Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Last updated
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Founded2000;24 years ago (2000)
Founder Gordon E. Moore and Betty I. Moore
Focus Environmental conservation
Patient Care
Science
San Francisco Bay Area
Location
MethodGrants
Key people
Harvey V. Fineberg, President
Budget
$365 million (annual, 2021) [1]
Endowment $9.5 billion (2021) [1]
Website www.moore.org

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is an American foundation established by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore and his wife Betty I. Moore in September 2000 [2] to support scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the character of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Contents

As outlined in the Statement of Founder's Intent, [3] the foundation's aim is to tackle large, important issues at a scale where it can achieve significant and measurable impacts.

According to the OECD, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation provided USD 60 million for development in 2020 by means of grants. [4]

Funded projects

Astronomy

Biology

Quantum materials

Data-driven discovery

Moore-Sloan Data Science Environments

Source: [11]

Marine Microbiology Initiative (initiative ending in 2021)

Source: [15]

Other (standalone) projects

Controversies

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has contributed US$200 million towards construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope. [18] A proposed extremely large telescope (ELT), the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is considered controversial due to its planned location on Mauna Kea, which is considered sacred land according to the native Hawaiians, on the island of Hawaii in the United States. Native Hawaiian cultural practice and religious rights are the main points of opposition towards the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, [19] along with concerns over the lack of meaningful dialogue during the permitting process. [20]

On October 7, 2014, protesters demonstrated outside the headquarters of the foundation in Palo Alto, California. [21] [22] On July 14, 2019, protesters had created an online petition titled "The Immediate Halt to the Construction of the TMT Telescope" that was posted on Change.org and directed towards the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation as well as other financial backers. The online petition gathered over 278,057 signatures worldwide. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Moore</span> American businessman (1929–2023)

Gordon Earle Moore was an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and emeritus chairman of Intel Corporation. He proposed Moore's law which makes the observation that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles about every two years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. M. Keck Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Hawaii

The W. M. Keck Observatory is an astronomical observatory with two telescopes at an elevation of 4,145 meters (13,600 ft) near the summit of Mauna Kea in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Both telescopes have 10 m (33 ft) aperture primary mirrors, and, when completed in 1993 and 1996, they were the largest optical reflecting telescopes in the world. They are currently the third and fourth largest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauna Kea</span> Hawaiian volcano

Mauna Kea is an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi. Its peak is 4,207.3 m (13,803 ft) above sea level, making it the highest point in Hawaii and second-highest peak of an island on Earth. The peak is about 38 m (125 ft) higher than Mauna Loa, its more massive neighbor. Mauna Kea is unusually topographically prominent for its height: its wet prominence is fifteenth in the world among mountains, at 4,205 m (13,796 ft); its dry prominence is 9,330 m (30,610 ft). This dry prominence is greater than Mount Everest's height above sea level of 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft), and some authorities have labeled Mauna Kea the tallest mountain in the world, from its underwater base. Mauna Kea is ranked 8th by topographic isolation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauna Kea Observatories</span> Astronomical observatories in Hawaii

The Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) are a group of independent astronomical research facilities and large telescope observatories that are located at the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, United States. The facilities are located in a 525-acre (212 ha) special land use zone known as the "Astronomy Precinct", which is located within the 11,228-acre (4,544 ha) Mauna Kea Science Reserve. The Astronomy Precinct was established in 1967 and is located on land protected by the Historical Preservation Act for its significance to Hawaiian culture. The presence and continued construction of telescopes is highly controversial due to Mauna Kea's centrality in native Hawaiian religion and culture, as well as for a variety of environmental reasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemini Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory

The Gemini Observatory comprises two 8.1-metre (26.6 ft) telescopes, Gemini North and Gemini South, situated in Hawaii and Chile, respectively. These twin telescopes offer extensive coverage of the northern and southern skies and rank among the most advanced optical/infrared telescopes available to astronomers. (See List of largest optical reflecting telescopes).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thirty Meter Telescope</span> Future observatory in the United States

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a planned extremely large telescope (ELT) that has become controversial due to its location on Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawaiʻi. The TMT would become the largest visible-light telescope on Mauna Kea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Segmented mirror</span> Array of smaller mirrors designed to act as one large curved mirror

A segmented mirror is an array of smaller mirrors designed to act as segments of a single large curved mirror. The segments can be either spherical or asymmetric. They are used as objectives for large reflecting telescopes. To function, all the mirror segments have to be polished to a precise shape and actively aligned by a computer-controlled active optics system using actuators built into the mirror support cell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UH88</span> University of Hawaii 88-inch telescope, at Mauna Kea Observatories

The University of Hawaiʻi 88-inch (2.24-meter) telescope—called UH88, UH2.2, or simply 88 by members of the local astronomical community—is situated at the Mauna Kea Observatories and operated by the University's Institute for Astronomy. It was constructed in 1968, and entered service in 1970, at which point it was known as "The Mauna Kea Observatory". It became one of the first professional telescopes to be controlled by a computer. The telescope was built with funding from NASA, to support Solar System missions, and is controlled by the University of Hawaiʻi. The success of the telescope helped demonstrate the value of Mauna Kea for astronomical observations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Filippenko</span> American astrophysicist

