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What’s Ahead
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| The National Center for Photovoltaics, part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in Golden, Colorado. (Image credit – National Renewable Energy Laboratory) |
Senate Appropriators to Unveil DOE Spending Bill
The Senate will begin public consideration this week of legislation to fund the science agencies for fiscal year 2018, starting with a Tuesday subcommittee markup of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill, which funds the Department of Energy. The full Senate Appropriations Committee will follow quickly with its markup on Thursday. FYI reported on the House version of the Energy-Water Appropriations bill, which has now been approved by the full House Appropriations Committee. While details of the Senate bill have not been publicly released, key senators’ remarks and past positions suggest the chamber could challenge the House’s and Trump administration’s proposals to make a large cut to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and to eliminate the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy.
House Appropriations Committee Voting on NIH, USGS Bills
On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee will consider the fiscal year 2018 Interior and Environment spending bill, which funds the U.S. Geological Survey and Environmental Protection Agency. The bill, which was approved in subcommittee last week, would cut USGS by $46 million or 4.2 percent and the EPA by $528 million or 6.6 percent. On Wednesday, the committee will consider the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill, which will fund the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Education for fiscal year 2018. The legislation, which received subcommittee approval last week, would increase the NIH budget next year by $1.1 billion, or 3.1 percent, to $35.2 billion. The bill would also explicitly block the administration’s proposal to significantly reduce the amount the government reimburses universities for facilities and administrative costs.
DOE Under Secretary Confirmation Hearings on Deck
This Thursday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Paul Dabbar as the Energy Department’s under secretary for science and Mark Wesley Menezes as DOE under secretary of energy. Their nominations last week are President Trump’s fourth and fifth DOE appointments, though only Energy Secretary Rick Perry has been confirmed. Dabbar is managing director for mergers and acquisitions at J.P. Morgan, and Menezes is vice president of federal relations for Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Following a reorganization of the DOE management structure in 2013, the under secretary of science has overseen DOE’s Office of Science and applied energy offices. However, Energy Secretary Rick Perry may be reverting to the structure in place before the Obama administration, in which applied energy offices fall under the jurisdiction of the under secretary of energy.
National Academies Launching Open Access Study
On Thursday, a newly formed National Academies committee is meeting to launch a study “ on how to move toward open science as the default for scientific research results.” The study will produce a report “ with the majority of the focus on solutions that move the research enterprise toward open science,” described in the project scope as “ broadening access to the results of scientific research.” The committee chair is Alexa McCray, co-director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School. The committee will hear from Heather Joseph, executive director of SPARC, a global coalition which advocates for open access policies; Brian Nosek, co-founder and executive director of the Center for Open Science; Jim Kurose, head of the National Science Foundation’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate; and Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences.
Navy Future Force Expo to Focus on S&T Strategy
The biennial Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo will take place in Washington, D.C. this Thursday and Friday, with a focus on “ accelerating to the Navy and Marine Corps after next” and supporting the current Naval S&T Strategy. Speakers include Rear Adm. David Hahn, chief of naval research; France Córdova, director of the National Science Foundation; Mary Miller, acting assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering; and Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI), ranking member of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.
Science Committee to Look at Mars 2020 and Europa Clipper
On Tuesday, the Space Subcommittee of the House Science Committee will hold a hearing on NASA’s flagship Mars 2020 Rover and Europa Clipper missions. Both are currently in development in NASA’s Planetary Science Division, which is also planning a subsequent Europa lander mission. The witnesses will be Jim Green, director of NASA Planetary Science; Kenneth Farley, a project scientist for Mars 2020; Robert Pappalardo, a project scientist for Europa Clipper; Linda Elkins-Tanton, the principal investigator of NASA’s Psyche mission to a metallic asteroid; and William McKinnon, co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science.
House Hearing to Spotlight Private Sector Energy Innovation
On Wednesday, the House Science Committee will hold a hearing “to highlight private sector leadership on commercializing next generation energy technology,” and to “explore the impact of research infrastructure and federally funded basic and early stage research on technology innovation, and regulatory hurdles that limit the success of innovative technologies.” The witnesses will be Jacob DeWitte, president and chief executive officer of Oklo, a startup company that is developing a nuclear battery; Gaurav Sant, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at University of California, Los Angeles, who researches sustainable materials for infrastructure; Venky Narayanamurti, a professor of physics and of technology and public policy at Harvard University; and Kiran Kumaraswamy, market development director at AES Energy Storage.
International Space Station R&D Conference Starts Monday
The American Astronautical Society is holding its annual International Space Station R&D Conference from Monday through Thursday in Washington, D.C . House Space Subcommittee Chair Brian Babin (R-TX) and Senate Science, Space, and Competitiveness Subcommittee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) will deliver keynote addresses on Tuesday, and Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot and SpaceX founder Elon Musk will speak on Wednesday. A panel on perspectives in space policy will also convene Wednesday morning, moderated by former Sen. Jeff Bingham (D-NM).
NOAA Convening Weather Satellite Conference
On Monday through Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will host an environmental satellite conference at the City College of New York, covering topics such as big data, research-to-operations, international partnerships, and utilizing the agency’s new polar and geostationary satellites. Speakers will include Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for satellites and data at NOAA; David Grimes, president of the World Meteorological Organization; and Al Roker, NBC Today Show anchor and weatherman.
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In Case You Missed It
Details of House Appropriations Proposals Emerge
House appropriators have now released the reports that accompany the spending bills they unveiled in late June. The report for the bill that funds the Department of Energy is available here. The report for the bill that funds NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is available here. The report for the bill that funds the Defense Department is available here. The documents contain additional policy guidance as well as detailed instructions concerning how science agencies should allocate funds among programs and projects. FYI will be reporting on key details once Senate appropriators have released their corresponding reports.
White House OSTP Remains Downsized
According to recent media reports, the number of staffers in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy dropped to 30 following Trump’s inauguration and has since only grown back to 35 — far below the peak of 135 reached during the Obama administration. The office had over 60 staff members during the George W. Bush administration. John Holdren, OSTP director under Obama, commented on the staffing levels in an interview with ScienceInsider, saying that a drastic drop following an election is to be expected, adding, “What’s shocking is that, this far into the new administration, the numbers haven’t gone back up.” Currently, the office’s only political appointee is Michael Kratsios, who is serving as deputy chief technology officer. An unnamed Trump administration official stated that the goal is to have closer to 50 people working in OSTP.
White House Tells Agencies to Base FY19 Budget on FY18 Proposal
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney has instructed all federal departments and agencies to prepare budget plans for fiscal year 2019 based on existing programs and proposals but reflecting “ a level no higher than the net total provided for your agency in the FY 2019 column of the FY 2018 Budget.” Mulvaney also asked departments and agencies to identify target areas for additional investments of up to 5 percent higher than their overall submission level, and said that he may accommodate a limited number of those requests in the final fiscal year 2019 budget submission to Congress. In the spending legislation for fiscal year 2018 revealed to date, Congress has rebuffed many of the administration’s funding proposals.
State Department’s S&T Advisor Departs Early
On July 11, Vaughan Turekian, the science and technology advisor to the secretary of state, tendered his resignation, effective this week. Turekian, who began what is usually a three-year term in September 2015, will leave to become director for Science and Technology for Sustainability at the National Academy of Sciences. Turekian’s resignation comes at a time when the administration is seeking to significantly reorganize the State Department and has proposed a budget cut of almost 30 percent. A State Department spokesman would neither confirm nor deny if Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to appoint a successor.
Houses Passes Defense Policy Bill, Proposes Space Corps
On July 14, the House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2018 on a vote of 344–81. One of the most contentious aspects of this year’s House bill is a provision that would establish a new Space Corps within the Department of the Air Force to handle military space activities. In its statement of administration policy on the bill, the White House opposes the provision. Another contentious item is an amendment introduced in committee by Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) directing DOD to release a report on the national security consequences of climate change. A floor amendment to rescind the provision, introduced by Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), was defeated on a vote of 185–234. Most proposed policy changes concerning DOD R&D activities are currently found in the Senate version of the NDAA, which is still awaiting floor action.
DOE Renews Stanford’s SLAC Management Contract
On July 10, the Department of Energy awarded Stanford University a new, five-year, $1.73 billion contract to manage and operate SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Stanford has managed the lab continuously since its foundation in 1962. This is the first time Stanford’s contract has been renewed since DOE restructured it last year as part of the department’s efforts to reform national lab management. DOE intends for Stanford’s new, slimmed down contract structure to serve as a model that could be implemented, where appropriate, at the department’s other national labs.
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Events This Week
Arctic Research Commission: 107th commission meeting
8:30 am – 4:30 pm, US Navy Memorial Naval Heritage Center (701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, DC)
Wednesday, July 19 National Academies of Engineering: Third Global Grand Challenges Summit (continues Thursday)
8:15 am – 8:00 pm, Wed.; 8:30 am – 5:15 pm, Thur.
George Washington University (2121 I St. NW, DC)
Webcast available
American Society of Naval Engineers: 2017 Naval Future Force S&T Expo (continues Friday)
7:45 am – 4:30 pm, Thur.; 7:30 am – 5:00 pm, Fri.;
Washington Convention Center (801 Mt Vernon Pl. NW, DC)
Friday, July 21 No events starting today.
Monday, July 24 American Association of Physics Teachers: Summer meeting (continues through Wednesday)
(Cincinnati, OH)
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Opportunities NSF Seeking Chemistry and Materials Research Directors
The National Science Foundation’s Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate is accepting applications for multiple program director positions in its Materials Research (DMR) and Chemistry (CHE) Divisions. DMR is specifically seeking individuals with expertise in biomaterials, data analytics, photonics, or solid state materials, while CHE is seeking individuals with expertise in chemistry of life processes, organic synthesis, and chemical theory, models, and computational methods. Interested applicants should have a Ph.D. in the physical sciences and at least six years of subsequent research experience. NSF will begin formally reviewing applications on August 1.
Space Studies Board Seeking Associate Program Officer
The National Academies’ Space Studies Board is currently seeking applicants for an associate program officer position. Qualified applicants must have at least a bachelor’s degree in a related field and three years of related work experience.
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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