[DIALOGnews] DIALOG and DISCCRS News 04/01/02
Susan Weiler
weilercs@whitman.edu
Fri, 1 Mar 2002 14:52:33 -0800
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04/01/02</title></head><body>
<div><br></div>
<div>Article on history of climate change research</div>
<div>Proposed NSF Budget</div>
<div>INSTARR Report and Website</div>
<div>New Website on Ocean Currents</div>
<div>Earth at Night</div>
<div>Freelance Writers Needed</div>
<div>Positions at USGS</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Great Website on Aquatic Science Careers. This is the best site
I've come across. If you ever need to advise students, send them
here:</div>
<div>http://www.marinecareers.net</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*********************************</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>ARTICLE ON HISTORY OF CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Below is the reference for an interesting article on the history
of climate change research. --Spencer Weart is one of the most
respected historians of science in the field, though he is little
known within the scientific community.</div>
<div> Weart, S.P. 1997. Global warming,
Cold War, and the evolution of research plans. Historical Studies in
the Physics and Biological Sciences 27(2): 319-366.</div>
<div> Some of you may know of an even better
publication--if you do, please pass it on to me. I would like to share
it with othes.</div>
<div> cheers, sue</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>****************************</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>PROPOSED NSF BUDGET</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>National Science Foundation Budget Request for FY 2003</div>
<div>An enhanced version of this announcement, complete with tables,
is</div>
<div>available online at: http://www.cnie.org/Updates/ ]</div>
<div> The National Science Foundation
announced that its FY 2003 budget</div>
<div>request is $5.0 billion, an increase of $240 million or 5.0
percent</div>
<div>relative to FY 2002. However, nearly one-third of the
increase in NSF=92s</div>
<div>budget would result from the proposed transfer of $76 million
in</div>
<div>existing programs from NOAA, U.S. Geological Survey, and EPA.
Excluding</div>
<div>the transfers, NSF=92s budget would increase by $164 million or
3.4</div>
<div>percent.</div>
<div> GEOSCIENCES DIRECTORATE. All of
the programs that would be transferred</div>
<div>into NSF from other agencies would be moved to Geosciences
Directorate,</div>
<div>which would increase by 13.4 percent, largely as a result of
the</div>
<div>transfers. Excluding the transfers, the Geosciences Directorate
would</div>
<div>increase by only 1.2 percent, which probably represents a decline
after</div>
<div>adjusting for inflation.</div>
<div> BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIRECTORATE.
NSF=92s Biological Sciences Directorate</div>
<div>would receive $526 million in FY 2003, an increase of $17 million
or 3.4</div>
<div>percent. Within the Biological Sciences Directorate, NSF is
placing a</div>
<div>new emphasis on Emerging Frontiers, which is described as a
=93virtual=94</div>
<div>division that will emphasize multidisciplinary research.
=46unding for</div>
<div>Emerging Frontiers is taken from other subactivities.</div>
<div> MAJOR RESEARCH EQUIPMENT. The NSF
budget request includes initial</div>
<div>funding for two large environmental projects under its account
for Major</div>
<div>Research Equipment and Facilities Construction:</div>
<div>-National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). NEON would
be a</div>
<div>continental scale research instrument consisting of 10
geographically</div>
<div>distributed observatories for integrated studies to obtain a
predictive</div>
<div>understanding of the nation=92s environments. In addition,
NEON would</div>
<div>serve as a =93biological early detection system=94 in the front
line of</div>
<div>homeland defense. NSF is requesting $12 million in initial
funding for</div>
<div>this project for proof of concept prototyping and for
construction of</div>
<div>two initial sites.</div>
<div>-EarthScope. EarthScope would be a distributed,
multi-purpose</div>
<div>geophysical instrument array that is designed to make major
advances in</div>
<div>our knowledge and understanding of the structure and dynamics of
the</div>
<div>North American continent. NSF is requesting $35 million for
initial</div>
<div>funding of this project.</div>
<div> BIOCOMPLEXITY IN THE ENVIRONMENT
PRIORITY AREA. NSF proposes to increase</div>
<div>funding for its priority area on Biocomplexity in the Environment
by</div>
<div>35.6% to $79 million. This priority area would be expanded
to include</div>
<div>research in two new areas this year--microbial genome sequencing
and</div>
<div>ecology of infectious diseases--to help assess and manage the
risks of</div>
<div>infectious diseases, invasive species, and biological
weapons.</div>
<div> Other Highlights in the NSF Budget
Request</div>
<div>-NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. NSF proposes to
increase the</div>
