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Directorate for Biological Sciences

Todd A. Crowl , Program DirectorDivision of Environmental Biology

Vermont EPSCoR Water Dynamics WorkshopNovember 2008

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Effective April, 2008

Division of Environmental Biology

(DEB)

Division of Environmental Biology

(DEB)

Ecological BiologyEcological Biology

Ecosystem ScienceEcosystem Science

Division of Integrative Organismal

Systems(IOS)

Division of Integrative Organismal

Systems(IOS)

Research ResourcesResearch Resources

Human ResourcesHuman Resources

Division ofBiological Infrastructure

(DBI)

Division ofBiological Infrastructure

(DBI)

Division of Molecular and Cellular

Biosciences(MCB)

Division of Molecular and Cellular

Biosciences(MCB)

Biomolecular SystemsBiomolecular Systems

Cellular SystemsCellular Systems

Genes and Genome SystemsGenes and Genome Systems

Emerging Frontiers (EF)

Plant Genome ResearchProgram

Plant Genome ResearchProgram

Population and EvolutionaryProcesses

Population and EvolutionaryProcesses

Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories

Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories

Behavioral SystemsBehavioral Systems

Developmental SystemsDevelopmental Systems

Neural SystemsNeural Systems

Physiological and StructuralSystems

Physiological and StructuralSystems

Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)

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BIO Core Areas - MCB

• Genes and Genome Systems

• Biomolecular Systems

• Cellular Systems

Molecular and Cellular Biosciences

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BIO Core Areas - IOS

• Behavioral Systems

• Developmental Systems

• Physiological and Structural Systems

• Neural Systems

Integrative Organismal Biology

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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

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• Ecosystem Science

• Long-term Ecological Research Network

• Ecological Biology

• Population & Evolutionary Processes

• Systematic Biology & Biodiversity Inventories

BIO Core Areas - DEB

Environmental Biology

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• 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

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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.

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Announcement: NSF 05-579

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

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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

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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 tcrowl@nsf.gov

Research Coordination Networks (RCN)

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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 08-564

Deadline: 3rd Friday in November, annuallyContact: tcrowl@nsf.gov

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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

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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.

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BIO 2009-2010 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

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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 WorldRNA World

H2 + CO2 => [ HCO ]n

Self-replication

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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 IAu Ag

-/+

photon

e-

e-

e-

e-

Applied

Photosynthesis

Barry Bruce (UTN), NSF/EF

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Diverse Chemical Sources of Diverse Chemical Sources of Energy for Living Systems: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 (AsO43-)

Iron (Fe3+)Manganese (Mn4+)Nitrate (NO3-)Selenate (SeO4

3-)Sulfate (SO4

2-)Uranyl oxide (UO2

2+)

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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 TechnologyDynamics of Water Processes

in the EnvironmentNEON

Changes

Diversity

What will survive, and how?

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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

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NEONBiosphere, Geosphere, Atmosphere

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• 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 ?

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Divisions

Featured Programs

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What is changing in Biology?

Lines of Inquiry becoming Planes of Inquiry

SCOPE Site-specific Transferable

SUBJECT Disciplinary Interdisciplinary

SCALE Restricted Comprehensive

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New technologiesNew Approaches

Connectivity

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Data volume

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“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:

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