ORAO Grants and Scholarships
ORAO provides funding opportunities to individuals who want to learn more about commercial-scale composting and/or other environmentally sustainable practices.

ORAO Professional Development Grant 
ORAO provides grants to members ($225) and non-members ($150) to attend the 2017 Ohio Compost Operator Course, which is held annually in March.  
Applications for grants the 2018 course will be available in January 2018.  

ORAO Scholarship
ORAO is offering one (1) $500 scholarship to an undergraduate college student majoring in environmental sciences or a related field, such as agriculture, geology, or biology. For details, click here.

Other Grant Opportunities

Ohio EPA Market Development Grants
The Ohio EPA provides funds for Class II composting facilities and provide assistance with the creation and expansion of organic recycling facilities and equipment purchases for them.  For details, click here.

Ohio EPA Ohio Environmental Fund
The Ohio EPA provides mini-grants (<$5,000) and general grants (<$50,000) to implement projects that raise awareness and educate the public about important environmental issues that impact the state.  For details, click here.

USCC Young Investigator Scholarship
The US Composting Council Research & Education Foundation (CCREF) provides undergraduate through PhD students support for research and education in the fields of composting and compost use. For details, click here.

USCC Sustainable Student Scholarship Award
The CCREF provides high school students interested in the composting industry support for the college education. For details, click here.

 












Participants at the Ohio Compost Operator Education Course take the temperature of a composting windrow to check on the process

 No matter what the weather, students collect samples of compost for their experiments.