Increase societal understanding of the Earth system through scientific Research and education.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
79¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$545K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
2 of 6
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $2K a year · under 1% of revenue · last 6 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 2 of the last 6 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 6 filings
Spent on programs
79%
of spending
Looks good: 79% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$545K
to officers and key staff · 37% of spending
Concern: pay to officers and key staff is 37% of spending; over 30%.
Pt VII · Sec A
4 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 3.8 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
2
named funders · $123K
Fine: 2 funders name it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$411K
55% of total assets
Fine: liabilities are 55% of assets; 50% to 65%.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
4
of 6 voting members
Looks good: 4 of 6 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$1.5M
+14% vs prior year
Spent
$1.5M
To programs
79%
Net assets
$332K
By yearFY2020–FY2025
Revenue
$1.5M
FY2024▲ +14%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$2.2M
FY2021$1.4M
FY2022$1.5M
FY2023$1.3M
FY2024$1.5M
FY2025$1.5M
Expenses
$1.5M
FY2024▲ +8%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$2.2M
FY2021$1.4M
FY2022$1.4M
FY2023$1.4M
FY2024$1.5M
FY2025$1.4M
Net assets
$332K
FY2024▼ -5%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$341K
FY2021$340K
FY2022$437K
FY2023$349K
FY2024$332K
FY2025$365K

From the FY2024 Form 990 (year ending June 2024) · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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You’re viewing the FY2024 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2025) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jun 1995.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 79% · $1.2M Management & general 21% · $316K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

9 people listed on the 990; $545K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2023); the FY2024 filing did not itemize Part VII
Senior Scientist
$143,830Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary and Staff Scientist
$122,412Pt VII · Sec A
VP, Senior Scientist and Director
$119,676Pt VII · Sec A
President, Senior Scientist and Director
$109,998Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary and Research Scientist
$49,555Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer and Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer and Director
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Oleg Melnechenko’s $152K as Senior Scientist is at the 34th percentile of top reported officer pay among 363 $1–10M science & technology nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Chelle White—————$237,213
Oleg Melnichenko—$143,830$152,770———
Oleg Melnechenko$152,334—————
Lance Larowe————$141,718$136,114
Laurence Padman—————$140,418
Dr Laurence Padman—$109,998$94,346$130,392$105,318—
Julian Schanze$129,864$119,676$117,425$106,886$93,729$76,714
Michael Town$124,069—————

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo

Programs and updates

Promotes understanding of Earth's systems through research and education.

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Provided by the organization

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3 programs · $1.2M · in their own filed words · FY2023
01

Nasaprimary Research Studies Include

Ocean surface current analyses real-time (oscar):oscar is a global surface database. Esr scientists calculate global ocean surface mixed layer velocities from satellite-sensed sea surface height gradients, winds, and sea surface temperature fields using ocean dynamical equations.

$989Kprogram expense
02

National science foundation snow science field campaign design and snow melt modeling:through a subaward from washington state university (wsu), as part of the icecaps (ICECAPSMELT.ORG) experiment, esr scientists designed a snow properties experiment and analyzed the resulting data for a field campaign in support of a novel autonomous…

$97Kprogram expense
03

Reflective earthdeveloping techniques to efficiently monitor solar radiation management interventions: esr scientists are contracted to develop techniques to efficiently monitor solar radiation management interventions using a combination of geospatial data sets (E.G., SENTINEL-2 reflectance data and ERA5 insolation) and surface energy…

$69Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 2 funders$123K
Grants paid · 1 grant · $51K · 2019–2019
Unitemized GrantFY2019$50,965

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$1.5M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.4M
Investment incomeLn 3$5K
Other incomeLn 4–11$2K
Money outPt IX
$1.5M
Ln 25
Programscol B$1.2M
Managementcol C$316K
Owns and owesPt X
$332K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$465K
Total assetsLn 16$743K
LiabilitiesLn 26$411K
PeoplePt VI, VII
9
listed · VII A
PaidVII A5
Voting boardVI 1a6
IndependentVI 1b4
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.4M
Government grantsLn 1e$1.4M
Investment incomeLn 3$5K
Other incomeLn 4–11$2K
Total revenueLn 12$1.5M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$218K
SavingsLn 2$247K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$465K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$6K
Other assetsLn 15$102K
Total assetsLn 16$743K
LiabilitiesLn 26$411K
Net assetsLn 32$332K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 512
VolunteersI 64
Fiscal year endsHeaderJune
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$379K$465K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$0$6K
Total assetsLn 16$638K$743K
LiabilitiesLn 26$289K$411K
Net assetsLn 32$349K$332K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$444K$312K$132K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$500K$418K$82K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$50K$40K$10K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$68K$54K$14K
Payroll taxesLn 10$71K$57K$14K
Management feesLn 11a$81K$63K$18K
Accounting feesLn 11c$26K$20K$6K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$58K$56K$2K
Office expensesLn 13$52K$40K$11K
OccupancyLn 16$49K$38K$11K
TravelLn 17$37K$29K$8K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$2K$1K$867
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$428$333$95
InsuranceLn 23$18K$14K$4K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$14K$11K$3K
Total functional expensesLn 25$1.5M$1.2M$316K$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest $1.5M$1.4M$34K$365K 990 PDF
FY2024 Viewing $1.5M$1.5M−$17K$332K 990 PDF
FY2023 $1.3M$1.4M−$88K$349K 990 PDF
FY2022 $1.5M$1.4M$97K$437K 990 PDF
FY2021 $1.4M$1.4M−$484$340K 990 PDF
FY2020 $2.2M$2.2M−$13K$341K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,453,365 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $1,272,533$1,446,940
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $0$0
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $285$4,897
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $3,143$1,528
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $1,275,961$1,453,365
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $1,008,716$1,132,559
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $355,190$338,085
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $1,363,906$1,470,644
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$87,945−$17,279
Part VI · Governance 4 of 6 board members independent, 1 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body6
VI-1b Independent voting members4
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,453,365 across 5 lines filed
VIII-1e Government grants$1,446,940
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$1,446,940
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $4,897$4,897
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Excluded from tax $1,528$1,528
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $6,425$1,453,365
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,470,644 across 15 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $312,164 · Management $131,856$444,020
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $417,620 · Management $81,942$499,562
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $39,991 · Management $9,965$49,956
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $54,308 · Management $13,518$67,826
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $57,006 · Management $14,189$71,195
IX-11a Management feesPrograms $62,836 · Management $17,934$80,770
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $20,227 · Management $5,773$26,000
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $56,070 · Management $2,125$58,195
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $40,073 · Management $11,437$51,510
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $38,479 · Management $10,982$49,461
IX-17 TravelPrograms $28,969 · Management $8,268$37,237
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $1,395 · Management $867$2,262
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $333 · Management $95$428
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $14,086 · Management $4,020$18,106
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $10,984 · Management $3,132$14,116
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $1,154,541 · Management $316,103 · Fundraising $0$1,470,644
Part X · Balance sheet $743,050 assets, 14 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $207,227$218,401
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $172,059$246,956
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $172,606$156,048
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $26,860$13,535
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $0$5,996
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $59,662$102,114
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $638,414$743,050
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $157,470$157,753
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $71,073$152,569
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $60,832$100,968
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $289,375$411,290
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $349,039$331,760
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $349,039$331,760
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $638,414$743,050
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $331,760 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$1,453,365
XI-2 Total expenses$1,470,644
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$17,279
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$349,039
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$331,760

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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