Chief Patron: Carr
VCU - Rice River Center

Item 196 #1h

Language
Page 264, line 24, strike "$360,394,910" and insert "$361,144,910".
Page 264, line 24, strike "$387,394,910" and insert "$388,144,910".

Explanation

(This amendment requests additional funding to support the Rice Rivers Center to (1) expand science-based understanding of the Commonwealth’s natural resources, leading to effective decision support tools and environmental policies; (2) engage with Virginia NGOs, federally recognized Tribes, underserved communities, and K-12 educators to create new opportunities for outdoor education, improved environmental health, and STEM instruction; (3) work with a broad range of partners from both public and private sectors to create new training opportunities for Virginia graduate and undergraduate students in environmental management, geospatial technologies, and conservation science; (4) address critical local and regional information gaps, as identified by state and federal elected officials, legislators, and environmental policy-makers; (5) attract and support new academic researchers, educators, and scientists in high-demand fields (e.g. environmental engineering, genomics, public health) to Virginia; and, (6) develop, test, and distribute new environmental applications of emerging technologies such as remote sensing, machine learning, and metagenomics as innovative tools for effective management of the Commonwealth’s critical natural resources.)