Title : NSF 95-75 NSF POLAR COLLEAGUE LETTER #1 Type : Letter NSF Org: OD / OPP Date : April 5, 1995 File : nsf9575 NSF POLAR COLLEAGUE LETTER #1 NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION NSF 95-75 Dear colleague: This letter initiates a series intended to keep you abreast of developments in the Office of Polar Programs. Please feel free to pass the letter to others and to suggest items for future issues. Sincerely, Cornelius W. Sullivan Director Office of Polar Programs - ------------------------------------------------------ Contents Position open: Head, Arctic Sciences Russian arctic land-shelf systems Witness the Arctic (serial publication) South Pole Station redevelopment Antarctic r/v oversight committee Some NSF-wide research opportunities of polar interest Optical science & engineering Methods and models for integrated assessment Human dimensions of global change Southern ocean modeling Environmental research Science and humanities undergraduate education Biology course at McMurdo Presidents fiscal-1996 polar budget request - ------------------------------------------------------ POSITION OPEN: HEAD, ARCTIC SCIENCES. The Foundation seeks applications for the position of Section Head, Arctic Sciences Section, Office of Polar Programs (OPP). This person, who will report to the director of OPP, will plan and manage OPP's arctic research support (including Arctic System Science, social sciences, and natural sciences) and will coordinate the Foundation's Arctic Affiliates -- the 15 or so NSF managers outside OPP who fund arctic research. Salary for a Federal appointment (does not apply to IPA candidates with higher salaries) is $97,911 to $107,379. To apply, get vacancy announcement EP 95-9 from the Division of Human Resource Management at 703-306-0755 or contact Pam Williams (spwillia@nsf.gov). Deadline: 28 April 1995. RUSSIAN ARCTIC LAND-SHELF SYSTEMS. NSF funded an Arctic System Science (ARCSS) workshop at Ohio State University in January to define research priorities for Russian arctic land-shelf systems. Productivity in these shelf waters is affected by rivers, coastal erosion, sea level change, and contamination. As North American and Russian scientists expand their collaboration, observations are leading to rejection of some long-standing ideas -- for example, the position of the ice caps during the last glacial maximum, glacial stratigraphy, and the rate and timing of human migration to the Russian Arctic. For a report of the meeting contact steve@hydro.mps.ohio-state.edu. For a volume of abstracts (Byrd Polar Research Center Misc. Ser. M-335), send your mailing address to llay@iceberg.mps.ohio- state.edu. WITNESS THE ARCTIC. This serial publication of the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States (ARCUS) is available by contacting fzwkw@tundra.alaska.edu. ARCUS is funded through a cooperative agreement with NSF and by member dues. A recent issue (Autumn 1994) focuses on the OPP-funded Arctic System Science research program, which aims for better understanding of interactions within the arctic system, specifically how it responds to global change and interacts with the rest of Earths system. SOUTH POLE STATION REDEVELOPMENT. The National Science Board in March decided that planning is to continue on the South Pole Station redevelopment project. Existing central structures at the South Pole, completed in 1975, are near the end of their useful life. Research requirements within a few years will exceed the present stations ability to support them. For redevelopment information please contact OPPs facilities engineer, Frank Brier (fbrier@nsf.gov). ANTARCTIC R/V OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE met in San Francisco in December. Among the results, this committee will review a standard plan (being developed) that details data to be collected on every cruise. Also, revised shipboard job descriptions will be given to investigators so they will know what support to expect aboard ship. The committee discussed planning, shaping group proposals into compatible cruises, increasing the effectiveness of cruises, and how to develop community equipment needs. The committee focuses on antarctic platforms, but it includes arctic investigators. For information contact David McWilliams (mcwillda.asa@- asa.org). This committee has a listserver: subscribe by e- mailing "majordomo@listserv.asa.org"; in the text type "subscribe ARVOC." SOME NSF-WIDE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES OF POLAR INTEREST For online access to NSF publications, use the NSF Home Page (http://www.nsf.gov/), Gopher (stis.nsf.gov), or STIS (call 703-306-0214 or e-mail stis@nsf.gov), and query using the NSF publication number cited below. For paper copies, call 703-306-1130 or e-mail pubs@nsf.gov. OPTICAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING. Of polar interest: advanced telescope systems and innovative optical instrumentation for astronomy and for environmental and ecological monitoring; remote sensing involving optical sensor technologies, propagation theory and modeling, pattern recognition, data compression, and computation. For information contact dpeacock@nsf.gov. METHODS AND MODELS FOR INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT. Program announcement NSF 95-9. Methodological research to advance integrated assessments among Earths physical, biotic, and human systems in order to understand global environmental change, large-scale technological change, and international socio-political evolution. For polar-specific opportunities contact dpeacock@nsf.gov. Deadlines vary by discipline for enhancement of scientific components.¶ Deadline for research to integrate multiple components¶ is 15 April. HUMAN DIMENSIONS OF GLOBAL CHANGE. Program announcement NSF 94-166. Research on interactions between human and natural systems with emphasis on social and behavioral processes that influence those interactions. Contact nbroadbe@nsf.gov for arctic proposals. Deadlines are 15 February for policy sciences, 1 March for research centers and research teams, and 1 September for research to be funded through OPPs Arctic Social Sciences program. SOUTHERN OCEAN MODELING. Program announcement NSF 95-32. As part of the U.S. Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (U.S. GLOBEC) and the U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (U.S. JGOFS), OPP and the Division of Ocean Sciences call for proposals to do modeling studies related to the southern ocean, particularly modeling of biogeochemistry, marine populations, and physical processes and their interactions with climatic change. Proposal deadline is 1 May. A program announcement (NSF 95-76) for process oriented studies is in preparation. For more information please contact Roger B. Hanson (rbhanson@nsf.gov). ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. Program announcement NSF 95-48. NSF and EPA have joined to support a competitive awards program in fundamental environmental research in three areas: water and watersheds (The Arctic Watershed System¶ is a topic of interest), technology for a sustainable environment, and valuation and environmental policy. Awards will range from $60,000 to $500,000 in the $19-million program. Proposals are due 1 May 1995. For further information contact Penny Firth (pfirth@nsf.gov, 703-306-1480). SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION. Program announcement from Department of Education Programs, National Endowment for the Humanities, 202-606-8380. NSFs Division of Undergraduate Education (rhowes@nsf.gov) and the National Endowment for the Humanities are funding development of undergraduate courses, curricula, and summer institutes that integrate natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Alumni(ae) of NSFs Antarctic Artists & Writers Program potentially could collaborate with researchers (gguthrid@nsf.gov). BIOLOGY COURSE IN ANTARCTICA. Applications from antarctic_- biocourse@asa.org (fax 303-790-8606). NSF will sponsor this course at McMurdo 4 January to 4 February 1996 for 16 to 18 graduate students and above. Themes are temperature adaptation, UV-photobiology, protein biochemistry, and membrane physiology. International; full scholarships available. Deadline is 15 June 1995. PRESIDENTS FISCAL-1996 NSF POLAR BUDGET REQUEST. The fiscal-1996 budget for U.S. polar programs in the NSF budget request is $234.88-million, up 6.1 percent from the fiscal- 1995 current plan. Of this amount, the U.S. Arctic Research Program is $31.57-million, up 23.5 percent from fiscal-1995, and the U.S. Antarctic Research Program is $31.54-million, up 8.5 percent. Polar operations and science support is $109.17-million, up 4.8-percent, and antarctic logistics is $62.60-million, same as fiscal-1995. Congress is considering the request. Issued by: Office of Polar Programs, room 755 National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Boulevard Arlington, Virginia 22230 703-306-1031 703-306-0139 fax