Science Policy Report

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

17 February 2010

In This Issue:

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

Conferences, Meetings and Reports

Congressional/Administration News

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

EPA Region III 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. 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 31 Mar. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=51772

The Office of Federal Activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting applications from qualified, not-for-profit organizations for a cooperative agreement in support of the 9th International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement to be held in Canada in the Spring or Summer of 2011. (See section III. of announcement for additional eligibility information.) EPA anticipates that approximately 185 people will attend the conference from governments and organizations from over 50 different countries. The conference theme will be “Enforcement Cooperation for Sustainability” and will cover topics on environmental compliance and enforcement including, but not limited to: climate compliance; international shipments of wastes, new approaches to regulations and compliance monitoring; working with prosecutors and the judiciary, INECE’s past success and direction for the future; and enforcement of both “brown” and “green” issues. The conference will include side events such as training courses, topical and regional meetings. Deadline 17 Mar. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=51473

The purpose of the USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grants (BRAG) Program is to assist Federal regulatory agencies in making science-based decisions about the effects of introducing genetically engineered organisms into the environment. Investigations of effects on both managed and natural environments are relevant. Applications to the USDA BRAG Program must seek partial funding for a conference or address one of the following areas: 1) Identify and develop practices to minimize risks associated with genetically engineered organisms; 2) Research methods to monitor the dispersal of genetically engineered organisms; 3) Research to increase knowledge about the characteristics, rates, and methods of gene transfer that may occur between genetically engineered organisms, and related organisms; 4) Perform assessments to provide analysis which compares impacts of organisms modified through genetic engineering to other types of production systems; 5) Other areas of research designed to further the purposes of the USDA BRAG program. Deadline 17 Mar. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=51498

United States Agency for International Development Mission in Indonesia (USAID/Indonesia) is seeking applications from U.S. and International Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that describe 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. Contact: 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. 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

The U.S. Standard Grants Program is a competitive, matching grants program that supports public-private partnerships carrying out projects in the United States that further the goals of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. These projects must involve long-term protection, restoration, enhancement and/or establishment of wetlands and associated uplands habitats for the benefit of all wetlands-associated migratory birds. A 1:1 match is required. Research funding is ineligible. Deadline 30 Jul. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=51472

The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announces the availability of approximately $55 million in grant funds, less USDA administrative costs, to solely enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops. Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, dried fruit, tree nuts, horticulture and nursery crops (including floriculture). State departments of agriculture interested in obtaining grant program funds are invited to submit applications to USDA. State departments of agriculture, meaning agencies, commissions, or departments of a State government responsible for agriculture within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are eligible to apply. State departments of agriculture are encouraged to conduct outreach regarding the SCBGP-FB to specialty crop stakeholders, socially disadvantaged, and beginning farmers and conduct a competitive grant proposal process. Applications must be submitted by July 29, 2010. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=51610

This action is a single source award to the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) located in Washington D.C. This synopsis serves as intent to award a five-year cooperative agreement on a non-competitive basis. The effort involves the development, recruiting and administration of a current undergraduate/graduate student level Climate Change Response internship program. This program will provide the Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS) with science-based research, resource conservation, data collection, monitoring, communication, policy development, sustainable operations and other projects and approaches to support adaptation to and mitigation of the effects of climate change on NPS lands. The program will provide valuable on-the-ground, practical, experiential learning opportunities for university-level students. The opportunities are enhanced through partnerships with university affiliates and a campus to careers program. Deadline 1 Mar. Details: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=51622

African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), a project of the CGIAR Gender & Diversity Program, is now accepting applications for its 2010 fellowships. Sixty African women professionals in agricultural research and development who hold a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree will be chosen. Applicants must be nationals of the countries listed in the full grant announcement and be available in Africa throughout the fellowship period. AWARD offers tailored, two-year fellowships designed to fast-track the careers of African women scientists and professionals delivering pro-poor agricultural research and development that benefits rural communities, especially women. Our goal is to help them increase their contributions in the fight against hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The AWARD Fellowships include a series of career development resources designed to: strengthen science/professional skills; augment leadership abilities; enhance visibility and networking; and increase opportunities to share newly acquired skills, inspiring the next generation of African women agricultural researchers and professionals.Deadline 22 Mar. Details: http://www.wocan.org/news/story/african-women-in-agricultural-research-and-development-award-2010-award-fellowships-call-for-applica

The Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program of the National Academies is now accepting applications for the Fall 2010 session.Graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and those who have completed graduate studies or postdoctoral research in social or behavioral science, medicine, health, physical and biological sciences, engineering, law, business, public administration and other relevant interdisciplinary fields within the last five years are eligible to apply. Short bios of the winter/spring 2010 class and further details can be viewed at: www.national-academies.org/policyfellows

Applications are being accepted for postdoctoral fellowships at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), located just outside Vienna, Austria. Applications should be submitted on-line at http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Admin/PDOC/apply_iiasa.html, where you can also find detailed information on the program’s goals, conditions and eligibility, application procedure, etc. Deadline 28 Feb.

The U.S. National Committee for Soil Science announces the Wilford Gardner IUSS Congress Fellowship Program for students and early career (within 5 years of PhD) researchers at U.S. institutions attending the 19th World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) in Brisbane, Australia, August 1-6, 2010.  Applicants must be first authors of a paper to be presented at the congress (oral or poster), and enrolled at or employed by a U.S. institution. The number of fellowships available will depend upon the amount of funding that the committee obtains from its sponsors; each award is anticipated to be a maximum of $2,000. If you are a student/early career scientist who has not yet submitted a paper for a poster presentation at the 19th WCSS, but are still interested in doing so, please contact Ester Sztein (esztein@nas.edu) as soon as possible, but no later than March 1, as there may still be a possibility to submit your paper. The U.S. National Committee for Soil Science is a committee of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and represents all U.S. soil scientists to the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). The committee named the fellowship program in honor of its founding chair, Wilford R. Gardner, who has also served as president of SSSA and is a member of the NAS. For more information and a fellowship application form, please visit the committee website at: www.national-academies.org/usnc-ss

Conferences, Meetings and Reports

U.S. organic farms and ranches have higher average sales and higher average production expenses than U.S. farms overall, according to results of the USDA 2008 Organic Production Survey. Complete results of the 2008 Organic Production Survey are available at: http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/Organics/

On 6 Feb, the National Science Foundation launched a new interactive Web page designed to encourage participation and collaboration between the agency and the citizens it serves. Additional information about this activity, as well as a link to the OpenNSF dialogue, is accessible at www.nsf.gov/open. The dialogue page is open for ideas and comments from Feb. 6-March 19. NSF's Open Government Web page will allow members of the public to submit ideas, comment on and vote for ideas proposed, and flag posts that are off-topic. In addition to welcoming general ideas and comments, NSF specifically seeks input regarding access to large data sets and collaborations that aim to facilitate transformative research.  The agency will incorporate submitted ideas and suggestions into an official Open Government Plan, to be published on April 7, 2010. This plan will serve as the "road map" for our efforts to improve transparency, better integrate public participation and collaboration into our core mission, and become more innovative and efficient. Additional information on the Open Government Directive can be found on the White House Web site at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/Open

The U.S. Department of Agriculture seeks one or more specialists from USDA agencies or Land Grant Colleges and Universities to participate as members of short-term post-disaster agriculture assessment teams in Haiti. The assessment teams will be led by the Government of Haiti and will likely consist of specialists from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, U.S government agencies, and others. Assessment teams for the agriculture sector will be responsible for collecting and evaluating data on damages, losses, impacts of human migration and displaced populations, and immediate and longer-term needs. Team members will be responsible for analyzing the data and writing agriculture sector reports (in French and in English) and project designs that address Haiti’s identified needs and priorities and that utilize resources from the Government of Haiti and the full range of international partners. Assessment team members are needed as early as February 15, 2010. Short-term assignments will generally last from two to four weeks. For additional details and requirements, contact: James Davis, Division: USDA/FAS/OCRA, Internet Address: http://www.usda.gov/fas,  James.Davis@fas.usda.gov, Telephone: (202) 720-1338.

