Washington Watch

After 11 September 2001 and the anthrax attacks that followed, President Bush made it a government priority to protect human health and food systems from biological attack. Federal agencies have allocated billions of dollars to biological security programs and new......

Whether in response to the “politi­cization” of science, or simply to ensure that public policy is informed by science, many scientists are mobilizing and becoming more active in the public policy arena. Whatever the reason, science is more prominent in......

Compared with other scientific disciplines, some leaders in the science community have said, biology is too heavily centered on facts, with too little emphasis on underlying theory. The propagation of this misperception in recent years has very likely contributed to......

As the effects of global warming appear more ominous, and the world community makes minimal progress in curbing fossil-fuel emissions, geoengineering schemes for climate mitigation are taking on new allure. One proposal, “fertilizing” ocean waters with micronutrients such as iron......

Just over two years ago, intelligent design and creationism (IDC) proponents suffered a stunning legal defeat when a federal judge ruled that intelligent design is no different from religious belief in creationism and has no place in the science classroom.......

Whether from a desire to reduce dependency on foreign oil, to develop new rural economies, or to reap potential environmental benefits, bioenergy-related research has captured enormous national attention in the last couple of years. In June 2007, the Department of......

When it comes to the oceans and carbon dioxide, there’s good news and bad news. To date, the world’s oceans have absorbed nearly a third of the excess carbon dioxide emitted as a result of anthropogenic activities. That may be......

Researchers at university-based natural science collections have long known that their institutions face daunting budgetary and infrastructure challenges. It is becoming equally apparent that federal collections face comparable challenges. Recent circumstances at the Smithsonian Institution (SI), the flagship for federal......

Before leaving Washington, DC, for the August district work period, the Senate and the House of Representatives passed legislation authorizing $43.3 billion for science and science education programs at various federal agencies, and President George W. Bush signed the act......

There’s no other wildlife conservation network like it in the world—547 reserves covering nearly 100 million acres (40.5 million hectares) of wetlands, forests, grasslands, islands, and deserts that support thousands of plant and animal species, including 260 listed as endangered......

Washington, DC, is abuzz with talk about innovation. Leaders in government, business, education, and science are calling for action to enhance the US science and technology enterprise for the 21st century. Both the White House and Congress—the former through the......

The 110th Congress is taking a new approach to climate change. Rather than debating whether or not climate change is a “hoax,” the Democratic-majority Congress is moving full steam ahead. With the creation of a select House committee on climate......

In mid-January, as national attention focused on congressional reorganization and the never-ending controversies surrounding the Iraq war, the White House rewrote key chapters of the book on federal regulations. In one fell swoop, Executive Order 13422 made economic criteria the......

For several years, ocean science advocates have been buoyed by various reports focusing attention on the importance of invigorating and prioritizing ocean research. Indeed, the US Ocean Action Plan called for the development of a long-range national ocean research agenda.......

Declines in global amphibian populations have been in news headlines around the world since they were acknowledged in 1989 at the First World Congress of Herpetology. Eager to explain the causes, biologists have established ambitious research, monitoring, and inventory programs.......

Postdoctoral researchers are an essential part of the scientific community, yet their status in the academic community often fails to reflect their significant role in advancing the nation’s scientific research programs. Postdoctoral scholars often spend long periods of time in......

In early 2006, more than 50 briefs were submitted to the Supreme Court in connection with two cases challenging the federal government’s authority to regulate streams and wetlands under the Clean Water Act (CWA). At issue in Rapanos v. United......

Over the past several decades, various agencies, committees, and individual scientists have called for greater gender equity within the ranks of the science and engineering faculty at colleges and universities in the United States. Despite these calls to action, most......

Back in 1992, Representative Henry A. Waxman (D–CA) introduced legislation aimed at dealing with global climate change by controlling emissions of greenhouse gases. Fourteen years later, the California Democrat and other environmentally conscious lawmakers are still waiting for Congress to......

Since World War II, the federal government has set the science policy agenda for the United States. In recent years, however, states have increasingly sought to expand their role, at least perceptually, in an effort to nurture economic development. Although......

Proposals to require free and open access to scholarly publications have spawned an active public policy debate. Until recently, the focus was on making articles arising from research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) available through an NIH-maintained......

In real estate, the key to success is location, location, location. In Congress, the key to passing legislation is assignment, assignment, assignment—committee assignment, that is. In the 109th Congress, Republicans are attempting to reauthorize two pieces of environmental legislation that......

The National Science Foundation is developing its latest strategic plan, which offers veteran NSF-watchers a window into basic priorities and senior-level policymaking at the agency, and also provides an opportunity for input by the scientific community on the foundation's policies......

For years, members of the scientific community have sounded alarm bells warning of a decline in the competitiveness of US research, development, and education systems. During the past year, taking note of high-profile innovation initiatives from Representative Frank Wolf (R–VA),......

The scene: a press conference featuring scientists and religious leaders. The date: 21 December 2005, the day after US District Court Judge John E. Jones III struck down the Dover, Pennsylvania, Area School District's inclusion of intelligent design in the......

Academics, business leaders, and policymakers have all issued the warning: The United States is facing an imminent workforce shortage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that threatens the country's economic competitiveness in the global marketplace. Some nonprofit research groups......

In late 2005, much of the talk around Washington, DC, focused on competitiveness and innovation in science and technology. The National Academy of Sciences released "The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future," warning policymakers of......

Innovation is the order of the day in Washington, DC. While scientists have been pleased by the attention and by the budget increase that Congress voted to give the National Science Foundation (NSF) for fiscal year 2006, some biologists fear......

When will embryonic stem cell researchers be able to fully tap into federal funding, the financial backbone of the US science community? This is what scientists continue to ask, as well as citizens who remain enthused about cells that show......

