AIBS News June 2010

Public Policy Report for 12 April 2010

• House science committee formulates America COMPETES reauthorization. The House Committee on Science and Technology is making headway on a reauthorization of the America COMPETES (Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science) Act. On 25 March, the Energy and Environment Subcommittee marked up several provisions that address energy research. Included is language that would increase the funding authorization for the Department of Energy Office of Science to $8.154 billion in fiscal year 2015.
• NPS finalizes policy to require benefits-sharing agreement for research. The National Park Service (NPS) has finalized a policy that requires researchers using specimens collected from national parks to enter into a benefitssharing agreement with the NPS if their research produces discoveries or inventions with a commercial application. Under the new rule, researchers with commercially successful discoveries would provide monetary or nonmonetary compensation, such as scientific equipment or lab work, to the national park on an annual basis, subject to the terms of their benefits sharing agreement.
• PhD Candidates engage in interdisciplinary research. According to a new report from the National Science Foundation, about a quarter of PhD candidates conduct interdisciplinary research. This proportion has remained relatively stable over the last decade at approximately 28 percent. The report is based upon self-reported data from new PhD recipients collected by the Survey of Earned Doctorates.
• FWS seeks comments on permits for migratory birds. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) requests public comments regarding the agency's application and reporting requirements for the take of migratory birds. Several USFWS permits regulating the disturbance and taking of migratory birds are scheduled for government review this year.

Public Policy Report for 29 March 2010

• Obama picks Nobel laureate for OSTP science post. On 22 March, President Obama selected Carl Wieman to be associate director of science at the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Wieman, who was among the recipients of the 2001 Nobel Prize in physics, is currently on the faculty at the University of British Columbia at Vancouver and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has been a proponent of science education reform, including serving as the founding chair of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Science Education. If confirmed by the Senate, Wieman would lead the Science Division of OSTP, which formulates and coordinates federal research and development policy, as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education policy.
• Help influence FY 2011 science funding: Write Congress today. Through the AIBS Legislative Action Center, you can send letters to your congressional representatives requesting their support for increased funding for the National Science Foundation and the US Geological Survey in fiscal year 2011. Letters from constituents at this time will help remind members of Congress that their constituents care about funding for these agencies.
• NSF, DOE, USDA joint initiative to improve climate impact predictions. The National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy, and Department of Agriculture plan to fund $250 million of climate modeling research over the next five years. The goal of this effort is to improve predictions of localized impacts of climate change. The Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction Using Earth System Models program is designed to generate more powerful models to help decisionmakers develop regional climate adaptation strategies. The program aims to improve climate predictions by modeling at smaller geographic scales and over shorter time frames than was previously possible. Currently, most climatemodeling capacity is at the continental scale. "People live in regions, not on the global mean," said NSF Director Arden Bement.
• New report examines causes of gender gap in science. A new report from the American Association of University Women, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, examines the social and environmental causes underlying the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. In the last several decades, girls have been catching up to boys in terms of elementary, middle, and high school science and engineering courses taken, and nearly the same number of girls as boys graduate from high school prepared to study science or engineering in college. Yet research findings indicate that stereotypes, college environments, implicit bias, and popular beliefs about intelligence still contribute to the gender imbalance in science and engineering.
• House passes bills on ocean education, Mississippi River water quality. The House of Representatives passed two pieces of waterrelated legislation on 19 March. If enacted, the Bay-Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) Regional Program and National Environmental Literacy Grant Program Act (HR 3644) would authorize an annual 10 percent increase in funding over the next five years for the ocean education program administered by NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The B-WET program currently supports environmental education programs in six coastal regions: California, Chesapeake Bay, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, New England, and Pacific Northwest. The House also passed legislation (HR 3671) that would direct the US Geological Survey to monitor nutrient and sediment loads in the upper Mississippi River basin.
• NSF letter-writing campaign a success. An impressive number of scientists and educators recently dedicated a couple of minutes each to send a letter to their representatives about funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in fiscal year (FY) 2011. These efforts, coordinated by the AIBS Legislative Action Center, helped to produce results: Seventy representatives signed a "Dear Colleague" letter to Chairman Mollohan and Ranking Member Wolf of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Science, and Justice. This display of support for $7.424 billion in funding for the NSF in FY 2011 is a promising sign for sustaining the federal investment in NSF-sponsored research. To see the complete list of representatives who signed the Dear Colleague letter, please visit http://capwiz.com/aibs/issues/alert/?alertid=14843506.