NSF Research Day Vermont EPSCoR Annual State Meeting and Grant Writing Workshop University of Vermont June 6, 2008 Dr. Joann Roskoski Executive Officer Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)

Vision Inspiring research and education at the frontiers of the life sciences Biological Sciences Directorate Mission To enable the discoveries for understanding life

BIO Support for Basic Research NSF 67% Other federal spending 33% NSF 62% Other federal spending 38% Federal Support for Basic Research in Non-Medical Biological Sciences at Academic Institutions Federal Support for Basic Research in Environmental Biology at Academic Institutions

Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) Ecological Biology Ecosystem Science Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Research Resources Human Resources Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) Biomolecular Systems Cellular Systems Genes and Genome Systems Effective April, 2008 Emerging Frontiers (EF) Plant Genome Research Program Plant Genome Research Program Population and Evolutionary Processes Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories Behavioral Systems Developmental Systems Neural Systems Physiological and Structural Systems Physiological and Structural Systems

BIO Priorities Life in Transition – Strengthening Core Programs –Origins –Energy –Adaptation Adaptive Systems Technology Dynamics of Water Processes in the Environment NEON The Life Sciences in Transition –Multidisciplinary Programs –New Centers Plant Science Cyberinfrastructure Collaborative Center for Research at the Interface of the Mathematical and Biological Sciences Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology

Life in Transition Biology is the narrative of life on Earth and the story of the unexpected…

Origins: How, where and when did life on Earth begin? How did the biological complexity of life emerge from pre-biotic chemistry and geochemistry? Self-contained – The Cell Self-sustaining - Energy Self-replicating – RNA, DNA Evolving - Biodiversity Open system chemistry Self-sustaining biochemistry Basic elements DNA World RNA World H 2 + CO 2 => [ HCO ] n Self-replication

Ancestry of Life Horizontal Gene Transfer What we thought we knew: Genetic information flowed from parent to offspring, generation to generation Darwin’s tree of life rooted to a universal common ancestor… Sequencing of whole genomes revealed that genetic information has been transferred horizontally between organisms, some distantly related LUCA ? Archaea Eukaryotes AnimalsFungiPlants Bacteria Algae

Synthetic Biology What are the indispensable requirements for life? ? What are: The physical rules for cell membrane assembly? The minimum gene set required to sustain life? The fundamental requirements for genome stability? Chemical constraints? Membrane Encapsulation Genome Stability Are There Alternative Routes to Life? New Chemical Theories Eric Smith, SFI ?

Synthetic Biology Theory Computation Modeling Molecular Biology Evolution Engineering Physics Synthetic Chemistry Genomics design fabrication testing Material Science

Chloroplasts How is energy obtained and used by living systems to sustain life? Understanding natural energy transduction systems will inspire the development of biology- based technologies capable of delivering sustainable, renewable, efficient energy. Assemble the basics PS IAuAg -/+ photon e-e- e-e- e-e- e-e- Applied Photosynthesis Barry Bruce (UTN), NSF/EF

Diverse Chemical Sources of Energy for Living Systems: Microbial Research to Enhance Our Understanding of Novel Energy Systems Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Portand State Univ. Everett Schock, Washington Univ. St. Louis Arsenate (AsO 4 3- ) Iron (Fe 3+ ) Manganese (Mn 4+ ) Nitrate (NO 3- ) Selenate (SeO 4 3- ) Sulfate (SO 4 2- ) Uranyl oxide (UO 2 2+ )

Adaptation Transformations and Transitions in the Story of Life Understanding life’s resilience and adaptation will reduce uncertainty about the future of life on Earth in response to global climate change: Adaptive Systems Technology Dynamics of Water Processes in the Environment NEON Changes Diversity What will survive, and how?

Sensing the Environment Complex Nervous System Hydra vulgaris Platynereis dumerilii Eurycea lucifuga Evolving Complexity Movement

Animal model The primary source of data and behavioral phenomena Mathematical model Describes hypothetical relationships between a selected subset of observations Computational model Explores the logical consequences of the hypothetical descriptions Physical model Explores the behavioral consequences of a hypothetical neural property operating in the animal’s natural environment Adaptive Systems Technology Closing the Loop of Theory, Observation, Experimentation, and Technology Four domains of neuroscience D. E. Koditschek, ESE Department, University of Pennsylvania

Adaptation: Life in a Time of Planetary Change … We are only now beginning to explore the biological drivers of climate change. CO 2 CH 4

GOAL: Support research on the resilience that is conferred by the presence of living organisms in freshwater ecological systems. Dynamics of Water Processes in the Environment

NEON Biosphere, Geosphere, Atmosphere

Dramatic inter-annual variation is not totally explained by physical factors (temperature, rainfall) Do biological processes determine/impact this variation? Which ones, how and how much? Can knowing life’s impacts on the system improve predictions? Inform carbon trading scenarios? Potter et al. 2003

Answering continental-scale questions: e.g. Will changing climate increase or decrease the biological carbon uptake or emission of the US and by how much? Requires measuring the drivers (climate, biological processes, land use change) and the phenomena (CO2 uptake or emission) over multiple spatial and long time scales As well as conducting controlled experiments to understand the mechanisms involved in observed changes And Existing infrastructure is neither optimally configured geographically nor operationally standardized to do this Why Continental Scale Ecology?

National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Experimental Design and Deployment

Transdisciplinary Interdisciplinary Multi-disciplinary Disciplinary Life Sciences In Transition The Role of Theory in Advancing 21 st - Century Biology Catalyzing Transformative Research National Research Council of the National Academies 2008

Multidisciplianry Programs Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (BIO, GEO, SBE and USFS) Ecology of Infectious Disease (BIO, GEO and NIH) Human and Social Dynamics (all NSF)

“Plant Biology Jets Into Cyberspace” - Science Magazine “Just as Google Earth lets you zoom in on individual buildings from space, researchers may one day be able to toggle between whole-ecosystem views of plants and the molecules that make them up with just a few clicks of the mouse.” -Elizabeth Pennisi Science Magazine (2008) iPlant Collaborative A Look into the Future

Partnership between multiple NSF Directorates and EPA. Goal: Support research on the interactions of nanomaterials with organisms, cellular constituents, metabolic networks and living tissues; understand environmental exposure and bioaccumulation and their effects on living systems; and determine the biological impacts of nanomaterials dispersed in the environment. Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN)

Center for Research at the Interface of the Mathematical and Biological Sciences (CIMBS) Partnership between BIO and MPS (NSF), DHS and USDA to stimulate research at the interface of the mathematical and biological sciences Goal: To provide mechanisms to foster synthetic, collaborative, cross-disciplinary studies; enable plant and animal infectious disease modeling; and generate knowledge for policy makers, government agencies, and society.