NSF/OCE DIRECTOR’S REPORT:

Dr. David O. ConoverDirector, Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE)Directorate for GeosciencesNational Science Foundation

“The First 90 Days and Beyond”

Background

Assistant Professor, 1981, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University

Dean, 2003, SoMAS

Appointed Director of Ocean Sciences Division (GEO/OCE) on July 19, 2010

Overview of OCE

OCE supports:

Basic research and education to further understanding of all aspects of the global oceans and their interactions with the earth and the atmosphere

Participation in global change research programs and other focus programs

Operation and acquisition of major shared-use oceanographic facilities

75% of funding for basic research in ocean sciences

Presentation Outline

1. Deep Water Horizon (DWH) Oil Spill

2. Budget Overview

3. Recent and Upcoming Climate Solicitations

4. Observations and Action Items (so far)

Summary of National Science FoundationRapid Response Research Efforts

Total Amount Awarded: $19,432,224Total Number of NSF Awards: 166Average Award Amount: $117,062

Total Amount Awarded by GEO Directorate: $8,198,075Total Number of Awards in GEO Directorate: 77

Total Amount of Ship Costs: >$5,000,000

GEO Directorate Rapid Response Research

Other NSF Directorates89

AGS4

EAR14

OCE59

Other NSF Directorates$11,234,149

AGS$455,777

EAR$919,138

OCE$6,823,160

Total Amount Awarded per Division in GEO

Total Amount Awarded in GEO: $8,198,075

Number of Grants Awarded per Division in GEO

Total Number of Grants in GEO: 77

Division of Ocean SciencesDeepwater Horizon Rapid Response Research

•Estimated Number of requests: 443 •Total Number of OCE NSF Awards: 59•Total Amount Awarded: $6,823,160

•Average award processing time in OCE: 11.3 days•Average award processing time at NSF: 27.8 days

NSF Rapid Response Research Grants to Gulf Coast States

Number of Grants Awarded to Gulf Coast States

Total number of grants: 75

Total Amount Awarded to Gulf Coast States

Total Awarded Gulf Coast States: $9,028,792

Note: Alabama and Louisiana are EPSCOR states

Rest of U.S.91

Alabama11

Florida21

Lousiana20

Mississippi12

Texas11

Rest of U.S.$10,403,432

Al-abama

$1,167,545

Florida$2,668,367

Lousiana$2,523,177

Mississippi$1,692,685

Texas$977,018

30-Apr 31-May 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep 2-Oct 2-Nov 3-Dec

Cruise dates

Pelican

Pelican

Pelican

Walton Smith

Cape Hatteras

Cape Hatteras

Cape Hatteras

Endeavor

Oceanus

Atlantis

Atlantis

Atlantis

Cape Hatteras

Endeavor

Total NSF Ship Days – 224R/V Pelican - 12R/V Cape Hatteras - 61R/V Walton Smith - 22R/V Endeavor - 34R/ Oceanus - 46R/V Atlantis - 49

NSF Ship Rapid Response Research Effort

NSF Rapid Response Research Effort

Number of grants

Official Start Date

First Rapid proposal submitted

First Rapid grantawarded

First publication from Rapid Grant

Research

DWH GOMOil Spill

31-Mar-06 01-May-06 01-Jun-06 01-Jul-06 01-Aug-06 01-Sep-06 01-Oct-06 01-Nov-06 01-Dec-060

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Examples of Publications from Rapid Response Research

August 19, 2010 (online). R. Camilli et al., Tracking Hydrocarbon Plume Transport and Biodegradation at Deepwater Horizon. Science Express. 10.1126/science.1195223.

September 16, 2010 (online). D. Valentine et al., Propane Respiration Jump-Starts Microbial Response to a Deep Oil Spill. Science Express. 10.1126/science.1196830.

September 23, 2010 (online). T. Crone and M. Tolstoy, Magnitude of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak. Science Express. 10.1126/science.1195840.

Future of Funding Efforts Directed Towards DWH GOM Oil Spill

Research Initiatives Funded by BP:

BP made a $500 million commitment over a 10 year period to support independent research

The first round of funding was announced on June 15:

$5 million to Louisiana State University

$10 million to the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO)

$10 million to the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI)

$5 million to a consortium in Alabama

$10 million to National Institutes of Health

Renewal of Rapid Response Proposals

Covered in GPG Section II.D.1.:

“Renewed funding of RAPID awards may be requested only through submission of a proposal that will be subject to full external merit review. Such proposals would be designated as “RAPID renewals.”

