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What’s Ahead
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| The Optical Society is one of five AIP Member Societies that have endorsed the March for Science. Others include the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Astronomical Society, the American Crystallographic Association, and the American Physical Society. (Image credit – OSA) |
March for Science Takes Place Worldwide This Weekend
The March for Science will take place worldwide this Saturday, April 22. The main event will be held in Washington, D.C., with over 500 satellite marches occurring in cities around the U.S. and the world. To assist with planning, organizers are asking participants to RSVP here. The March is being organized as a non-partisan event that aims to mobilize scientists, science advocates, and concerned citizens to raise awareness about the importance of scientific research, foster involvement in the political process, and encourage policymakers to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest.
The D.C. March for Science is encouraging public participation and education through teach-ins beginning on the National Mall at 9 a.m. A 10 a.m. rally near the Washington Monument will include Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) and others. The march itself will begin at that location at 2 p.m.
Two AIP Member Societies — the American Astronomical Society and The Optical Society — will host open houses throughout the day of the march in downtown D.C. In addition, APS is partnering with AAAS to provide a meetup location for those attending. Additional events connected to the March for Science are listed below in “Upcoming Events.”
NASA Life & Physical Sciences Decadal Review Panel to Meet
The committee conducting the midterm assessment of the implementation of the 2011 decadal survey for NASA’s Life and Physical Sciences Research program will meet Tuesday through Thursday. It has been six years since the National Academies released its decadal survey report, “Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration.” That report found NASA’s work in space-based life and physical sciences to be in a state of decline, and outlined strategies and research priorities that it hoped would invigorate the agency’s work. This will be the midterm assessment committee’s second of four meetings. Panel presentations from the research community will address research on the biological and behavioral effects of the space environment, and space-based research in materials, combustion science, and fluid and fundamental physics.
Several Science Advisory Committees Convening
Multiple federal advisory committees are meeting this week, including those for the Department of Energy’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research and Biological & Environmental Research programs; the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Directorate and foundation-wide cyberinfrastructure program; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Integrated Ocean Observation System; and the U.S. Global Change Research Program. See “Upcoming Events” for details on each.
Among the items the DOE panels will discuss are a draft study of the Laboratory-Directed R&D program, an ongoing study of future high performance computing capabilities, and efforts to update a 2010 report on biological and environmental research “grand challenges.” Taking advantage of their overlapping meetings, the NSF committees will meet jointly to discuss cyberinfrastructure strategy for engineering research. NSF is currently conducting a review of cyberinfrastructure needs across all research disciplines, and two of its 10 “big ideas” for future investment are focused on better supporting mid-scale research infrastructure and harnessing big data.
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In Case You Missed It National Academies Releases Scientific Integrity Study
On April 11, the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering released “Fostering Integrity in Research,” a major report on scientific misconduct and other practices that erode the quality and values of scientific work. The report takes a hard line on often-tolerated practices such as the selective reporting of results, and relabels what had previously been called “questionable research practices” as “detrimental.” It also regards the current concern over the widespread irreproducibility of research results as well warranted. Among its recommendations, the report advocates stricter policies governing scientific authorship attribution, routinely making data and computer code available, and reporting negative findings as well as positive ones. To engage more continuously with research integrity issues, the report calls for the establishment of an independent, non-profit Research Integrity Advisory Board.
OMB Lifts Hiring Freeze, Orders Workforce Downsizing
In an April 12 memorandum, the White House Office of Management and Budget lifted the hiring freeze that has been in place since Jan. 23 but also instructed agencies to prepare to trim their workforces. The memo directed agencies to submit a long-term workforce reduction plan and ideas for streamlining their structure and operations as part of their fiscal year 2019 budget submission to OMB. In a press briefing, OMB Director Mick Mulvaney said that transferring the National Nuclear Security Administration from the Department of Energy to the Department of Defense is an example of a potential reorganization, but emphasized that there is currently no plan to pursue this idea and that such a move would require legislative action. Individuals can submit ideas for reforming agencies here.
Senators Request Increase in NSF and NIST Funding
Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Gary Peters (D-MI) sent a letter on April 10 to key appropriators asking them to boost fiscal year 2018 funding levels for the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology by 4 percent over current levels. The proposal contrasts with the Trump administration’s proposal to cut NSF’s research and education accounts by 5.1 percent and NIST’s research account by 5.8 percent for the remainder of fiscal year 2017. Gardner and Peters were two of the lead sponsors of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, a major federal research and STEM education law which President Obama signed in January. The letter credits the American Physical Society, an AIP Member Society, for a statistic featured in its congressional visits day materials for this year that quantifies the impact of R&D spending on U.S. GDP. The information originates from a 2012 Information Technology & Innovation Foundation report.