Congressional/Administration News

The USDA Economic Research Service has launched a new online tool, Your Food Environment Atlas, which allows users to map and compare counties across the U.S. on the ability of their residents to access healthful food. The tool covers numerous indicators that include health, demographic, and food access characteristics. Details: http://www.ers.usda.gov/foodatlas/

Prior to departing for the week-long Presidents’ Day recess, Congress conducted a full schedule of hearings on budget, energy policy and environmental topics. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee highlighted the public health impact of global warming in another session. In addition, progress was made on a major goal of the Obama administration, a jobs bill, to perk up the economy and reduce unemployment. Congressional Quarterly reports that bicameral negotiations on a new measure that is likely to include mostly peripheral provisions on energy efficiency incentives and extensions to energy taxes that expired on Dec. 31, are still ongoing. Upon returning to Washington next week, Congress will begin a series of hearings on the fiscal year 2011 budget request, a continuation of Agency budgets already reviewed including Department of Interior, Army Corps of Engineers, and science and technology research. Meanwhile, other committees are to explore various components of a looming energy bill.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched a new climate service last week in a reorganization effort focused on improving long-range assessments of climate change, sea-level rise and severe weather. The major goal of the reorganization is to provide long-term forecasts to assist fisheries managers, farmers, state governments, renewable energy developers, water managers and others. Describing the new climate shop to the 140-year-old National Weather Service, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke likened it to recounting how weather forecasting helped citizens prepare for the blizzard that slammed the mid-Atlantic region last weekend. The overarching initiative would bring together existing climate science, currently spread throughout various branches at the agency. Thomas Karl, currently director of the National Climatic Data Center, would serve as transitional director of the climate service, which would also have six regional directors. Details: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100208_climate.html

On 3 Feb, as a component of a campaign to build bipartisan Senate support for comprehensive climate and energy legislation, President Obama and top White House officials laid out plans to ramp up biofuel production and promote clean-coal technology. Perhaps the biggest news was EPA’s announcement that corn-based ethanol provides a 21 percent advantage over conventional gasoline in terms of overall greenhouse gas emissions during the fuel production life cycle. That allows corn ethanol to qualify toward meeting the national renewable-fuel mandate of 36 billion gallons by 2022. Trying to win over Farm Belt and coal-state senators whose votes are a must if stalled climate change legislation is to move forward again, the administration rolled out the new concept at a meeting with 11 governors. To win over representatives of coal states who are fearful of the economic impacts associated with setting a price on carbon emissions, the President announced the creation of an Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage, which would be charged with developing a federal strategy to speed development of clean-coal technology. Details: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/02/03/moving-america-s-clean-energy-economy-forward-boost-biofuels-clean-coal

Arden L. Bement, the director of the National Science Foundation, has been named to lead Purdue University's new Global Policy Research Institute (GPRI) in West Lafayette, Ind. Bement will begin his new post as the director of GPRI--which will draw on seven different science and research disciplines at Purdue--on June 1 this year. Bement was appointed to his six-year term as director by President George W. Bush in November 2004. He served as acting director for 10 months prior to this. Under Bement, NSF has seen its budget move onto a doubling path, created a series of new science and engineering initiatives around innovation themes, increased its role in the international scientific policy arena and increased its commitment to core basic research areas. NSF is widely recognized as a key driver of science and innovation advances in the U.S. During Bement's tenure as NSF director, he oversaw the foundation's annual budget of more than $7 billion that supports the research and education of roughly 200,000 scientists, engineers, educators and students across the United States. As part of the White House's American Competitiveness Initiative in 2006, he guided initiatives that supported the training of the U.S. work force to operate in a high-tech global economy.

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.