Science Policy Report

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31 March 2021

In This Issue:

Policy News

Science and Society News

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

Policy News

The White House unveiled an approximately $2 trillion jobs plan focused on infrastructure and the climate. In the American Jobs Plan, Biden aims to tackle some of the nation’s most pressing problems — from climate change to decaying water systems to the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. Included in the plan is a $250 billion investment in the U.S. research enterprise aiming to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, create jobs, and outinnovate the rest of the world. Read the full article.
 

As it did in the 116th Congress, ASA, CSSA, and SSSA once again joined nearly 200 organizations in endorsing the bipartisan Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act (S. 289, H.R.869) sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and in the House by Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.)  The legislation authorizes $25 billion in supplemental funding for federal research agencies to restart research and support researchers whose research or facilities suffered losses because of COVID-19. See the letter.

 

The science committee in the U.S. House of Representatives wants to more than double the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the next 5 years, lifting its overall budget from the current $8.5 billion to $18.3 billion in 2026. The House bill, introduced with bipartisan support, would devote a sizeable chunk of the extra money to a new directorate that would accelerate the process of turning basic research into new technologies and products. But its version of a technology directorate would be much smaller than the one already proposed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY), which emphasizes the economic and security threats posed by China. Read the full article.
 

The government should use USDA conservation programs as the starting point for climate mitigation on the farm and “tread lightly” with unproven ideas like a carbon bank, said the senior Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday. Arkansas Sen. John Boozman cautioned that climate-smart practices may be too expensive for some producers to adopt. Carbon markets are touted as a new source of revenue for farmers and foresters but they generate comparatively little cash at present, said a panel of industry officials at the online Food and Ag Policy Summit. Read the full article.
 

ASA, CSSA, and SSSA join 90 other agriculture and scientific groups to ask Congress to support USDA research programs in the annual federal funding process. The letter asked the House and Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees to provide the highest possible allocation for overall discretionary spending and specifically for the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. This funding is critical for USDA research programs to support producers and rural America. Read the letter.
 

The White House has appointed Jane Lubchenco, a well-known marine scientist at Oregon State University and former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to a high-level position coordinating climate and environmental issues within its Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Lubchenco is serving in the renamed position of deputy director for climate and the environment, which in previous administrations had been known as the head of “energy and the environment.” The renaming signifies the emphasis the Biden Administration is placing on climate change. Read the full article.
 

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) released a comprehensive study that found there is a collective total of nearly $11.5 billion in needed repairs and renovations at the buildings and supporting facilities at schools of agriculture authorized to receive U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research funding. This urgent need is caused by the postponement of maintenance activities and capital investments – such as repairs on property, facilities, and machinery – in order to match limited budgets or realign available resources. The research finds that state and federal investment would help institutions preserve the quality and integrity of agricultural research, education, and extension, and would create both short-term and long-term economic opportunities. Read the full article.
 

Science and Society News

ASA, CSSA, and SSSA members, be sure to vote in Society election for President-Elect, Board Representatives, ASA Section and CSSA, SSSA Division Chairs-Elect by April 8. Candidates for President-Elect include: ASA - Andrew Knepp and Joann Whalen. CSSA - Bingru Huang and Seth Murray. SSSA - Samira Daroub and Carrie Laboski. Vote for ASA here, CSSA here, and SSSA here.

 

Soil health has received heightened interest because of its association with long‐term agricultural sustainability and ecological benefits. However, which practices are most effective at improving soil health indicators over time? To answer this, researchers measured soil health across the Biofuel Cropping Systems Experiment located at the Kellogg Biological Station in Michigan. Established in 2008, the Experiment consists of 10 systems increasing in diversity and perenniality, including four no‐till annual crops, two monoculture perennials, and four polyculture perennials. The study found that nine years post‐establishment, crop diversity enhanced soil health in both annual and perennial systems. Read the full article.
 

Stagnant public funding for agricultural research is threatening the future vitality of U.S. food systems – posing risks to farmer productivity and profitability, the steady supply of affordable food for consumers, and ultimately global food security, according to a new report. The report, jointly commissioned by Farm Journal Foundation and the American Farm Bureau Federation, highlights the vital importance of public funding for agricultural research and development (R&D). While private-sector funding for agricultural R&D has been increasing, U.S. public spending has been flat for the past decade. Read the full article.
 

