The Human-Environment and Geographical Sciences Program - Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Awards opportunity is sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The goals of this program include promoting scientific research in geography and the spatial sciences, integrating geographers and spatial scientists in interdisciplinary research, promoting education and training of geographers and spatial scientists, and developing and using scientific methods and tools for geographic research. Some key points about this opportunity include: * The program sponsors research on the geographic distributions and interactions of human, physical, and biotic systems on Earth. * Investigators are encouraged to propose plans for research about the nature, causes, and consequences of human activity and natural environmental processes across a range of scales. * The program provides support to improve the conduct of doctoral dissertation projects undertaken by doctoral students enrolled in U.S. universities. * A doctoral student may submit a DDRI proposal to GSS to support her/his dissertation research only twice during her/his lifetime. * The estimated funding for this opportunity is $600,000, with an award ceiling of $16,000 and an award floor of $6,000.