National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs
Advisory Committee Announcement
For further information, please go to:
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/advisory.jsp
To the Polar Research Community:
The Advisory Committee to the Office of Polar Programs (OPP) at the
National Science Foundation (NSF) concluded its fall meeting a few weeks
ago. In an effort to improve communication with the polar research
community, we are planning, from this point onwards, to send meeting
summaries to the polar research community after each of our meetings.
If you are unaware that there is an OPP Advisory Committee, some
background may be in order. More detailed information can be found on
the NSF website (http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/advisory.jsp), but here is a
short synopsis of who we are and what we do. The OPP Advisory Committee
is an official external advisory committee; the role of such committees
is described on the NSF website as follows: "NSF relies on the judgment
of external experts to maintain high standards of program management, to
provide advice for continuous improvement of NSF performance, and to
ensure openness to the research and education community served by the
Foundation. Each Directorate and Office has an external advisory that
meets twice a year to review program portfolios, discuss important
current issues, and approve recent reports of relevant Committees of
Visitors." The OPP Advisory Committee is a group of approximately 16
scientists, chosen for their familiarity with polar operations, issues,
and research. The membership is chosen with a goal of maintaining a
balance among scientific disciplines, institution types (e.g., public
and private sector, large research universities and undergraduate
institutions), and polar scientists (e.g., including women and
underrepresented minorities). A current list of members can be found
here: http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/opp_advisory/members.jsp .
We report to the Director of OPP (Dr. Karl Erb), and provide guidance,
recommendations, and oversight in a variety of areas, including: how OPP
can best serve science, promote education, increase workforce diversity,
and set investment priorities. We meet twice yearly, and our goal will
be to send a short synopsis to the community after each meeting.
Our fall meeting this year was held on November 4-5, at NSF in
Arlington, VA. Our agenda focused on a variety of issues critical to
polar research. These are summarized briefly here. Full minutes of our
meeting will be posted at our website in the near future
(http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/opp_advisory/meetings.jsp).
Budget issues:
As many of you know, NSF has been funded on a continuing resolution for
FY 2009. Budget increases that had been proposed for FY 09 therefore did
not materialize, and with the higher cost of fuel, support staff and
several other factors, OPP faced a 20% shortfall compared to the draft
program plan, just at the time when major funding decisions had to be
made. This has meant less money for research and research support during
FY 09 and has stretched out or slowed down IPY projects.
Antarctic researchers received a "Dear Colleague" letter from OPP in the
late summer explaining the implications of this situation. The OPP OAC
devoted a considerable amount of time during the meeting to the question
of how to engage in long-term strategic planning in a time of limited
and uncertain budgets. Which capital expenditures are most important
now? How should OPP balance infrastructure investments that might reduce
long-term costs (e.g., investing in renewable energy at research
stations) against the need to maintain existing infrastructure and
maximizing funding for science? How can the OPP best solicit community
input on these issues? What role can the Advisory Committee play in
assisting OPP with long-term planning?
Upcoming Committee of Visitors Reviews:
The second major agenda item involved planning for upcoming Committee of
Visitors reviews of the Arctic Division, the Antarctic Division, and the
Antarctic Infrastructure and Logistics Divisions. Committee of Visitors
reviews, or COVs, are federally mandated reviews that occur every 3
years (approximately). The COV is a subcommittee of the OPP Advisory
Committee, and is composed of outside experts (and one member of the OPP
Advisory Committee). The COV reviews the effectiveness of the merit
review process, and the overall performance and management of the
programs.
International Science Coordination and Post-IPY Legacy-building Activities:
We discussed a number of emerging and ongoing international scientific
collaborations, as well as potential future efforts aimed at building on
the legacy of IPY. We discussed the organizational challenges involved
in developing large, international collaborations, with a particular
focus on how OPP can best represent the interests of the polar research
community in these projects.
Balancing Systems and Disciplinary Science, and How to do Systems Science Well:
We discussed the programmatic issues surrounding Systems science. Both
the Arctic and Antarctic division now have a Systems Science program
(ARCSS for the Arctic, AISS for the Antarctic), and there are ongoing
issues of how best to manage system science as well as programmatic
balance.
Broadening Participation:
NSF has just concluded an NSF-wide study of broadening participation by
members of under-represented groups. The report has been released (and
can be downloaded here:
http://www.nsf.gov/od/broadeningparticipation/bp.jsp), and we will be
taking it up in more detail at future meetings. We heard a report on the
success of the recent IPY-themed SACNAS (Society for the Advancement of
Chicanos and Native Americans in Science; http://www.sacnas.org/)
meeting, which was attended by several OPP staff.
Full minutes, with details about our discussions on all of these issues,
will be posted in the near future on the OPP OAC website
(http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/opp_advisory/meetings.jsp). We encourage you
to take a look at the minutes, and to contact anyone on the committee if
you have questions or issues that you would like to bring to our
attention. The names and e-mail addresses of committee members are found
at this link: http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/opp_advisory/members.jsp.
Sincerely,
Andi Lloyd
Chair, OPP Office Advisory Committee