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NSF
00-102 (Replaces NSF
00-12)
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Program NewsChemical Oceanography
The number of proposals submitted to the two regular annual Chemical Oceanography (CO) Panels has continued to climb since 1995, when the typical number per panel was 47 to 50. Since that time, the number has risen to an average of about 63 per panel, due in large measure to the decline in support for marine chemical research in other Federal agencies as well as to the rapid rise in research interest in several areas of marine biogeochemistry — especially iron, nitrogen biogeochemistry, coastal groundwater chemistry, and the ocean carbon cycle. The NSF Biological Oceanography, Atmospheric Chemistry, and Hydrology Programs have been actively involved with us in the review and funding of projects in these areas.
The dramatic increase in demand for support for marine biogeochemical research has naturally involved a marked increase in the past two years in the number of multi-investigator, interdisciplinary proposals submitted to the "core" Program. Such projects are ipso animo more complex and more expensive than other one or two-investigator projects. To increase the likelihood that we will be prepared to handle them when the peer review process identifies a compelling project, we began almost three years ago to restructure our system for financing CO research projects. The new strategy, in brief, involves a shift toward funding the great majority of smaller research projects "up front" and funding larger projects one year at a time. To minimize stress on the marine chemistry research community, especially investigators in soft-money positions, we have made the transition toward funding as many proposals as possible "up front" gradually. The transition is almost complete, so that now the program looks forward to reviewing a healthy mix of both medium-sized 10-investigator proposals and smaller single investigator activities. We invite your comments on this!
Staff changes: Dave Kadko ended his one-year tour as a rotator in the Program in January and has returned to his day job at RSMAS. Meanwhile, Simone Metz has quickly come up-to-speed as Associate Program Director and has had a big impact on our day-to-day operations, especially in interacting with the community. We expect to have another rotator in place to fill the third program officer position in early summer; when arrangements have been formalized, we will announce who that is. Stay tuned! In that regard, if you are interested in serving the marine chemistry community by doing a two-year rotation as a Program Officer in the CO Program, please contact us. We are already beginning to think about how the Program will be staffed in 2001 and beyond.
Don Rice (drice@nsf.gov)
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