Alexei Vladimir "Alex" Filippenko is an American astrophysicist and professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. Filippenko graduated from Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1979 and a Ph.D. in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology in 1984, where he was a Hertz Foundation Fellow. He was a postdoctoral Miller Fellow at Berkeley from 1984 to 1986 and was appointed to Berkeley's faculty in 1986. In 1996 and 2005, he a Miller Research Professor, and he is currently a Senior Miller Fellow. His research focuses on supernovae and active galaxies at optical, ultraviolet, and near-infrared wavelengths, as well as on black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and the expansion of the Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extremely large telescope</span> 20-100-m-aperture astronomical observatory

An extremely large telescope (ELT) is an astronomical observatory featuring an optical telescope with an aperture for its primary mirror from 20 metres up to 100 metres across, when discussing reflecting telescopes of optical wavelengths including ultraviolet (UV), visible, and near infrared wavelengths. Among many planned capabilities, extremely large telescopes are planned to increase the chance of finding Earth-like planets around other stars. Telescopes for radio wavelengths can be much bigger physically, such as the 300 metres aperture fixed focus radio telescope of the Arecibo Observatory. Freely steerable radio telescopes with diameters up to 100 metres have been in operation since the 1970s.

Howard Brighton Keck was an American businessman. He was also a Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder, and the owner of an auto racing team that twice won the Indianapolis 500.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onizuka Center for International Astronomy</span> Support facilities for the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, US

The Onizuka Center for International Astronomy, also known as Hale Pōhaku, is a complex of support facilities for the telescopes and other instruments that comprise the Mauna Kea Observatory atop Mauna Kea, on Hawaiʻi island.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Mountain</span> President of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy

Charles Mattias ("Matt") Mountain is currently the President of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) which designs, builds, and operates telescopes and observatories for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). AURA's NASA center is the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), responsible for the science mission for the Hubble Space Telescope, the science and operations for the James Webb Space Telescope, and the MAST data archive. AURA's NSF centers are Gemini Observatory, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), and the National Solar Observatory (NSO). Dr. Mountain and AURA are also responsible for the NSF construction projects: the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) on Haleakalā, Hawaii and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) on Cerro Pachón in Chile.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thirty Meter Telescope protests</span> Series of demonstrations that began on the Island of Hawaii

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) protests are a series of protests and demonstrations that began on the Island of Hawaii over the choosing of Mauna Kea for the site location of the Thirty Meter Telescope. Mauna Kea is the most sacred dormant volcano of Native Hawaiian religion and culture, and was known to natives as the home to Wākea, the sky god. Protests began locally within the state of Hawaii on October 7, 2014 but went global within weeks of the April 2, 2015 arrest of 31 people who had blockaded the roadway to keep construction crews off the summit.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories</span> Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories

Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories has existed since the first telescope was built in the late 1960s. Originally part of research begun by Gerard Kuiper of the University of Arizona, the site has expanded into the world's largest observatory for infrared and submillimeter telescopes. Opposition to the telescope from residents in the city of Hilo, Hawaii were concerned about the visual appearance of the mountain and Native Hawaiians voiced concerns over the site being sacred to the Hawaiian religion as the home of several deities. Environmental groups and activists have been expressing concern over endangered species habitat.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Moore Foundation: Financial Information".
  2. About Us: Financial Information Archived 2013-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Statement of Founders' Intent".
  4. "Home".
  5. "W. M. Keck Observatory". Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2016-06-26.
  6. "Home - Center for Ocean Solutions". oceansolutions.stanford.edu.
  7. "Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems Initiative".
  8. "$6M for UC Berkeley and Cal Poly to expand and enhance open-source software for scientific computing and data science" . Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. "Bringing Julia from beta to 1.0 to support data-intensive, scientific computing". www.moore.org. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  10. "Data Carpentry". Data Carpentry.
  11. "Moore-Sloan Data Science Environments". MSDSE.
  12. "Berkeley Institute for Data Science". Berkeley Institute for Data Science.
  13. "Center for Data Science - New York University". NYU Center for Data Science.
  14. Howe, Bill. "Home". eScience Institute.
  15. "Initiative Strategy Detail". www.moore.org. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  16. "Moore Foundation funds 16 top scientists for high-risk marine microbial ecology research". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  17. "ASAPbio – Accelerating Science and Publication in Biology". ASAPbio.
  18. Perry, Jill (5 December 2007). "Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Commits $200 Million Support for Thirty-Meter Telescope". Caltech. Caltech. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  19. Dominique Saks (2011-11-19). "Indigenous religious traditions: Mauna Kea". Colorado College. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  20. Chad Blair (2015-04-04). "OHA trustee calls for moratorium on Mauna Kea telescope". Honolulu Civil Beat and KITV4 News. Retrieved 2015-04-04.
  21. Mai, E. Komo (October 9, 2014). "VIDEO: Full Coverage of Thirty Meter Telescope Disruption". Big Island Video News. Big Island Video News. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  22. Cooper, Jeanne (October 7, 2014). "Peaceful protest in Palo Alto against massive Mauna Kea telescope". SFGATE. SFGATE. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  23. Wu, Nina (July 18, 2019). "Online petition demanding halt to Thirty Meter Telescope project collects 100K signatures". Honolulu Star-Advertiser . Retrieved 12 December 2019.