|
AIBS NAMES 2010 EMERGING PUBLIC POLICY LEADERS
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) has selected Meredith Niles, a graduate student at the University of California, Davis, Ryan Richards, a graduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Leslie Smith, a graduate student at the University of Rhode Island, to receive the 2010 AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leadership Award (EPPLA).
“AIBS is committed to fostering a productive dialogue between policymakers and scientists,” said AIBS Executive Director Dr. Richard O’Grady. “We applaud Meredith Niles, Ryan Richards, and Leslie Smith for exemplifying this commitment through their work.”
Since 2003, AIBS has recognized the achievements of biology graduate students who have demonstrated an interest and aptitude for contributing to science and public policy. Niles, Richards, and Smith will travel to Washington, DC, in April to meet with their Congressional delegations and to attend a budget briefing on the federal investment in scientific research. These events are part of the annual Biological and Ecological Sciences Coalition (BESC) Congressional Visits Day. Niles, Richards, and Smith will also receive a certificate and one-year membership in AIBS, which includes a subscription to the journal BioScience.
“By participating in the 2010 Congressional visits event, Meredith, Ryan, and Leslie are playing an important role in bridging the communication gap between our nation’s policymakers and the scientific community,” said AIBS Director of Public Policy Dr. Robert Gropp.
“Engendering collaborations between scientists and policymakers is vital for the continuation and success of both disciplines,” said Niles. “I hope to be a part of the future generation making such efforts possible.”
Niles is a former Fulbright Scholar pursuing a Ph.D. in ecology at the University of California, Davis. Her thesis research on sustainable agriculture practices has implications for climate change mitigation and adaptation. She is a participant in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program at Davis. Her work has included directing a national campaign to increase public awareness of the effects of climate on food production. Before graduate school, Niles worked for the U.S. Department of State where she was involved with policy and public affairs relating to the international fight against AIDS. She earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Catholic University of America.
“Congressional Visits Day will provide a valuable opportunity to interact with elected leaders and relate the importance of science and federal funding for research,” said Richards.
Richards is pursuing dual Master’s degrees in conservation biology and environmental policy at the University of Maryland. His research has taken him to Namibia to study the impacts of bush encroachment on rangeland. As part of his graduate work, he is developing guidance for the Namibian government to address invasive species. Richards has worked on wildlife conservation policy at a number of scientific and conservation-focused organizations, including the Society for Conservation Biology and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Richards has a bachelor’s degree in wildlife, fish and conservation biology from the University of California, Davis.
“This experience will give me the opportunity to communicate first hand with federal decision makers, not just on the facts of the present state of science, but the necessity of scientific research itself,” said Smith.
Smith is a Ph.D. candidate in biological oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. While interning for Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, she wrote a report on the effects of climate change on coastal ecosystems in Rhode Island. She later presented this information to government agencies, non-profit organizations, and local schools. For her graduate research, Smith is studying the environmental impacts of pollution on coastal waters. Her work could be used by state managers to better anticipate and prevent episodic events of poor water quality. Smith has participated in the NSF IGERT program. Her undergraduate degree in biology is from Davidson College in North Carolina.
COMMENTS SOUGHT ON STRATEGIC PLAN TO DIGITIZE BIOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS
A strategic plan is being developed for a 10-year, national effort to digitize and mobilize images and data associated with biological research collections. The plan aims to create a publicly available, comprehensive collections resource that will increase access to biological collections across the country. The plan was drafted by workshop participants at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in February 2010.
The strategic plan is seen as “a grand challenge” and will be undertaken “as a unified mission involving a coordinated funding program and well designed strategy for execution.” The plan calls for the development of cyberinfrastructure “to promote efficient and standard capture and mobilization of these data to make the national biological collections resource publicly available for analysis.”
The plan has several goals for the digitization effort:
- Making images and data from all U.S. biological collections available in an integrated, web accessible interface using shared standards and formats.
- Developing and launching new web interfaces, visualization and analysis tools, data mining, image analysis, and georeferencing processes.
- Digitizing and web mobilizing the existing backlog of non-digitized collections, and developing tools, training, and infrastructure to prevent the reoccurrence of such a backlog.
These goals would be accomplished via a three tiered approach:
1. Develop a coordinated effort to provide technological support for the nationwide collections digitization effort, to organize new efforts with existing collections-based projects and international efforts, and to disseminate standards, techniques and best practices.
2. Develop a network of regional collaborations for collection digitization.
3. Develop investigator-driven and cross-regional collaborations driven by the specific needs of collections of a particular clade or preservation type, or motivated by a particular scientific question to be addressed by the use of collections images and data.
