Science Policy Report

Address all comments to the Science Policy Office at:
sciencepolicy@sciencesocieties.org

17 March 2010

In This Issue:

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

Conferences, Meetings and Reports

Congressional/Administration News

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

United States Agency for International Development Mission in Indonesia (USAID/Indonesia) is seeking applications from U.S. and International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that describes approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in both the land use/forestry sector and the energy sector. “International” NGOs are non-US NGOs, operating and registered in countries other than the US. NGOs are non-governmental organizations including any non-profit or voluntary organizations, organized on a local, national or international level. They are not part of any governmental organization, US or international and are independent of any governmental organization. They generally espouse humanitarian or cooperative objectives rather than commercial goals. Subject to the availability of funds, USAID/Indonesia intends to award a series of Cooperative Agreements, of approximate value between $500,000 and $1,500,000 each for a period up to three years. USAID/Indonesia reserves the right to incrementally fund activities over the duration of the program, depending on program length, performance against approved program indicators and the availability of funds. Any questions concerning this APS must be submitted in writing to Mr. Dominicus Soenarno via email at aps10-011@usaid.gov no later than February 22, 2010 for the First Phase and August 2, 2010 for the Second Phase. No questions will be entertained after these dates. The time for submission of Concept Papers is at 3:00 PM, local Jakarta time. Deadline 15 Sep. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=51783

Section 104(g) of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 requires that this competitive grant program focus on: “water problems and issues of a regional or interstate nature beyond those of concern only to a single State and which relate to specific program priorities identified jointly by the Secretary (of the Interior) and the (water resources research) institutes.” (see announcement, Section II for additional description).  Deadline 21 Apr. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=51463

EPA Region 4 is seeking applications from eligible organizations that will promote the transition to reduced-risk pest management practices in agriculture to protect human health and the environment. All projects must occur in one or more of the Region 4 states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The SAI program focuses financial resources primarily on minor agricultural crop production. Grant funding assistance under this program is generally available to: States, U.S. territories or possession, federally recognized Indian tribal governments and Native American Organizations, public and private universities and colleges, hospitals, laboratories, other public or private nonprofit institutions, local governments, individuals, and international entities. For profit organizations are not eligible. Grant activities that are supported under the SAI program and this Request for Applications (RFA) include: education, extension, demonstration, and studies for Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) transition and reduced risk pest management practices in agriculture. Project activities should support achieving the adoption of reduced risk pest management practices, and/or ecologically based Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Deadline 5 Apr. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=51985

Proposals are requested that will apply the experience and expertise of a research team to synthesize past research, monitoring, and other relevant scientific knowledge in developing products to meet management needs for a comprehensive approach to managing the nearshore ecology and aesthetics of Lake Tahoe. Deadline 7 Apr. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52072

USDA/NRCS is requesting proposals from eligible applicants to partner and assist with NRCS implementation of Farm Bill Programs and Conservation Technical Assistance and land preservation activities for the conservation, maintenance and improvement of natural resources throughout the State of Maryland. Deadline 25 March. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52258

The Smith-Lever Special Needs Program is a competitive grants program to State Extension Services at 1862 Land-Grant Institutions to support innovative, education-based approaches to addressing emergency preparedness and specific responses related to natural and man-made disasters. Deadline 3 Jun. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52487

The Climate Change Education Partnership (CCEP) program seeks to establish a coordinated national network of regionally- or thematically-based partnerships devoted to increasing the adoption of effective, high quality educational programs and resources related to the science of climate change and its impacts. Each CCEP is required to be of a large enough scale that they will have catalytic or transformative impact that cannot be achieved through other core NSF program awards. The CCEP program is one facet of a larger NSF collection of awards related to Climate Change Education (CCE) that has two goals: (1) preparing a new generation of climate scientists, engineers, and technicians equipped to provide innovative and creative approaches to understanding global climate change and to mitigate its impact; and, (2) preparing today's U.S. citizens to understand global climate change and its implications in ways that can lead to informed, evidence-based responses and solutions. Each CCEP must include representation from at least each of the following communities: climate scientists, experts in the learning sciences, and practitioners from within formal or informal education venues. This combined expertise will insure that educational programs and resources developed through the activities of each CCEP reflects current understanding about climate science, the best theoretical approaches for teaching such a complex topic, and the practical means necessary to reach the intended learner audience(s). Each CCEP should be organized around either geographic regions that share similar climate change impacts, or major climate impact themes (e.g., sea-level rise). Deadline 24 May. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52103

