanic/Latinx Astronomy Engagement through Scientific Empowerment,” “Sensory Friendly Sundays,” and “Astronomy Day at CU” to engage with the wider public for science learning. Combining funding from PACES along other grant and advancement efforts allows Dr. Keller and the Fiske team to spark scientific curiosity and empower community members with hands-on experience in astronomy.

This session is part of PACES' 2026-27 Lunch and Learn Series. Please save the date for our next session on Nov. 10