Feedback on the strategic plan from the collections community is sought and can be made on the plan’s website (http://digbiocol.wordpress.com/) or by sending an email to wg-digitization@nescent.org. Group feedback based on institutional priorities or taxon-based needs is welcomed. Specific feedback is needed in areas such as support for the proposed model, suggestions for revision, ideas regarding the three-tiered approach, priorities for collection digitization, and ways to maximize collaboration across institutions and federal agencies, and at the international level. This feedback will be aggregated and provided to participants in future planning sessions that will develop a final strategic plan.
HOUSE PASSES BILL TO EXPAND RESEARCH ON HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS
On 12 March 2010, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would expand research on harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in U.S. marine and fresh waters. The Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2009 (HR 3650), sponsored by Representative Brian Baird (D-WA), passed by voice vote after falling two votes shy of passage under expedited consideration earlier in the week. If enacted, the bill would double authorizations for harmful algal blooms and hypoxia research programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), up to $41 million a year. The legislation would also require NOAA to oversee the development of regional research and action plans for addressing these poor water quality events. The Senate is currently considering similar legislation (S. 952), which was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee last year.
NSF BIO PROGRAM LAUNCHES ONLINE TOOL TO ENABLE SCIENCE PARTNERSHIPS
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Integrative Organismal Systems has launched a Wiki to facilitate partnerships between researchers and end-users of science. “NSF intends to use a Wiki, a social networking vehicle, to facilitate and increase the number of collaborations between end-users and investigators who develop tools and resources, and to promote downstream dissemination and development of outcomes,” according to Joann Roskoski, acting assistant director of the Biological Sciences Directorate. For more information, please visit http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10028/nsf10028.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_179. To sign up for the Wiki, visit https://extwiki.nsf.gov/signup.action.
NRC REPORT CALLS FOR EXPLORATION OF CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CLIMATE AND HUMAN EVOLUTION
A new report by the National Research Council (NRC), “Understanding Climate’s Influence on Human Evolution,” considers the research needed to answer fundamental questions about impacts of Earth’s climate on human origins. “Significant progress into the question of whether past climate changes influenced human evolution will require a coordinated, focused, and cross-disciplinary research program designed specifically to address this problem,” the report states. Specially, the NRC calls for two research initiatives over a 10-20 year period. The first theme would study the impacts of climate change and climate variability on human evolution and dispersal. Secondly, climate modeling, environmental records, and biotic responses would be integrated. To accomplish these goals, the report calls for a major exploration initiative to locate new fossils sites, and an integrated effort to better understand climate history where hominins evolved by sampling lake and ocean sediments and a major investment in climate modeling. To read the report, please visit http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12825.html.
BACK TO SCHOOL: EDUCATION POLICY DISCUSSIONS START
The Obama Administration has released its plans for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (more recently referred to as No Child Left Behind). According to Department of Education documents, the Administration’s plan will “help states raise expectations of students and reward schools for producing dramatic gains in student achievement. The blueprint provides incentives for states to adopt academic standards that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and create accountability systems that measure student growth toward meeting the goal that all children graduate and succeed in college.”
Additionally, on 10 March 2010, the influential National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released the first “official public draft of the K-12 standards” as part of the “Common Core State Standards Initiative,” a process being led by members of the two organizations from the states, territories, and the District of Columbia.
According to an NGA news release, “These draft standards, developed together with teachers, school administrators and experts, seek to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce. The NGA Center and CCSSO have received feedback from national organizations representing, but not limited to teachers, postsecondary education (including community colleges), civil rights groups, English language learners, and students with disabilities. The NGA Center and CCSSO encourage those interested in the standards to provide further feedback by Friday, April 2, 2010, at www.corestandards.org.
These standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs. The standards are:
- Aligned with college and work expectations;
- Clear, understandable and consistent;
- Include rigorous content and application of knowledge through high-order skills;
- Build upon strengths and lessons of current state standards;
- Informed by other top performing countries, so that all students are prepared to succeed in our global economy and society; and
- Evidence- and research-based.
The standards are expected to be finalized in early spring. For more information, visit www.corestandards.org.
For more information about the Department of Education’s framework for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, please go to http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/.
SHORT TAKES
- Major changes have taken place in the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee after the death of Representative John Murtha (D-PA) in February. Representative Norm Dicks (D-WA), formerly the Chairman of the Interior and Environment Subcommittee, has been selected to replace Murtha as Chairman of the Defense Subcommittee. The Interior Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the budgets of the U.S. Geological Survey and the Environmental Protection Agency, will now be lead by Representative Jim Moran (D-VA).
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is seeking public comments regarding the permitting of research on species protected under the Endangered Species Act. FWS Form 3-200-55 regulates research, enhancement of propagation or survival, and interstate commerce of endangered and threatened species. Comments on ways to enhance the permit and to reduce the burden on applicants will be accepted until 10 May 2010. Please see http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-5030.htm for more information.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking public comments regarding proposed changes to federal permits that regulate scientific and conservation interactions with marine mammals. Comments will be accepted until 10 May 2010. More information is available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-5142.htm.
|
