Program News

Biological Oceanography

Funding Opportunities

Please see the NSF-wide Biocomplexity announcement and the GEO-wide Carbon Cycle announcement for opportunities for marine ecological research support outside of the “core” program. The latter is the first result of lots of planning on the part of the OCE Division and the community on the future of carbon cycle research – including the EDOCC (http://picasso.oce.orst.edu/ORSOO/EDOCC/docs.html) and OCTET (http://alpha1.msrc.sunysb.edu/octet) efforts that have been mentioned in previous OCE newsletters. Also, please see the multiagency (NSF, EPA, NOAA, NASA, ONR) announcement on ECOHAB – the Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (http://www.geo.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/showprog.pl?id=50&div=oce).

LTER

The first of the Division of Ocean Science’s Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) projects has just received its first mid-award review as per established LTER procedures. The Plum Island Ecosystems (PIE) LTER, with Chuck Hopkinson, Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) as the PI, along with a stellar group from MBL and other institutions, was initiated three years ago. This LTER is cooperatively funded by the NSF Divisions of Ocean Sciences and Environmental Biology. The mid-award review is intended to help the project as it anticipates the renewal proposal process for continued funding. The completed review is extremely positive about the status and progress of the PIE-LTER, regarding the quality of the science, the management, and education and outreach activities. Congratulations to Chuck and the PIE team for achieving so much, and with such strength, as a new LTER.

JGOFS

US-JGOFS is in the final stage of synthesis activities with proposals currently under review. While JGOFS will be winding down over the next three years, support for carbon cycling research at NSF and, in particular, within the Biological Oceanography Program will remain strong and even grow in the future. The community planning efforts of EDOCC and OCTET that have been supported by OCE and have been discussed in previous newsletters have paid off in terms of formulating NSF plans for the future of ocean carbon cycle research. Please see the new announcement (https://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf02016).

RIDGE 2000

Biological Oceanography continues to work with Marine Geology and Geophysics to support science on mid-ocean ridge processes and ecosystems. Dr. Charles Fisher, Penn State, is the new chair of the RIDGE 2000 Science Steering Committee. Please see the new announcement of opportunity for RIDGE 2000 (https://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf02011) as well as the new RIDGE 2000 website at http://RIDGE2000.bio.psu.edu/.

GLOBEC

US-GLOBEC is just entering the initial stages of synthesis activities for the Northwest Atlantic program, while field programs in the Southern Ocean, California Current, and Gulf of Alaska are still underway. The first synthesis activities are currently under review.

Biocomplexity and Nanoscience

Finally, the Program continues to be actively involved within the NSF with the NSF-wide activities of Biocomplexity (and all of the sub-themes) and Nanoscale Science and Engineering. We continue to encourage the community to take advantage of these opportunities for research. We particularly note the stated interest in Biocomplexity CBC on life in extreme environments.

Phil Taylor (prtaylor@nsf.gov)
Dave Garrison (dgarrison@nsf.gov)
Phil Yund (pyund@nsf.gov)
Gayle Pugh (gpugh@nsf.gov)