Science Policy Report

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04 April 2018

In This Issue:

Policy News

International Corner

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

Science News

Policy News

It took an extra 6 months, but Congress has finally completed its work on a spending plan for the 2018 fiscal year, which began last October. And the delay was good news for many federal science agencies. President Donald Trump signed into law a $1.3 trillion spending package that largely rejects deep cuts to research agencies proposed by the White House and, in many cases, provides substantial increases. The research funding increases were made possible, in large part, by an agreement reached earlier this year to raise mandatory caps on civilian and military spending that gave lawmakers an additional $300 billion to spend this year and next. Read the full article.

ASA, CSSA, and SSSA have begun submitting our funding requests to Congress for the upcoming fiscal year, 2019. The Societies have submitted funding request letters and outside witness testimony for USDA research programs and the Department of Energy, Office of Science. Our request for the National Science Foundation will be submitted soon. In addition to our own letters, the Societies have signed onto multiple coalition letters in support of federal food, agriculture, and natural resources research programs. See all funding request letters here.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced a new bill that would legalize hemp as an agricultural product. The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 would legalize hemp, removing it from the federal list of controlled substances and allowing it to be sold as an agricultural commodity. If approved, the act would allow states to control their own hemp regulations by removing federal restrictions. The act would give hemp researchers the ability to apply for grants through the Department of Agriculture. Read the full article.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today issued a statement providing clarification on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) oversight of plants produced through innovative new breeding techniques which include techniques called genome editing. Under its biotechnology regulations, USDA does not regulate or have any plans to regulate plants that could otherwise have been developed through traditional breeding techniques as long as they are not plant pests or developed using plant pests. This includes a set of new techniques, such as genome editing, that are increasingly being used by plant breeders to produce new plant varieties that are indistinguishable from those developed through traditional breeding methods. Read the full article.

The Trump administration is planning to put new restrictions on the kind of scientific studies and data that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can use to craft its regulations. The EPA wants to stop using scientific findings whose data and methodologies are not public or cannot be replicated, the Daily Caller reported. It aligns in part with a years-long effort by House Science, Space and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to stop the use of “secret science” at the EPA. Critics have said the effort could hamper the use of health studies for which privacy is a concern, or external studies for which the EPA does not own the data. Read the full article.

The March for Science has matured. It may even have outgrown its name. What began last year as an outcry against newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump and his policies, shows signs of becoming a movement. This year’s second worldwide event, set for 14 April, will likely feature fewer sites and smaller crowds. But the passion remains, transforming a single day of grassroots mass protest into sustained global expressions of support for science. In addition to the March for Science rally on the National Mall on April 14 in Washington, D.C., more than 175 satellite marches are being organized around the world, offering supporters of science and scientists a chance to leverage the value of science in and beyond their own communities. Read the full article.

International Corner

India has a new science adviser. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Monday tapped Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan, a molecular biologist and head of India’s Department of Biotechnology, to fill the post. He replaces physicist Rajagopala Chidambaram, a longtime adviser to India’s governments and a key figure in the development of India’s nuclear weapons program. The position of principal scientific adviser (PSA) has taken on greater prominence under Modi, who has disbanded other science advisory bodies and has tended to rely on the science adviser and science and environment minister for technical advice. Read the full article.

The Chinese government revealed plans to restructure its science funding institutions, including moving the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). The shake-up raised initial concern among some Chinese scientists that placing NSFC under MOST would lead to a downgrading of the peer-review process and weaken support for basic research within the country. Chinese government officials countered that basic research funding would not be reduced by the reorganization. Officials said the restructuring would allow China to streamline its pipeline of research, pursue “grand challenges” and big science projects, and enable better coordination between China and international research projects through the ministry’s ability to reach out to other countries. Read the full article.

A group of European scientists has founded an international association to discuss and provide guidance on the ethical use of genome editing, a technique with the potential to transform everything from food production and human health to science itself. Organizers launched the new Association for Responsible Research and Innovation in Genome Editing (ARRIGE) at a kick-off meeting in Paris this past Friday. The high hopes and fears around gene editing—which has the potential to lead to new crops and the elimination of diseases, but also to “designer babies” or insects running amok—have been the topic of dozens of meetings and reports, including a high-profile “summit” in Washington, D.C., in 2015. Read the full article.