Scientific research and operational support of that research are the principal activities supported by the United States Government in Antarctica. The goals are to expand fundamental knowledge of the region, to foster research on global and regional problems of current scientific importance, and to use Antarctica as a platform from which to support research.?? The U.S. Antarctic Program provides support for field work only when a compelling justification exists for doing the work in Antarctica (i.e., the work can only be done, or is best done, in Antarctica).?? The program also supports Antarctic-related analytical research performed at home organizations.NSF was the designated lead agency for the International Polar Year, 2007-2009, for the United States and has made a number of awards in response to IPY solicitations (see list of awards at http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/ipy/ipy_awards_list.jsp). Proposals that make use of IPY datasets or that otherwise build on IPY investments are welcome in the regular programs. For information concerning other Federal agencies and their IPY programs, please go to the U.S. government interagency IPY site at http://www.ipy.gov/. Deadline 25 May. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52104

The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) of the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for terrestrial carbon cycle research that will improve the understanding of the role of terrestrial biomes in the global carbon cycle and aid carbon cycle predictions related to climate change. Deadline 3 Apr. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52171

EPA Region I is seeking applications from eligible organizations that will promote the transition to reduced-risk pest management practices in agriculture to protect human health and the environment. The SAI program focuses financial resources primarily on minor agricultural crop production. Grant funding assistance under this program is generally available to: States, U.S. territories or possessions, federally recognized Indian tribal governments and Native American Organizations, public and private universities and colleges, hospitals, laboratories, other public or private nonprofit institutions, local governments, individuals, and international entities. For profit organizations are not eligible. Project activities should support achieving the adoption of reduced risk pest management practices, and/or ecologically based Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Deadline 27 Apr. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52232

The Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (TUES) program seeks to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students. This solicitation especially encourages projects that have the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education, for example, by bringing about widespread adoption of classroom practices that embody understanding of how students learn most effectively. Thus transferability and dissemination are critical aspects for projects developing instructional materials and methods and should be considered throughout the project's lifetime. More advanced projects should involve efforts to facilitate adaptation at other sites. The program supports efforts to create, adapt, and disseminate new learning materials and teaching strategies to reflect advances both in STEM disciplines and in what is known about teaching and learning. It funds projects that develop faculty expertise, implement educational innovations, assess learning and evaluate innovations, prepare K-12 teachers, or conduct research on STEM teaching and learning. It also supports projects that further the work of the program itself, for example, synthesis and dissemination of findings across the program. The program supports projects representing different stages of development, ranging from small, exploratory investigations to large, comprehensive projects. Deadline 26 May. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52251

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program stimulates technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results, and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses. Deadline 9 Jun.  http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52431

To assist watershed groups by providing funds for watershed organizations to hire interns to work on specific projects. The project must clearly enhance the sustainability of the watershed organizations, and must contribute directly to the remediation of acid mine drainage. Private nonprofit institutions/organizations, public nonprofit institutions/organizations, established watershed organizations in the following States are eligible to participate: Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Undergraduate and graduate students, throughout the United States, interested in helping to clean up the environment are also eligible. Deadline 30 Sep. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52558

EPA Region 5 is soliciting proposals that address the national Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) priorities of increasing recycling of municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris, and industrial materials in Region 5 [Region 5 comprises Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin]. Specific Region 5 priorities are listed in the full text under I. Funding Opportunity Description. This funding supports EPA’s strategic goal of land preservation and restoration. Applicants are encouraged to partner and collaborate with other organizations involved in similar efforts. Deadline 27 Apr. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52621