The storage potential of one of the Earth’s biggest carbon sinks – soils – may have been overestimated, research shows. This could mean ecosystems on land soaking up less of humanity’s emissions than expected, and more rapid global heating. Soils and the plants that grow in them absorb about a third of the carbon emissions that drive the climate crisis, partly limiting the impact of fossil-fuel burning. Rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere can increase plant growth and, until now, it was assumed carbon storage in soils would increase too. But the study, based on over 100 experiments, found the opposite. Read the full article.
 

Given the urgency of the risks posed by climate change, the U.S. should pursue a research program for solar geoengineering — in coordination with other nations, subject to governance, and alongside a robust portfolio of climate mitigation and adaptation policies, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report emphasizes that solar geoengineering is not a substitute for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Read the full article.
 

On March 22, Texas A&M Professor Dr. Russ Jessup shared stories about his research collaborations with USDA’s Agriculture Research Service in a virtual Congressional briefing. The briefing, sponsored by the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research, is part two of a three-part series introducing USDA’s four research agencies to new Congressional staff. The final briefing will feature the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) on Tuesday, April 6, at 1 pm Eastern (register here to attend). Recordings of this ARS briefing and the March 16 briefing on the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or NIFA, can be found here.

 

Coffee leaf rust, or Hemileia vastatrix, was first identified in Sri Lanka in the 1860s and has made its way through most of the world’s coffee-growing nations since then. The fungus, which thrives in warm, wet conditions and travels on the wind, debilitates and destroys coffee trees. It’s also one of the biggest factors most scientists point to when they say that climate change is coming for your morning cup of coffee. Until this fall, Hawaii was one of the last coffee-growing regions in the world still untouched by rust. Read the full article.
 

Canola produces beautiful yellow flowers that indicate changes in development stages that farmers use as cues for management practices such as fungicide application and harvest timing. However, current methods for estimating flowering transitions require specialized sensors that are typically expensive and difficult to operate. Researchers found that red, green, and blue wavebands of light are more sensitive to flowering transitions than approaches incorporating infrared wavebands, which land managers commonly use for crop health assessment. This provides new opportunities for producers and researchers to monitor canola flowering with remote‐sensing metrics that are attainable with the same color channels in a typical smartphone, which also provides more options for satellite sensing. Read the full article.
 

Achieving food security in the future while using water resources in a sustainable manner is a major challenge for this and for next generations. The big question is:  how can we increase water productivity so that we can grow more crops per drop? Tracking agricultural water use via satellite remote sensing can help countries use agricultural water more productively and efficiently. FAO’s Water Productivity through Open-access of Remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR) provides satellite data on evapotranspiration that can help governments and local agencies account for how much water is available and who can access it. Read the full article.
 

For most of human history, permafrost has been Earth’s largest terrestrial carbon sink, trapping plant and animal material in its frozen layers for centuries. It currently stores about 1,600 billion tons of carbon — more than twice the amount in the atmosphere today. But thanks to rising temperatures, permafrost is fracturing and disappearing, leaving behind dramatic changes in the landscape. Scientists are becoming increasingly worried that the thaw will lead to an epic feast for bacteria and archaea that produce carbon dioxide and methane. Read the full article.
 

Stonyfield isn’t the only food company betting big on meeting its carbon reduction pledge by shifting its farmers toward regenerative agriculture practices that sequester carbon in soil, among other benefits. General Mills, Cargill, Danone, Walmart and others have made similar ambitious pledges, and for good reason. Like other food companies, their agricultural supply chains are responsible for a huge portion of their carbon emissions. Regenerative farming, which centers on building soil health, is one promising pathway for decreasing agriculture’s carbon footprint. Read the full article. 
 

The Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation is very pleased to launch our SoAR / FedByScience podcast series. We’ll share inspiring stories about efforts to ensure thriving farms, strong rural economies, and a healthy nation as we explore the importance and value of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) investments in food and agricultural research, education, and Extension. Please join us at Soundcloud: SoAR/FedbyScience and spread the word!

The American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) is looking to highlight stories of scientists doing gene-editing research in plants. Specifically, the association is interested in research with potential applications benefiting the environment or human health and nutrition. If you or any of your colleagues are engaged in this type of research and would be willing to connect with ASTA to discuss your work in more detail, please reach out to ASTA’s VP of Strategic Communications, Bethany Shively, at bshively@betterseed.org. Examples of ASTA’s current story-telling around gene-editing in food and agriculture and the potential it holds for the future of our planet, health and food can be found here.
 