Deepwater Horizon Oil SpillPrincipal Investigator (PI) Conference

Sponsored by the Office of Science and Technology Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and TechnologySt. Petersburg, FLOctober 5-6, 2010

The conference brought together scientific investigators from academia, private research institutes, and agencies actively conducting DWH oil spill related research, monitoring, and sampling, as well as representatives from the NSTC JSOST agencies.

GEO: The Big PictureAmerican Reinvestment and Recovery Act – GEO investments: $601M

Initiated OOI and R/V Sikuliaq; Earthscope fully funded; NCAR/Wyoming supercomputer center in development

AC/GEO’s GeoVision released!

FY2010: 10.2% increase over FY2009

Includes Agency-wide climate initiative

FY2011: President’s budget request includes a 7.4% increase for GEO (includes SEES)

FY2012 budget submitted to OMB

Ocean Sciences FY 2011 Request

OMB OSTP S&T Priorities for FY 2012

Understanding, adapting to, and mitigating the impacts of global climate change

Managing the competing demands on land, freshwater, and the oceans for the production of food, fiber, biofuels, and ecosystem services based on sustainability and biodiversity

Promoting sustainable economic growth and job creation

Defeating the most dangerous diseases and achieving better health outcomes for all while reducing health care costs

Moving toward a clean energy future to reduce dependence on energy imports while curbing greenhouse gas emissions

Developing the technologies to protect our troops, citizens, and national interests

Addressing these challenges will require strenghtening our efforts in six cross-cutting areas

OSTP-OMB Guidance: Cross-Cutting Areas

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and advanced learning technologies at every level, from early childhood to lifelong learning and for all segments of society

The vitality and productivity of our research university and national and private laboratories, and sustained support for fundamental research

High-impact collaborations with researchers, the private sector, universities, and other institutions of higher learning, civil society, and international partners to achieve U.S. foreign policy, global health, energy, climate change, and global development objectives

The capacity and robustness of infrastructures for information and communication, transportation, and energy

Capabilities in space, which are germane not only to looking and exploring outward but also to Earth observation, geo-positioning, communication, and more

An economic and policy environment that promotes and rewards research, entrepreneurship, and innovation

Advance climate and energy science, engineering, and education to inform the societal actions needed for environmental and economic sustainability and sustainable human well-being

Foster innovative insights about the environment-energy-economy nexus, especially at the regional scale, that will increase the effectiveness of our energy and management policies in adapting to, and mitigating the impacts of, climate change and improve our capabilities for rapid response to extreme events

Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) Goals

The SEES Portfolio will include:

Research at the energy-environment-society nexus

Data analysis, modeling, simulation and intelligent decision-making facilitated by advanced computation

Study of societal factors such as vulnerability and resilience, and sensitivity to regional change

Short and long term research enabled by a new generation of experimental and observational networks

Building of research and education partnerships, both nationally and internationally

SEES TimelineSEES is expected to be a 5-year effort (FY11 to FY15)

Address challenges in climate and energy research and education using a systems-based approach to understanding, predicting, and reacting to change in the linked natural, social, and built environment

Dear Colleague Letter to be issued soon for FY11 with an emphasis on research networks, postdoctoral scholarships, international partnerships, and a focus on Energy research and Coupling of Human/Natural systems

CRI = Climate Research Investment

Emphasis on climate and environment, including human dimensions

Water, Sustainability, and Climate (WSC)

Ocean Acidification (OA)

Dimensions of Biodiversity (DB)

Climate Change Education (CCEP)

Regional and Decadal Earth System Modeling (EaSM)

FY10: CRI —Starting (and Continuing) Point for SEES

Climate Research InvestmentsSuccess Rates

for Programs

Ocean Acidification 118 proposals / 22 awards 18.6%

Dimensions of Biodiversity 195 proposals / 14 awards 7.1%

Water Sustainability & Climate 185 proposals / 16 awards 8.6%

Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction using Earth Systems Models

136 proposals / Awards not finalized

Frontiers in Earth-System Dynamics (FESD)

Program Goals

1. Foster an inter-disciplinary and multi-scale understanding of the interplay among and within the various sub-systems of the Earth

2. Catalyze research in areas poised for a major advance

3. Improve data resolution and modeling capabilities to more realistically simulate complex processes and forecast disruptive or threshold events

4. Improve knowledge of the resilience of the Earth and its subsystems.

Pre-proposals Received: 69 (Deadline: October 1, 2010)

Full Proposal Deadline: March 15, 2011

OCE Highlights – MacArthur Foundation Fellowships

MacArthur Foundation Fellowships awarded to two GEO/OCE supported PIs this year:

Dr. Jon Dabiri, California Institute of Technology, Aeronautics and Bioengineering

Research understanding the locomotion and hydrodynamic power conversion of animals such as jellyfish

Dr. Kelly Benoit-Bird, Oregon State University, College of Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences

Research on vertical migration behavior in large squids

Both scientists are:

Researching the physical/biological interactions of plankton and nekton in the sea Advancing technological approaches to assess and observe organisms and their behavior in the ocean

OCE Highlights – MacArthur Foundation Fellowships

MacArthur Foundation Fellowships awarded to two OCE-supported PIs last year:

Dr. Daniel Sigman, Princeton University, Dusenbury Professor of Geological and Geophysical Sciences

Research in the interaction of biomass and climate in shaping Earth’s geologic history

Development of new methods for the analysis of nitrogen and oxygen isotope composition of nitrate and other compounds

Dr. Peter Huybers, Harvard University, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Research on global climate change on various time scales

Use of analogous physical principles and observations of recent conditions to build simple models of land-ocean-atmosphere dynamics to explain changes in land ice on the scale of years or decades

OCE Highlights

Cascadia Amphibious ExperimentCited on President’s list of top 100 ARRA ProjectsOff-shore array of Ocean Bottom Seismometers Starting in 2011

JOIDES Resolution DrillingLaunched in March, 2009Science Plan for post-2013 under development

JOIDES Resolution near Honolulu, May 2009

Source: COL website

Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI)

OCE Highlights – Integrative Programs Section

R/V Sikuliaq (formerly ARRV)

Status – On Schedule and within Budget

Cut Steel – October 2010Launch – April 2012Begin Science Ops – January 2014

HOV Alvin Upgrade (formerly RHOV)

Status – Final Design Review Completed 9/21-23

Sea Trials – Late 2011Begin Science Ops – 2012

Observations and Action Items

Primary issues impacting OCE/NSF

Infrastructure vs. science funding

Fleet renewal

Cross-cutting programs

Response to OPM Survey

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

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20

30

40

50

60

70

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90

100Division of Ocean Sciences Percentage of Infrastructure FY 00-10

Fiscal Year

Perc

ent

Infrastructure vs. Science

(Dollars in Millions)

FY 2010 Estimate

Infrastructure Subtotal

Percentage of Total

GEO 889.64 367.79 41%AGS 259.80 125.70 48%EAR 183.00 61.59 34%OCE 348.92 152.90 44%

BIO 714.54 135.45 19%CISE 618.83 30.60 5%ENG 743.93 32.83 4%MPS 1351.84 353.73 26%SBE 255.25 43.56 17%OCI 214.28 150.38 70%OISE 47.83 0.10 0%OPP 451.16 321.43 71%

2010 2015 2020

25

20

15

10

5

21

13

9

Aca

dem

ic R

esea

rch

Vess

el

Flee

tFleet Size – (w/o Federal Agency Investment)

Fleet Renewal

2010 2015 2020

25

20

15

10

5

21

Aca

dem

ic R

esea

rch

Vess

el F

leet

Fleet Size – Ocean Class, SIKULIAQ & RCRV

16 15

Fleet Renewal

Regional Class Research Vessels (RCRV)

Status – Investigating Funding Options:For initial hull construction starting in FY14; three hulls total

Project Readiness:Competitive design development with NSF Panel down-select – Oct 2009UNOLS Community input received - Sept 2010Move forward with “ARRV-like” process (Solicitation drafted)Phase I – “Project Refresh” including CDR/PDR & FDR (R&RA $)

Optimal Schedule:Release Solicitation – Early 2011Begin Construction – Mid-2015Science Operations – Mid-2017

CRI Funding in Ocean SciencesTotal funding for ocean

sciences community including the Great Lakes

and facilities

Approximate NSF total for each theme,

including facilities

Ocean Acidification $ 24,099,080 $ 24,099,080

Dimensions of Biodiversity $ 15,398,818 (est.) $ 34,000,000

Water Sustainability & Climate $ 5,267,079 $ 15,234,042

Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction using Earth Systems Models Awards not finalized (est.) $ 30,000,000

Totals $ 44,764,977 (est.) $ 98,333,122

OPM Surveys – NSF Rankings

1 NSF tied with 3 other agencies. 2 NSF tied with 2 other agencies. 3 NSF tied with 3 other agencies.

OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey - Agency

Leadership and Knowledge

Management

Results-Oriented

Performance Talent

Management Job Satisfaction2010 101 52 10 73

2008 2 1 2 32006 3 1 4 4

Goals for Ocean Sciences Division

1. Assure that investments in infrastructure and science are informed by community input

2. Highlight and strengthen core programs: balance with new initiatives

3. Strategic plan for OCE

4. Fleet renewal: NSF commitment to ship construction plan

5. Broadening participation in the ocean sciences

6. Making connections:

Communication: Site visitsTown hall meetings

Strong interagency partnerships

Questions?