Key Science Appropriator Calls for NASA Revival
On April 12, a PBS NewsHour segment on NASA science policy featured Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), the chairman of the House subcommittee responsible for NASA’s budget, speaking about his vision for the space agency. Culberson reflected on his longstanding interest in sending a mission to search for life on Jupiter’s moon Europa, and remarked that “ NASA’s been underfunded for for too long.” He called for a revival of the space agency, saying he has “always wanted to restore NASA to the glory days of Apollo.”
Florida Delegation Increasingly Concerned About Climate
On April 10, the ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), convened a field hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida, on the current and future risks of extreme weather and coastal flooding. Local experts in climate science, resilience planning, and the insurance industry led a discussion on the importance of recognizing climate change and collecting data to protect lives and property in South Florida. Meanwhile, the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus, founded last year by South Florida Reps. Carlos Cubelo (R) and Ted Deutch (D), has been growing and now has 36 members – 18 Republicans and 18 Democrats – five of whom are Floridians.
Science Committee Dems Request Investigation of EPA
On April 13, House Science Committee Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) sent a letter to Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX) requesting an investigation of whether the Environmental Protection Agency misled the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) about the potential costs of the committee’s “HONEST Act” bill. Johnson cited an April 4 Bloomberg BNA article reporting that EPA leadership had disregarded staff estimates that the bill would initially cost at least $250 million annually, and instead provided information leading CBO to a low-end estimate of “a few million dollars per year.” The House passed the “HONEST Act” on March 29, before the CBO released its estimate, on a near-party-line vote of 228 to 194.
NOAA Releases Unified Modeling Framework
A new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Unified Modeling Task Force argues that by establishing “a common framework for model interoperability” and “more efficiently integrating systems across disciplinary boundaries,” NOAA will be able to reduce modeling costs and more effectively leverage extra-mural and community modeling efforts. Specific report recommendations include establishing a formal panel or committee at NOAA to coordinate modeling at the corporate level, implementing a NOAA-wide process for modeling information exchange, providing high performance computing and other modeling resources more readily across the agency, and conducting regular reviews for model redundancy and retention. A webinar on the report will be held on April 26.
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Events This Week
Monday, April 17 No events.
Tuesday, April 18 NBER: Innovation Policy and the Economy Conference
9:00 am – 2:30 pm, Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, DC)
Thomas Kalil, former deputy director for policy of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will be speaking
NDIA: 18th Annual Science and Engineering Technology Conference
(continues through Thursday)
National Defense University (300 5th Ave. SW, DC)
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mary Miller, DARPA Acting Deputy Director Stefanie Tompkins, ONR Executive Director Walter Jones, Army Research Lab Director Thomas Russell will be among the speakers
NOAA: US IOOS Advisory Committee Meeting (continues Thursday)
9:00 am – 5:00 pm, Wed.; 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Thurs.
Consortium for Ocean Leadership (1201 New York Ave. NW, DC)
Webcast available
Federation of American Scientists: Science and Security Summit
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, DC)
Former OSTP Director John Holdren is among the speakers
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Opportunities Duke Seeking Director for Science Policy Tracking Program
The Duke Initiative for Science & Society is accepting applications for director of the Science Policy Tracking Program in Durham, North Carolina. The director will become a non-regular faculty instructor for science policy courses in addition to leading the SciPol science policy tracking website. Applicants must have a master’s degree with a Ph.D. or J.D. preferred. The position closes on April 27.
Nominations Open for National Academies Water Committee
The National Academies is accepting nominations for individuals to serve on a committee that will provide guidance on how the U.S. Geological Survey’s Water Mission Area can address national water resource challenges. Nominees should have expertise in water science or represent state and local user communities and should have previous relationships with USGS. Nominations must be submitted by April 28.
APLU Seeking Summer Government Affairs Interns
The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities is accepting applications for summer interns in its Congressional and Government Affairs Office. Among their duties, Interns will attend congressional briefings and assist with research projects that contribute to representing university interests in Washington, D.C. Both undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in higher education and science or technology policy are encouraged to apply.
Know of an upcoming science policy opportunity? Email us at fyi@aip.org.Know of an upcoming science policy event? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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