The National Extension Climate Initiative is holding a virtual forum titled “Climate Change in Extension: Elevating and Amplifying Action,” April 19-21, 2021, starting at noon EDT each day. The forum will bring together Extension faculty, staff, federal representatives, administrators, interested partners, and constituents to address the question: What can/should the Cooperative Extension System do to advance climate change programming? National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Director Dr. Carrie Castille will be a panelist on April 19. To register or for more information go online to the National Extension Climate Initiative.
 

Join the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative for its next webinar: "Soil biodiversity and the stabilisation of carbon in the soil," Monday 26 April 2021 at 7am - 8:30am MDT. Interest in the potential for soil to store carbon is high, but our fundamental understanding of the controls on soil carbon accumulation and loss remains poor. This webinar will consider some recent advances in this topic, focusing on new understanding and theories on the stabilisation of soil carbon and how it is influenced by soil biodiversity and modified by land use and climate change. Register and learn more here.
 

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) is currently seeking external peer reviewers for our 2021 grant programs, including the New Innovator Award in Food and Agriculture Research and Seeding Solutions. Please consider supporting FFAR's efforts by indicating your availability through this 2-minute survey. If agreeable, FFAR requests assistance with reviewing up to four proposals. Take the survey here.
 

A good one-pager ensures policymakers and their staff remember you, your science and the issues you care about long after your meeting. In this webinar, we will cover the key components of a good one-pager and how legislative offices use one-pagers. We will also discuss how one-pagers can be used to engage other audiences. Friday, April 16, 1-2pm EDT. This webinar is sponsored by the Geological Society of America, Seismological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, and American Geophysical Union. Register here.
 

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

An OPEN solicitation provides a vitally important mechanism for the support of innovative energy R&D that complements ARPA-E’s primary mechanism, which is through the solicitation of research projects in focused technology programs. ARPA-E’s OPEN FOAs ensure that the agency does not miss opportunities to support innovative energy R&D that falls outside of the topics of the focused technology programs or that develop after focused solicitations have closed. OPEN FOAs provide the agency with a broad sampling of new and emerging opportunities across the complete spectrum of energy applications and allow the agency to “take the pulse” of the energy R&D community. OPEN FOAs have been and will continue to be the complement to the agency’s focused technology programs – a unique combination of approaches for supporting the most innovative and current energy technology R&D. Concept paper deadline, April 6. Read the full announcement.
 

Arizona Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for approximately $2.88 million in funding through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. State and/or local organizations, producer associations, academia, community-based organizations, and other specialty crops stakeholders are eligible to apply. SCBGP grant funds will be awarded for projects of up to two years duration. Applications for grant funds should show how the project potentially impacts and produces measurable outcomes for the specialty crop industry and/or the public rather than a single organization, institution, or individual. Deadline, April 14. Read the full announcement.
 

The Delaware Department of Agriculture is accepting proposals for Specialty Crop Block Grant Program funds to support projects that enhance the competitiveness of Delaware’s specialty crop industry, sustain the livelihood of Delaware farmers, and strengthen Delaware’s economy. Individual producers, producer groups, organizations, associations, and state and local organizations, academia, and other specialty crops stakeholders are eligible to apply either as single entities or in combined efforts. Proposals submitted by individual producers must demonstrate that the project’s potential impact will accrue to a broader group of similar producers, regions, or industry segments. Deadline, April 20. Read the full announcement.
 

The new Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Current and Emerging Threats in Crops (CETC) Innovation Lab will design, lead, and implement an applied research program focused on the control of current and emerging biotic threats to food security crops that the poor depend on. The program will also strengthen local research partners through capacity development while benefiting smallholder farmers and other beneficiaries of USAID assistance. The CETC Innovation Lab will serve as a resource to USAID Missions and their implementing partners in their efforts to overcome critical crop pest, weed and disease constraints facing their national food systems. The Innovation Lab is broadly expected to help recognize, build on and influence impact pathways from crop biotic threat protection research to development outcomes through partnerships with USAID Mission-supported programs, national partners, private companies, community-based organizations, and other donors and their programs. Deadline, May 11. 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. 
Rhode Island – Deadline May 18
 

The Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program announces the Call for Preproposals for Research & Education grants for 2022. With a Research and Education grant, a researcher and at least three (3) Producers work together to develop a proposal to conduct both research and education on a sustainable agriculture topic. Outreach activities may include on-farm/ranch demonstrations, farmer-to-farmer educational activities, and other approaches to assist producer adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. The goal of this program is to achieve results that can be communicated to producers and professionals; sustain and improve the environmental quality and natural resource base on which agriculture depends; improve the profitability of farmers/ranchers and associated agricultural businesses; and enhance the quality of life for farmers/ranchers in their local communities. Deadline, May 20. Read the full announcement.
 

The Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) program is accepting applications for the Fall 2021 term. SULI encourages undergraduate students and recent graduates to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers by providing research experiences at the Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories. Selected students participate as interns appointed at one of 17 participating DOE laboratories/facilities. They perform research, under the guidance of laboratory staff scientists or engineers, on projects supporting the DOE mission. Deadline, May 27. Read the full announcement.
 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking proposals to fund up to $75 million in new, unique projects under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program’s (RCPP) Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFA) that take innovative and non-traditional approaches to conservation solutions at the local, regional and landscape scales. In making selections. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will prioritize projects related to climate smart agriculture and forestry. NRCS will fund up to 15 projects this year through AFA, where partners have more flexibility in working directly with agricultural producers to support the development of new conservation structures and approaches that would not otherwise be effectively implemented through the classic RCPP. A significant portion of funds will address projects related to climate smart agriculture and forestry. These include projects related to carbon markets and new technologies. Deadline, May 28. Read the full announcement.
 

Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) is requesting pre-proposals for either Systems Research Projects or for Education Projects and Activities that address issues of sustainable agriculture of current and potential importance to the region and the nation. Maximum funding amount for Systems Research Projects is $400,000, and maximum funding amount for Education Projects and Activities is $50,000. Pre-proposals with smaller funding requests are welcomed and encouraged. Southern SARE accepts proposals from applicants in the Southern region: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Proposed projects must focus on Southern SARE’s program objectives in developing sustainable agriculture systems or moving existing farming systems toward sustainability. Deadline June 4. Read the full announcement.
 

The Office of Polar Programs (OPP) offers postdoctoral research fellowships (PRF) to provide opportunities for early career scientists, including social scientists, to accomplish one or more of the following goals: expand their work across traditional disciplinary lines, develop new partnerships connecting the polar regions and/or non-polar research communities, and provide entry to researchers who have traditionally had limited access to polar research resources, sites and facilities. The fellowship program encourages the integration of new investigators who have not previously worked in polar regions and/or innovative techniques that have not previously been applied to polar science into polar research. Additionally, the OPP-PRF aims to support beginning investigators with experiences that will establish them in positions of leadership in the scientific community. During their tenure, Fellows will affiliate with a host research institution(s) and conduct research on topics supported by OPP. Successful applicants will participate in a professional development program that will promote mentoring skills and coordinate their involvement in activities that increase the engagement of groups that have previously had limited engagement in polar Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Deadline June 18. Read the full announcement.
 

The Geoscience Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity (GOLD) Program supports the mission of achieving greater and more systemic diversity by creating a network of champions who can generate greater implementation of evidence-based best practices and resources to promote belonging, accessibility, justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (BAJEDI) throughout the geoscience education, research enterprise and workforce. Supported projects will research and develop the complex interplay of environmental context, personal traits, and motivating factors that must be considered in creating BAJEDI champions and supporting efforts that make the geosciences welcoming to all. Proposals accepted at any time. Read the full announcement.
 

The purpose of this Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) is to encourage submission of proposals to develop novel tools and methods that improve scientists' abilities to manipulate, control, analyze, or measure critical aspects of cells and their functions in order to open new areas of study in cell biology. Proposals for new tools or methods developments in cell biology can include, but are not limited to the general areas of bioinformatics, instrumentation, or laboratory or field-based research methods. Proposals should be submitted to one of two Divisions in the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) depending on the range of applicability of the tool or method and its connection to a specific research question rather than a general topical area. The research cluster and program within the two BIO divisions that seek proposals in this area are: 1) Cellular Dynamics and Function Cluster in BIO's Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) if the proposed tool or method addresses a specific research question or hypothesis defined by and to be used by an individual user or group of researchers. 2) Infrastructure Innovation for Biological Research Program in BIO's Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) if the proposed tool or method is applicable to a broad class of biological research questions or topics and will meet the needs of a well-defined community of researchers. Proposals accepted at any time. Read the full announcement.
 

Sources: ScienceInsider; The White House; Successful Farming; Washington Post; APLU; The Guardian; American Farm Bureau Federation; National Academies of Science; CivilEats; FOA; NCFRA; SoAR Foundation; Nature; Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative; NSF; DOE-SC; USDA; ARPA-E

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.