<div>annual stipend from $21,500 to $25,000 for Graduate Research
=46ellowships</div>
<div>and related programs.</div>
<div>-Increase in Average Grant Size. NSF proposes a 10 percent
increase in</div>
<div>the average grant size to $125,000. This may force the
agency to hold</div>
<div>the number of awards nearly constant at 10,500.</div>
<div>-Education Initiatives. The NSF budget request includes a
second</div>
<div>installment of $200 million for the President=92s five-year Math
and</div>
<div>Science Partnership program to link local schools with colleges
and</div>
<div>universities. NSF also requests $20 million to fund three
or four new</div>
<div>multidisciplinary, multi-institutional Science of Learning
Centers.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>************************</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>INSTARR REPORT AND WEBSITE</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University
of</div>
<div>Colorado Boulder, Biennial Report 1999-2000 is now posted on
the</div>
<div>institute web site. Go to the INSTAAR site at:</div>
<div> http://instaar.colorado.edu</div>
<div>and click on "Other Resources-INSTAAR PDF's."</div>
<div>Hard copies may be obtained by contacting INSTAAR at:</div>
<div>instaar-info@instaar.colorado.edu</div>
<div> The website itself is worth taking a
look at even if you are not interested in the report.</div>
<div>Other INSTAAR publications are also listed on the web site.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>****************************</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>NEW WEBSITE ON OCEAN CURRENTS</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Miami, Florida -- A web-based ocean current reference and
educational site</div>
<div>is being constructed at the Rosenstiel School of Marine &
Atmospheric</div>
<div>Science (University of Miami) under the guidance of Arthur J.
Mariano with</div>
<div>Ed Ryan as the webmaster and Joanna Gyory as the primary
researcher and</div>
<div>technical writer. The plan, according to Mariano, is to
have each major</div>
<div>ocean current contain a listing of important links, text
(average</div>
<div>transports, current variability, etc.), and data plots.
"This is a large</div>
<div>project and we are looking for help and material," he said.
"We are</div>
<div>primarily working on the Atlantic Ocean surface currents, but
contributions</div>
<div>for all ocean currents are needed and will be gladly accepted
and</div>
<div>acknowledged."</div>
<div> Contact Mariano at
amariano@rsmas.miami.edu or telephone +1 (305) 361-4193,</div>
<div>if you would like to write up a current summary. Contact Ed
Ryan,</div>
<div>eryan@rsmas.miami.edu, if you have plots or links that you would
like</div>
<div>included on this site or Gyory, jgyory@rsmas.miami.edu, with any
corrections</div>
<div>to the text, additional text, or new references. The main
website is</div>
<div>located at http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/. See the
following</div>
<div>examples:
http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/gulf-stream.html
and</div>
<div>http://oceancurrents.rsmas.miami.edu/atlantic/loop-current.html</div
>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>****************************</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>EARTH AT NIGHT:</div>
<div>Check the link below...This is really a sight to behold. The
image is a panoramic view of the world from DMSP satellites. It is a
composite of night photos with the lights clearly indicating the
populated areas. You can scroll East-West and North-South. Note that
Canada's population is almost exclusively along the U.S. border.
Moving east to Europe, there is a high population concentration along
the Mediterranean Coast. It's easy to spot London, Paris, Stockholm
and Vienna. Check out the development of Israel compared to that of
the Arab countries. Note the Nile River Vs the rest Africa. Look
at the Australian Outback and the Trans-Siberian Rail Route. Moving
east, the most striking observation is the difference between North
and South Korea. Note the density of Japan.</div>
<div
>http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg</div
>
<div>Information about the picture is available at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001127.html</div>
<div> BEYOND EARTH:</div>
<div>For those of you who want something out of this world, this site
is great too:</div>
<div>http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*************************</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>FREELANCE WRITERS NEEDED</div>
<div> Position: Freelance
Writers</div>
<div> Institution: Gale
Group, Inc. (Mich.)</div>
<div> Location:
Michigan</div>
<div> Date posted:
2/7/2002</div>
<div>SOUGHT: Academics and freelance writers with a background in
history, American culture, art/design, sports, science/technology, or
education to research and write 1,000 word entries for a volume to
complement American Decades for high-school and undergraduate
audience. Assignment size can be suited to your available time.
Writers will select and write context for primary source documents.
Must adhere to style specifications and ability to meet deadlines is
crucial. Submit a resume and short, unpublished writing sample for
consideration. Contact: Cynthia Rose, Gale, 27500 Drake Rd.,
=46armington Hills, MI 48331-3535; fax: 248-699-8062; or<font
color=3D"#0000FF"><u> cynthia.rose@gale.com</u></font>. Suitable
candidates will be contacted by an assignment editor who will provide
more information.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*********************************</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>POSITION AT USGS</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC), a
research</div>
<div>center of the U.S. Geological Survey, is advertising to all
sources a</div>
<div>research fishery biologist position at its facility in La
Crosse,</div>
<div>Wisconsin. The position may be filled as a GS 12 fishery
biologist</div>
<div>(Salary range $54,315=9670,605, depending upon qualifications).
The job</div>
<div>announcement appears at http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/. General
information</div>
<div>on applying for federal jobs can be found at
http://federaljobs.net.</div>
<div> The researcher is expected to be the
principal scientist in UMESC=92s</div>
<div>efforts to develop diverse research approaches to invasive
aquatic</div>
<div>species in both the Great Lakes drainage basin and in the
Mississippi</div>
<div>River drainage basin. Examples of general research approaches
include</div>
<div>integrated and multi-agency field and laboratory efforts to
address the</div>
<div>ecological effects of invasive aquatic species to aquatic
environments</div>
<div>in the referenced geographical regions. The researcher also
develops and</div>
<div>tests possible approaches to mitigating those effects through an
array</div>
<div>of potential integrated pest management tools. The incumbent
must</div>
<div>demonstrate ability as a mature, competent, and productive
researcher</div>
<div>with the ability to carry out invasive species research from
conception</div>
<div>to data assembly to analysis and ultimately to publication.</div>
<div> Research is expected to result in
authorship of scientific papers in</div>
<div>peer-reviewed scientific journals. The incumbent will present
result of</div>
<div>research at scientific meetings, interagency meetings with
cooperators,</div>
<div>and before the general public. The UMESC research program
supports the</div>
<div>biological science needs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
(USFWS),</div>
<div>the National Park Service, and other bureaus of the Department of
the</div>
<div>Interior. The Center has a staff with specialists in invertebrate
and</div>
<div>fish ecology, wildlife ecology, botany and plant ecology,
animal</div>
<div>physiology, analytical chemistry, zoology, ecotoxicology of</div>
<div>environmental contaminants, pharmacology, statistics,
microbiology,</div>
<div>geographic information systems, computer science, and
information</div>
<div>transfer. Research involves a number of approaches,
including</div>
<div>manipulative experiments, descriptive studies, long-term
resource</div>
<div>monitoring, modeling, and status and trends analysis.
Experimental work</div>
<div>is conducted at several spatial scales, including whole
ecosystems,</div>
<div>field enclosures, experimental ponds, laboratory microcosm, and
the</div>
<div>organism and cellular levels. UMESC has a branch structure for
staff</div>
<div>supervision and a programmatic team structure that facilitates
research</div>
<div>studies by multidisciplinary staff.</div>
<div>Contact:</div>
<div>Dr. William Gingerich</div>
<div>608.781.6225</div>
<div>william_gingerich@usgs.gov</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>C. Susan Weiler, Ph.D.<br>
Biology Department<br>
Whitman College<br>
Walla Walla, WA 99362<br>
Tel: 509-527-5948<br>
Fax: 509-527-5961<br>
weiler@whitman.edu
http://www.aslo.org/phd.html<br>
<br>
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHEN YOUR ADDRESS/E-MAIL CHANGES</div>
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