That is a hard question. I think the truth is that you could easily spend several hundred thousand dollars just to get decent evidence of any one of the eight Birch criteria being met in a single species. Trying to get evidence good enough that would allow you to make generalizations about soil animals is certainly a multi-million-dollar project. So, I am very concerned that any gettable number is too low to provide the kind of evidence that I would trust. That said, and speaking only for myself (not the board), I’d be willing to run a grant round for $100,000. I’m not sure about numbers lower than that.
Thanks for the useful context, Bob. Is there any grant round on soil animals that you would be willing to run for less than 100 k$? It does not have to be about investigating sentience, or comparing the welfare of soil animals with that of humans, and it could be about soil ants or termites.
Oh sure. I would certainly run one on ant or termite welfare for $50,000, again only speaking for myself and needing to talk to the board before it is a claim about what the organization would do. Possibly less. It’s just important to have enough to be able to support a handful of small projects.
That is a hard question. I think the truth is that you could easily spend several hundred thousand dollars just to get decent evidence of any one of the eight Birch criteria being met in a single species. Trying to get evidence good enough that would allow you to make generalizations about soil animals is certainly a multi-million-dollar project. So, I am very concerned that any gettable number is too low to provide the kind of evidence that I would trust. That said, and speaking only for myself (not the board), I’d be willing to run a grant round for $100,000. I’m not sure about numbers lower than that.
Thanks for the useful context, Bob. Is there any grant round on soil animals that you would be willing to run for less than 100 k$? It does not have to be about investigating sentience, or comparing the welfare of soil animals with that of humans, and it could be about soil ants or termites.
Oh sure. I would certainly run one on ant or termite welfare for $50,000, again only speaking for myself and needing to talk to the board before it is a claim about what the organization would do. Possibly less. It’s just important to have enough to be able to support a handful of small projects.
Understood.