Directorate for Biological Sciences Todd A. Crowl, Program Director Division of Environmental Biology Vermont EPSCoR Water Dynamics Workshop November 2008

Effective April, 2008 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 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 Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)

BIO Core Areas - MCB Genes and Genome Systems Biomolecular Systems Cellular Systems Molecular and Cellular Biosciences

BIO Core Areas - IOS Behavioral Systems Developmental Systems Physiological and Structural Systems Neural Systems Integrative Organismal Biology

BIO Core Areas - DBI Biological Infrastructure Research Resources –Field Stations & Marine Labs –Instrument Development –Biological Databases & Informatics –Living Stock Collections –Biological Research Collections Human Resources –Postdoctoral Fellowships –Research Experiences for Undergraduates - Sites –Undergraduate Research and Mentoring

Ecosystem Science Long-term Ecological Research Network Ecological Biology Population & Evolutionary Processes Systematic Biology & Biodiversity Inventories BIO Core Areas - DEB Environmental Biology

Microbial Systems in the Biosphere Ecology of Infectious Diseases Assembling the Tree of Life Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology Some Funding Opportunities Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems Planetary Biodiversity Inventories Partnerships for International Research and Education Long-term research in Environmental Biology Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy

 New theory or significant extension of existing theory  Explanatory framework for common themes that cross levels of biological organization  Theory should cut across established disciplines  17 Feb 09 deadline Advancing Theory in Biology to further our understanding of general biological principles, to integrate phenomena under these principles, to guide model construction and experimentation, and to identify new organizing principles.

Announcement: NSF Deadline: Third week in July, annually Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Supports teacher-scholars Supports plans that effectively integrate research and education BIO minimum of $500,000 for 5 years Check eligibility criteria

 Support investigators to synthesize the body of their research: career production of important papers  Not for production of new data or for synthesizing other investigators’ research  Mid-to-late career stages (but not always)  9 Jan 09 deadline Opportunities for Promoting Understanding and Synthesis (OPUS) Ecological Biology, Ecosystem Science, and Population and Evolutionary Processes Clusters

 To foster communication and collaboration across disciplinary, geographical and organizational boundaries  To move a field forward or to create new research directions or opportunities  Facilitate open exchange of information  Nurture a sense of community among young scientists  Last Monday in June deadline  Contact Research Coordination Networks (RCN)

Announcement: NSF Deadline: 1 st Monday in November, annually Contact: Peter McCartney, Postdoctoral Research Fellowships Biological Informatics Address important scientific questions in biology Include a strong linkage between computer, information, computational science and biology Develop computational, statistical, and other tools in the collection, organization, dissemination, and use of information to solve problems in biology

Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grants (DDIG) Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) and the Behavioral Systems program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Must pass candidacy by the deadline Funds research-related costs only Recent changes: increased upper limit to $15,000 [NEW!] allow travel to meetings Announcement: NSF Deadline: 3 rd Friday in November, annually Contact:

Undergraduate Research & Mentoring  Year-round support for undergraduate students  Any area of biology except biomedicine  Projects must include a strong mentoring component and emphasize strategies that encourage and enable members of underrepresented groups  Build skills needed for full participation in graduate research  First Tuesday in March deadline

 Jointly-conducted long-term research experiences for interdisciplinary balanced teams  Focus on research at the intersection of the mathematical and biological sciences  Involve students from both areas in collaboration  Joint mentorship by faculty in both fields  12 Feb 09 deadline Undergraduate BIO-Math Projects should provide students exposure to contemporary mathematics and biology, addressed with modern research tools and methods. That is, projects must be genuine research experiences rather than rehearsals of research methods.

BIO Priorities Life in Transition (LIT) – Strengthening Core Programs –Origins –Energy –Adaptation Dynamics of Water Processes in the Environment NEON –STREON –GLEON See recent Dear Colleague letter

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

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?

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

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 regional to continental scales over long time periods 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 NEON ?

Divisions Featured Programs

What is changing in Biology? Lines of Inquiry becoming Planes of Inquiry SCOPESite-specificTransferable SUBJECTDisciplinaryInterdisciplinary SCALERestrictedComprehensive

New technologies New Approaches Connectivity

Data volume

“The difference between a great research project and a great research project that receives funding is usually found in the broader impacts” Firth, 2000 Famous Quotes: