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What’s Ahead
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| This week, legislation authorizing the International Space Station’s operation through at least 2024 is set to become law, and on Wednesday, the House Science Committee will hold a hearing to explore the station’s more distant future. Two Earth science instruments slated for installation on the ISS are being targeted for cancellation in President Trump’s budget blueprint. (Image credit – NASA) |
Science Committee to Hold Second NSF Hearing This Month…
On Tuesday, the House Science Committee will hold a hearing titled “National Science Foundation Part II: Future Opportunities and Challenges for Science.” The witnesses will be National Science Board Chair Maria Zuber; NSF Acting Chief Operating Officer Joan Ferrini-Munday; chief technology officer of the Center for Open Science Jeffrey Spies; and Keith Yamamoto, vice chancellor for science policy and strategy at the University of California, San Francisco. The House Science Committee is currently planning a push for new authorizing legislation for the agency.
…and Another on the Future of the International Space Station
The committee is holding a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the International Space Station’s future beyond 2024. The “NASA Transition Authorization Act,” which Congress passed on March 7, expresses Congress’s support for extending the life of the ISS through that year. Witnesses include Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for exploration at NASA, and Mary Lynne Dittmar, executive director of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration. Commercial Spaceflight Federation president Eric Stallmer and University of Florida professor Robert Ferl have been added to the witness list.
NIH and Education Department Budget Hearings Postponed
House appropriators had scheduled National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to testify before a subcommittee on the president’s budget, but both hearings have been postponed. Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget blueprint released on March 16 indicates the administration is seeking an 18 percent cut to NIH and a 13 percent cut to the Department of Education.
NASA Transition Authorization Bill Expected To Become Law
Congress passed the bipartisan “NASA Transition Authorization Act” on March 7 and it is still awaiting President Trump’s signature. The time allotted to him to sign the bill expires this week. He can sign the bill into law, veto it, or let it become law without his signature.
Lunar and Planetary Scientists Gather in Texas for Conference
The 48th annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference begins Monday in The Woodlands, Texas, bringing together scientists from across the world to discuss the latest research in planetary science. Policy sessions include a briefing by NASA headquarters, and town halls with NASA’s Planetary Science Division and the National Academies. There will also be town halls presenting updates on the ongoing ice giants mission study and the congressionally chartered Roadmaps to Ocean Worlds program. For further details, see “Upcoming Events.”
Dark Matter Researchers Convening to Discuss Priorities
On Thursday, experts on the problem of dark matter will gather at the University of Maryland to attend the three-day “U.S. Cosmic Visions” workshop. The Department of Energy requested the workshop be held to respond to relevant recommendations in the 2014 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) report. DOE’s High Energy Physics program is specifically interested in identifying promising small-scale projects that it can support in the ongoing hunt for dark matter particles.
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In Case You Missed It White House Seeking Dramatic Funding Cuts to Science, Stirs Deep Concern Among Scientists
President Trump’s budget blueprint, which outlines his forthcoming fiscal year 2018 budget request, reveals that the administration is targeting many federal science agencies for deep cuts. Among them are close to 20 percent cuts to the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and the National Institutes of Health and elimination of DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy. The budget outline is silent on the National Science Foundation and leaves out top-line funding levels for a number of major research agencies and offices. Reactions from congressional leaders, who will develop the final budget legislation, have ranged from supportive to skeptical to outraged. Many research organizations have responded with expressions of deep concern. You can read FYI’s overview here and our agency-by-agency analysis here.
Three Physics Societies Endorse March for Science
A growing number of science societies and organizations have endorsed the April 22 March for Science in recent weeks, including the American Physical Society, The Optical Society, and the American Crystallographic Association, all AIP Member Societies. In statements, APS and OSA both cited the march as an opportunity to send a positive message to the public about the importance of science.
House Science Committee Details Policy Priorities for 2017
Last week, the House Science Committee majority released its annual “views and estimates,” document which details the committee’s policy priorities for the coming year. This year’s statement declares the committee will seek to reauthorize the science agencies under its jurisdiction. It will also aim to prioritize basic research and the physical sciences, once again seeking to influence the National Science Foundation’s directorate-level spending allocations. It also suggests cutting back significantly on programs in climate research and applied energy R&D. The committee’s Democratic minority has submitted its own views and estimates.
Growing International Competition in Research Raised at Hearing
As part of its ongoing “Disrupter Series,” the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a March 15 hearing on the potential of advanced materials to transform different industrial sectors. Witnesses from industry and academia testified about materials such as graphene, advanced composites, and artificial human tissue, and described how federal funding supports their work. Rice University professor James Tour testified that the U.S. is falling behind other countries in graphene research and described in stark terms the implications of stagnant research budgets on U.S. scientific competitiveness.
Senate Appropriators Hear Testimony from STEM Educators
At a March 15 appropriations hearing titled “STEM Education: Preparing Students for the Careers of Today and the Future,” Subcommittee Chair Roy Blunt (R-MO) called for better teacher preparation and training, more diversity in STEM, and STEM opportunities for students in rural, urban, and suburban areas. Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) emphasized the importance of education and training for workers at all levels.
Courts Halt Revised Travel Ban, Cite Impact on University
On March 15, a federal court in Hawaii issued a temporary, nationwide restraining order against President Trump’s new travel ban order, which would have limited entry of foreign nationals from six Middle Eastern and Northern African countries into the U.S. The court ruled that Hawaii has standing to bring the case in part because the ban would harm the University of Hawaii and cause “irrevocable harm” to its faculty and students. This finding is similar to one in the court order that halted Trump’s original travel ban. A federal court in Maryland has issued a separate restraining order against the new ban.
OSTP Need Not Release Former Science Advisor’s Private Emails
On March 13, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy need not hand over work-related emails that John Holdren, President Obama’s former science advisor, has on an account he maintained with the Woods Hole Research Center. Last summer, a judge ruled that OSTP would be required to do so in order to satisfy a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed in 2013 to obtain all such emails. The new ruling stems from the court being persuaded that Holdren scrupulously forwarded all government-related emails to his official account. However, the case could still be cited as precedent to argue that non-government accounts of federal officials are, in principle, subject to FOIA.
AMS, House Republicans Admonish EPA Administrator for Climate Comments
When Scott Pruitt, the new EPA administrator, was asked about the role of carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change in a March 9 interview, he said he “ would not agree that [human activity is] a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” Pruitt’s comment was criticized by policymakers across the political spectrum, including Florida Republican Reps. Ilenana Ros-Lehtinen and Carlos Curbelo. And in a letter to Pruitt, the American Meteorological Society, an AIP Member Society rebuked his conception of the current state of climate science, saying:
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Events This Week
Monday, March 20 LPI: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (continues through Friday)
Woodlands Waterway Marriott (The Woodlands, Texas)
— Ice Giants Mission Study Town Hall, Mon., 12:15 – 1:15 pm
— NASA Headquarters Briefing, Mon., 5:30 – 6:30 pm
— Town Hall on Planetary Science Studies at the National Academies, Tue., 12:00 – 1:15 pm
— NASA Planetary Science Division R&A Town Hall, Wed., 12:00 – 1:15 pm
— Roadmaps to Ocean Worlds Town Hall, Thu., 12:00 – 1:15 pm
DOE: Basic Research Needs Workshop for Next Generation Electrical Energy Storage (continues through Wednesday)
(Gaithersburg, MD)
An invitation-only workshop
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Opportunities NSF Seeking Nominations for National Medal of Science
The National Science Foundation is seeking nominations for the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest honor for scientists and engineers. President Obama last awarded the medal to nine scientists on May 16, 2016. New nominations and letters of support can be submitted here. Submissions are due April 7.
AAAS S&T Policy Forum Around the Corner
Science policy wonks will converge on Washington, D.C. on March 27-28 for the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual Forum on Science and Technology Policy. The program this year includes sessions on S&T priorities and budget of the new administration, a discussion with the NSF and NIH directors, and a keynote lecture by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) on “Defending Science and Catalyzing Progress: A Bipartisan Formula for the Future.” Registration is still open and the keynote lecture is open to the public.
Afterschool Alliance Seeking Director of STEM Policy
The Afterschool Alliance is hiring a director of STEM policy who will be responsible for “ advancing federal, state and local policies to expand resources and activities that provide students with access to a rich STEM curriculum in their afterschool and summer learning programs.” Candidates should have experience with STEM education policy and informal STEM learning environments. Applications are already under review.
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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