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

To further scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and the United States, an Implementing Arrangement was signed to enable U.S. scientists and engineers with NSF-funded CAREER awards and Postdoctoral Research Fellowships to pursue research collaboration with European colleagues supported through EU-funded European Research Council (ERC) grants. This letter invites current Postdoctoral Research Fellows to apply for research visits to any identified, appropriate European research group. Deadline, April 20. Read the full announcement.

The U. S. Department of Energy's Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program hereby announces its interest in receiving applications for building EPSCoR-State/DOE-National Laboratory Partnerships. These partnerships are to advance fundamental, early-stage energy research collaborations with the DOE national laboratories. Participation by graduate students and/or postdoctoral fellows is required. Junior faculty from EPSCoR jurisdictions are encouraged to apply. Utilization of DOE user facilities are encouraged. Entities located within the following jurisdictions will be eligible to apply under this FOA: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Letter of intent deadline, April 25. Read the full announcement.

The purpose of the Aquaculture Research program is to support the development of an environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture industry in the U.S. and generate new science-based information and innovation to address industry constraints. Over the long term, results of projects supported by this program may help improve the profitability of the U.S. aquaculture industry, reduce the U.S. trade deficit, increase domestic food security, provide markets for U.S.-produced grain products, increase domestic aquaculture business investment opportunities, and provide more jobs for rural and coastal America. The Aquaculture Research program will fund projects that directly address major constraints to the U.S. aquaculture industry and focus on one or more of the following program priorities: (1) genetics of commercial aquaculture species; (2) critical disease issues impacting aquaculture species; (3) design of environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture production systems; and (4) economic research for increasing aquaculture profitability. Deadline, May 17. Read the full announcement.

The purpose of the TCEG Program is to provide funding to enhance educational opportunities for Native Americans in the food and agricultural sciences. The TCEG program is intended to strengthen institutional capacity to deliver relevant formal education opportunities. The TCEG is intended to be a component of the applicant 1994 institution's land grant roadmap or strategic planning process. To the extent practicable, priorities should reflect NIFA's following national critical needs areas: 1. Development of sustainable energy; 2. Increased global food security; 3. Adaptation/mitigation of agriculture and natural resources to global climate change; 4. Reduction of childhood and adolescent obesity; and 5. Improved food safety. Deadline, May 18. Read the full announcement.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing availability of Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Proposals will be accepted from the following several states. See the links for full announcement details and deadlines.

New York – Deadline May 1

Oklahoma – Deadline May 21

Iowa – Deadline May 29

Caribbean Area – Deadline May 30

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreement from qualified U.S. colleges and universities to fund a program entitled Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research. This NFO is designed to identify and launch a new Feed the Future Innovation Lab focused on legume systems research and capacity development at the smallholder and food systems levels. Deadline, May 30. Read the full announcement.

The Tribal Colleges Extension Services Program provides funding to (1) increase Extension program capacity at 1994 Land-Grant Institutions; and (2) address special needs, take advantage of important opportunities, and/or demonstrate long-term sustained benefits of Extension projects at 1994 Land-Grant Institutions. Awards will be made to support one or more of the following Extension base program areas: Agriculture; Community Resources and Economic Development; Family Development and Resource Management; 4-H and Youth Development; Leadership and Volunteer Development; Natural Resources and Environmental Management; and Nutrition, Diet and Health. Deadline, June 6. Read the full announcement.

The Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) provides awards to Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native-serving institutions, and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions to promote high quality science (including sociology, psychology, anthropology, economics, statistics, and other social and behavioral sciences as well as natural sciences), technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, research, and outreach. Support is available to TCUP-eligible institutions for transformative capacity-building projects through 1) Instructional Capacity Excellence in TCUP Institutions (ICE-TI), 2) Targeted STEM Infusion Projects (TSIP), 3) TCU Enterprise Advancement Centers (TEA Centers), 4) Preparing for TCUP Implementation (Pre-TI), 5) Partnerships for Geoscience Education (PAGE) and Partnerships for Documentary Linguistics Education (PADLE), 6) Small Grants for Research (SGR), and 7) Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science in Tribal Colleges and Universities (SEA-PHAGES in TCUs). Deadline, June 11. Read the full announcement.

Humanity is reliant upon the physical resources and natural systems of the Earth for the provision of food, energy, and water (FEW). It is becoming imperative that we determine how society can best integrate across the natural and built environments to provide for a growing demand for food, water and energy while maintaining appropriate ecosystem services. The overarching goal of INFEWS is to catalyze the well-integrated interdisciplinary research efforts to transform scientific understanding of the FEW nexus in order to improve system function and management, address system stress, increase resilience, and ensure sustainability. This interagency cooperation allows the partner agencies - National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA) - to combine resources to identify and fund the most meritorious and highest-impact projects that support their respective missions. Deadline, September 26. Read the full announcement.

Science News

In central Florida, blueberries are raised in 30-cm high pine bark beds over native sandy soil. Despite having a high C:N ratio, pine bark continually degrades to less than 15 cm in less than 5 years. This degradation is due to high doses of nitrogen fertilizer and high summer temperatures coupled with frequent irrigations and summer rainfall.  A constant irrigation schedule over five years is not helpful as blueberry root-zone depth decreases continually reducing plant available water. In a paper recently published in Soil Science Society of America Journal, researches reported how physical and hydraulic properties dynamically changed as pine bark degraded over 5-years in two blueberry farms representing two soil drainage classes in central Florida and the role of soil water sensors in determining these changes reliably. Read the full article.

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) announced that Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, a prominent scientist, former university dean, and currently the director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), will assume the role of president and CEO of the organization in July 2018. Appointed by President Obama in 2012, Ramaswamy has directed NIFA to catalyze transformative discoveries, education, and engagement to solve societal challenges. Ramaswamy’s six-year term at NIFA will end in May. Read the full article.

In the Pacific Northwest, spinach seed is a tiny crop with huge value. And it’s in big trouble. Northwest farmers grow the seeds that fuel the fast-growing baby leaf spinach market. But they’re increasingly burdened by a devastating disease that takes their fields out of commission for decades at a time. A professor at Washington State University, Lindsey du Toit, leads research to help growers reduce the impact of a crippling fungal disease called Fusarium wilt. How do you stop such a powerful pathogen? For researchers like du Toit, the key could be resistance: spinach plants with strong natural defenses against Fusarium. Read the full article.

Cover cropping is an effective strategy for producing sufficient food for the growing population without compromising soil and water quality. Because each cover crop species provides specific benefits to crops and soil, there is a growing interest among producers to adopt multi-species cover cropping. However, experimental data comparing the effectiveness of multi-species cover cropping with less diverse cover cropping are very limited, particularly in the southern United States. In a paper recently published in Agricultural and Environmental Letters, researchers evaluated soybean yield and soil properties from growing a six species cover crop mixture of legumes, grasses, and Brassicas compared with single and double species grasses and legumes after three years of a field trial in west Tennessee. Read the full article.

The Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application is now accepting nominations. This award will recognize exceptional, science-based achievement in international agriculture and food production by an individual under 40 who has clearly demonstrated intellectual courage, stamina, and determination in the fight to eliminate global hunger and poverty. Nominations are due June 15. To learn more about the nomination process or to nominate a deserving individual see here.

The Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon succeeded in reviewing the role of soils and SOC in the context of climate change, sustainable development and land degradation neutrality. Based on those results, recommendations were developed and were published in the Outcome Document of the Symposium “Unlocking the Potential of Soil Organic Carbon.” One of the recommendations is related to the establishment of a working group to develop feasible and regionally contextualized guidelines for measuring, mapping, monitoring and reporting on SOC that can be adapted locally to monitor SOC stocks and stock changes to support management decisions. This open call for the establishment of the Working Group represents a response to the urgent need to identify, compile strategies to develop feasible and regionally contextualized guidelines for measuring, mapping, monitoring and reporting on SOC that can be adapted locally to monitor SOC stocks and stock changes to support management decisions. Those interested in joining the working group should email Mr. Yusuf Yigini (Yusuf.Yigini@fao.org) by April 10. Read the full announcement.

Sources: USDA; NSF; AAAS; ScienceInsider; The Hill; The Daily Caller; March for Science; NWCCU; WSU News; World Food Prize; FOA; University World News

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.