This NASA Research Announcement (NRA) solicits proposals for supporting basic and applied research and technology across a broad range of Earth and space science program elements relevant to one or more of the following NASA Research Programs: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Planetary Science, and Astrophysics. This ROSES NRA covers all aspects of basic and applied supporting research and technology in space and Earth sciences, including, but not limited to: theory, modeling, and analysis of SMD science data; aircraft, stratospheric balloon, suborbital rocket, and commercial reusable rocket investigations; development of experiment techniques suitable for future SMD space missions; development of concepts for future SMD space missions; development of advanced technologies relevant to SMD missions; development of techniques for and the laboratory analysis of both extraterrestrial samples returned by spacecraft, as well as terrestrial samples that support or otherwise help verify observations from SMD Earth system science missions; determination of atomic and composition parameters needed to analyze space data, as well as returned samples from the Earth or space; Earth surface observations and field campaigns that support SMD science missions; development of integrated Earth system models; development of systems for applying Earth science research data to societal needs; and development of applied information systems applicable to SMD objectives and data. Deadline 3 Jun. http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=52622

In 1991, the CGIAR launched a program on gender staffing aimed at assisting the CGIAR-supported international agricultural research centers in their efforts to promote the recruitment, productivity, advancement and retention of women scientists and professionals within their organizations. In July 1999, this program expanded to include a wide range of diversity issues, to help the centers leverage their rich staff diversity to increase research and management excellence.  The program promotes such activities as diversity-positive recruitment, international teamwork, cross-cultural communications and advancement for women. The CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program is hosted at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya. For more information, visit http://www.genderdiversity.cgiar.org

Conferences, Meetings and Reports

According to a climate change Gallup poll released last week, the percentage of Americans who believe climate change has been exaggerated has climbed dramatically in the last two years. Forty-eight percent of those polled believe the seriousness of climate change is generally exaggerated -- a 7 percent increase from last year and the highest level in the 13-year history of the annual Gallup survey of the public's attitude toward the environment. "The public opinion turned in 2009, when several Gallup measures showed a slight retreat in public concern about global warming," states a Gallup analysis of the poll results. "This year, the downturn is more pronounced." Gallup and others have speculated that the shift in public opinion may be due to factors such the publicity surrounding the recent controversy over stolen e-mails from climate scientists and record-breaking snow in some parts of the country, as well as the increasingly partisan nature of the climate change debate. However, the majority of Americans -- 53 percent -- do still believe that climate change is real and that its effects have either begun or will begin in the next few years, the poll found. That number represents a sharp drop from the 65 percent who felt the same way in 2008 and marks the lowest level in at least a decade. Meanwhile, 35 percent believe that climate change either will never happen or will not happen within their lifetime -- an increase from the 24 percent who felt the same way two years ago. Sixty-seven percent now do not believe that climate change will pose a "serious threat" to them or their way of life in their lifetime, up from 60 percent last year. Most worrisome for advocates of climate change legislation, the percentage of Americans who believe that increases in Earth's temperature over the last century are due to human activities -- 50 percent -- is almost the same as the percentage of those who believe it is the result of natural causes -- 46 percent. Two years ago, the split was 20 percentage points in favor of those who believed it was man-made activity.

A shipment of seed sent by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) earlier this month to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway included a wild Russian strawberry that an expeditionary team braved bears and volcanoes to collect. The seed shipment--ARS’ third since January 2008--included wild and cultivated soybeans, semi-dwarf wheat and rice cultivars, and other samples maintained in the agency’s National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). ARS’ goal, over the next 10 to 15 years, is have the majority of the system’s 511,000 collections stored in the vault, which is administered by Norway’s Nordic Genetic Resources Center together with the Global Crop Diversity Trust. The vault itself is built into a mountainside on Spitsbergen Island, located midway between Norway’s northernmost coast and the North Pole. With this third U.S. shipment, the facility will house more than 500,000 plant accessions obtained from around the world. However, the total storage capacity is likely 10 times that amount, notes plant physiologist David Ellis with ARS’ National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colo. Ellis coordinates the shipments of seed obtained from multiple ARS locations. Worldwide, there are about 1,400 operating genebanks. The Svalbard vault’s purpose isn’t to replace them, but rather to provide a secure remote backup location for the genetic diversity contained in the genebanks, should their collections be lost due to natural disaster or other reasons.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has announced that the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force will meet March 9 through 11 in Tallahassee, Florida.Agenda items include: Discussion of Florida Air Quality Issues; Discussion of Greenhouse Gas; Reactive Nitrogen; Discussion of Conservation Innovation Grant Animal Feeding Operation Index Tool; Fire As An Ecosystem Management Tool; and Discussion of Subcommittee Recommendations. Federal Register Meeting Notice : http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-3996.htm.  Information about the USDA-Agricultural Air Quality Task Force is posted at: http://www.airquality.nrcs.usda.gov/AAQTF