Much ink has been spilled about how the current Bush administration has used—or, in the opinion of some, abused—science....

In the United States, vicious battles over water were once viewed as the sole domain of the American Southwest. But today, conflicts over water are brewing all over the country....

Scientists, nongovernmental organizations, and even politicians have warned for years that federal policymakers are politicizing science to achieve political goals. Surveys show that many scientists in some federal agencies feel that scientific findings have been discounted in management decisions in......

President Bush is in a tight spot. He faces a burgeoning national deficit and a crop of aging baby boomers who will soon require trillions in Medicare and Social Security benefits. Disinclined to curtail his tax cuts, the president has......

In May, with his job on the line, Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers pledged $50 million over the next decade for initiatives to help recruit, support, and promote women and members of underrepresented ethnic groups on the university’s faculty. "We......

Forty-three states have issued advisories against eating mercury-contaminated fish, in recognition of the harm that organic methylmercury pollution can cause to the environment and to human health. In response to stepped-up legal and political pressure on the federal government, the......

Although President George W. Bush’s controversial plans to partially privatize social security may grab more headlines, a battle is brewing on Capitol Hill over the administration’s retreat from its promised support for science budgets. The Republican chairman and key members......

Massive expansion of the US biodefense program since 2001 has yielded fresh career opportunities for thousands of American scientists handling infectious disease work. With the Bush administration determined to develop better countermeasures against bioterrorism, this trend is likely to continue......

International assessments of student achievement in science regularly detail how high school graduates in the United States lag behind their peers in other industrialized nations. Despite some progress over the past few decades, the recently published National Assessment of Educational......

As required by the Oceans Act of 2000, President Bush has formally responded to the final report of the US Commission on Ocean Policy. On 17 December 2004, the White House released the "U.S. Ocean Action Plan," a 40-page document......

In early December, President George Bush told Canadians that by "relying on sound science and mutual goodwill, we can resolve issues." One week later, he signed a budget for fiscal year 2005 that slashes funding for the federal programs providing......

The number of species officially listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is 1261 and still rising. Nine species have gone extinct, and only 8 domestic species have been recovered and delisted. On one point, both......

With an annual research budget of approximately $600 million (including $150 million for extramural research), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is one of the government’s largest supporters of environmental research. It’s also the oldest: By executive order in......

Many in the scientific community have expressed concerns that post-9/11 delays in visa processing are deterring foreign students and scientists from studying or working in the United States (see the April 2004 Washington Watch column, BioScience 54: 296). Yet few......

The academic community recognizes that peer review is essential for evaluating research. Indeed, in recent years the scientific community has vigorously defended the integrity of the peer review process and championed its use for evaluating data that underpin government actions.......

At the end of 2002, scientists had cause to celebrate: Congress had approved a massive 15 percent increase in research funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and passed legislation that would authorize similar increases for the agency for five......

Candidates for high political office commonly pledge to curb federal spending by "putting an end to pork-barrel projects." Some, like US Senator John McCain (R-AZ), have built a national following by opposing earmarking--otherwise known as pork-barrel spending. Yet one person's......

In an election year dominated by war and the American economy, an odd movement is afoot: Leading politicians on both sides are talking about science. The conversation revolves around two issues, namely, (1) the use and interpretation of science in......

At universities throughout the United States, tight budgets are threatening the continued vitality of research based on natural history collections (see "Are University Natural Science Collections Going Extinct?" BioScience 53: 550). In response, members of the taxonomy and natural history......

US agencies tasked with approving visas for visiting scientists have struggled in recent years to achieve Secretary of State Colin Powell's vision of "secure borders and open doors." One result is that new regulations and added layers of bureaucracy have......

What is the economic benefit of preserving and protecting environmental health in the United States? That is the question being asked of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the branch of the White......

Public policy and business leaders worldwide increasingly recognize the economic and quality-of-life benefits that robust scientific research and development (R&D) programs can confer. Indeed, European Union (EU) leaders have made it a priority to establish a European Research Area, an......

Awareness of the government�s need to replenish a scientific, technical, and managerial workforce soon to be decimated by the retirement of the baby-boom generation has grown in recent years. Decisionmakers are pondering how best to recruit and retain that new......

A National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel recently completed its assessment of National Science Foundation (NSF) plans to develop a National Environmental Observatory Network (NEON). Although the committee delivered a glowing endorsement of the NEON concept, the report criticized NSF�s......

Since 1987, no fewer than 18 independent expert panels and 13 pieces of legislation have called for the elevation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cabinet status. Dozens of experts, including four former EPA administrators, have testified in favor......

The mission and responsibilities of the US Geological Survey (USGS), an agency once recognized almost exclusively for giving the public information about geologic hazards, have grown over the years. Now, as the natural resource science and mapping bureau for the......

The mission statements of most scientific societies encompass the need to raise awareness of their field of research. So why, then, is a campaign aimed at broadly distributing the results of scientific research coming under fire from those same societies?......

As threats to evolution education continue to spread state by state across the United States, evolution advocates are beginning to organize. More than 50 science education advocates, clergy, educators, scientists, and representatives of national organizations recently attended an "activists'......

Coastal waters are suffering from too much of a good thing. A National Research Council report recently concluded that nutrients are the largest pollution threat to the coastal waters of the United States. Nutrient overenrichment of coastal waters (eutrophication) contributes......

Across the United States, university natural science collections are scaling back programs or closing their doors. The cutbacks are attributed largely to poor state budgets, but some biologists believe the problems illustrate the bias of many university administrators toward molecular......

It's that time again. The National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences is preparing to assess and rank the quality of United States research doctoral programs. Previous exercises, in 1982 and 1995, have been widely cited and......