Hess Corporation is donating $50 million to the Salk Institute’s Campaign for Discovery: The Power of Science to support the Harnessing Plants Initiative, which seeks to mitigate climate change by optimizing plants and supporting wetlands to increase the capture of excess atmospheric carbon. The Hess Center for Plant Science will be established with this gift, providing the essential infrastructure for this research initiative. The gift will be dispersed over five years to support faculty recruitment and laboratory and research operations.
The Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative aims to optimize a plant’s natural ability to capture and store carbon to adapt to diverse climate conditions. It comprises two projects to mitigate climate change: CO2 Removal on a Planetary Scale and Coastal Plant Restoration. The Hess Corporation gift will support these projects by enhancing plants’ inherent capacity to capture and retain carbon.
The Salk Institute received a $12.5 million gift from Hess Corporation in 2020 to accelerate plant-based carbon capture and storage development. Since then, the Harnessing Plants Initiative team has made numerous advances in enhancing desired plant traits, including deeper rooting and the ability to sequester carbon. In 2021, Hess donated $3 million to establish the endowed Hess Chair in Plant Science at Salk.
The Hess Center for Plant Science will be located within the future Joan and Irwin Jacobs Science and Technology Center building, providing much-needed research and support space to advance and expand the Institute’s scientific mission. The Jacobs Center will have four Centers of Excellence, including the Hess Center for Plant Science. John Hess, Hess Corporation Chief Executive Officer, sees the Harnessing Plants Initiative as a potential game changer in tackling the global challenge of climate change.
The Hess Corporation’s donation is essential to advancing the Harnessing Plants Initiative and mitigating climate change. By enhancing plants’ ability to capture and store carbon, this initiative has the potential to be a game changer in fighting climate change. In addition, establishing the Hess Center for Plant Science will provide vital infrastructure for this research initiative and enable Salk to attract top talent to accelerate critical research. This gift comes at a crucial time, as climate change is one of the most significant and urgent issues facing humanity and our planet.
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