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) reports that in 2009, 14 million farmers planted 134 million hectares (330 million acres) of biotech crops in 25 countries, up from 13.3 million farmers and 125 million hectares (7 percent) in 2008. Notably, in 2009, 13 of the 14 million farmers, or 90 percent, were small and resource-poor farmers from developing countries. Document Title: The title of the February 23, 2010 ISAAA Press Release is "Predicted Second Wave of Biotech Growth and Development Begins; Developing countries recognize biotechnology as a key to food self-sufficiency and prosperity"  The title of the report is "Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2009: The first fourteen years, 1996 to 2009". Organization: International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). Source: February 23, 2010 ISAAA Brief 41-2009: The Executive Summary of the report is posted at: http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/41/executivesummary/default.asp

Congressional/Administration News

On 12 Mar, representing the three Societies, Policy Programs Coordinator Caron Gala, commented before the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) about Food security, Sustainable Bioenergy Production and Climate Change. Specifically, with respect to addressing food security and sustainable bioenergy production, she requested that within the White House Office of  Science and Technology (OSTP), a multi?disciplinary Food Security and Renewable Energy Advisory be established. Caron also applauded the President’s Biofuels Interagency Working Group report “Growing America’s Fuels”, and suggested that a Food Security and Renewable Energy Subcommittee be established within the Committee on Science in the National Science and Technology Council. Finally, she stressed the importance of soil moisture measurements and estimates as one of the most important parameters used to predict and verify climate change models, recommending that the efforts to develop methods to predict and monitor this important parameter be coordinated among federal departments, agencies, and foundations.  View comments: https://www.soils.org/files/science-policy/testimony/asa-cssa-sssa-pcast3-12-2010.pdf. View PCAST video of Caron commenting:  http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/pcast/100312/default.cfm?id=12123&type=wmhigh&test=0. (note:  her comments begin at minute 5:16)

Last week, the ASA, CSSA and SSSA Boards of Directors visited with their Congressional delegations to seek their support for USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) competitive grants program. View ASA, CSSA and SSSA Congressional Visits Day resources at: https://www.agronomy.org/science-policy/activities/congressional-visits-days, https://www.crops.org/science-policy/activities/congressional-visits-days, and https://www.soils.org/science-policy/activities/congressional-visits-days, respectively.  Once there, scroll down to “Congressional Visits Day Documents for March 2010 Board Meetings.”  Scrolling down, you will see the Leave Behind document for each society which includes our funding request for AFRI and background information. 

Amidst the partisan fight over health care legislation and a financial overhaul, Congress is still struggling to resurrect the climate change debate. The latest effort, carried out behind closed doors, at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, included President Obama, key senators and industry officials, all seeking an elusive agreement on comprehensive energy and climate change legislation. Fourteen Democrats and Republicans were the target of the president’s lobbying efforts, as he strove to reach consensus before the end of this year on a bill that puts a first-ever price on carbon emissions, rather than settle for the energy-only approach favored by some moderates. Meanwhile, back on the Hill three senators—John Kerry (D-MA), Joseph Liebermann (I-CN) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC)--at the center of the legislative effort presented their broad ideas to some of the country's largest trade associations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute and the American Farm Bureau. This hurry to achieve something, marks a last-ditch push to produce a draft Senate bill before the spring recess that begins March 26. To date, no agree has been forthcoming.

Sources: Congressional Quarterly; E&E Publishing; Food Industry Environmental Network, LLC

Vision: The Societies Washington, DC Science Policy Office (SPO) will advocate the importance and value of the agronomic, crop and soil sciences in developing national science policy and ensuring the necessary public-sector investment in the continued health of the environment for the well being of humanity. The SPO will assimilate, interpret, and disseminate in a timely manner to Society members information about relevant agricultural, natural resources and environmental legislation, rules and regulations under consideration by Congress and the Administration.

This page of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA web site will highlight current news items relevant to Science Policy. It is not an endorsement of any position.