An ongoing environmental education and cleanup partnership involving the University of California, Davis, and the Mare Island Naval Shipyard has received a $1.3 million boost through a grant from the Department of Defense. The funds will support new classes and educational opportunities for displaced Department of Defense workers and minorities interested in working for the defense department in environmental fields. The grant makes it possible for UC Davis to extend training opportunities tailored to the needs of Mare Island and other defense department facilities. UC Davis is the lead institution in a consortium that includes area community colleges, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Cal EPA that will provide classes and education through the grant. The defense funds will provide $437,500 for scholarships or fellowships over a five-year period and $836,375 for the development of new classes and models in environmental remediation topics, says Daniel Chang, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. The grant augments a 1-year-old collaboration between UC Davis and Mare Island that has already helped provide base workers crash courses in environmental cleanup. The Mare Island shipyard, home to the Navy since 1854, will close in less than two years; cleaning the base of toxic substances will take far longer, however. In the past nine months, more than 100 Mare Island engineeers have enrolled in UC Davis-sponsored classes in hydrology, integrated-waste management and water-quality management. Some engineers are working on special projects unique to cleaning up the base's fuel-contaminated soils. UC Davis is one of 16 recipients nationwide of the defense department's environmental scholarships, fellowships and grants this year, and one of three in California. The fellowships and scholarships program under the grant is being coordinated through the UC Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program.