NSF Sustainability Linkages and EPSCoR

Dr. Tim KilleenNSF EPSCoRProject Directors’ and Project Administrators’ MeetingMay 2012

Expanding EPSCoR Connections to NSF Priorities

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Many EPSCOR Programs focus on Sustainability EPSCOR programs can harness this energy to:

◦ Address problems of societal relevance◦ Respond to interesting questions at interfaces of

disciplines ◦ Address multi-jurisdictional issues (e.g., water)◦ Educate the next generation of scientists, engineers,

educators

EPSCOR – Avenues to Explore Building networks across

institutions Bringing researchers togetherTranscending state linesNSF sustainability programs may provide

ideas, models, inspiration. Examples covered – SEES, IGERT, PIRE

Meeting Sustainability Challenges…

Environment

Energy

Economics

Education

Requires multi-faceted approaches and research at the nexus of societal needs and behavior, environmental impact, and economic demands

SCIENCE ENGINEERING AND EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY (SEES)

NSF’s Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (SEES) Portfolio Mission: to advance science, engineering, and education to inform the societal actions needed for environmental and economic sustainability and sustainable human well-being

SEES Overview Established in Fiscal Year 2010Portfolio of existing and new

programsAll NSF Directorates and Offices

involvedPartnerships are key

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SEES Goals

1. Interdisciplinary research and education…towards global sustainability

2. Link projects and partners and add new participants to sustainability endeavors

3. Develop the workforce…to address…sustainability. 8

SEES CharacteristicsSystems Thinking holistic approaches that link human, built

and natural systems, and reach across disciplines

Partnerships & Networks

connect intellectually and spatially disparate communities, institutions and organizations.

Workforce & Education development and education of new researchers and students on critical aspects and issues of sustainability.

SEES Themes Natural SystemsHuman SystemsBuilt SystemsEnergy and Materials

Adaptation and Resilience

SEES Programs: FY10 –11 Dimensions of Biodiversity

NSF China co-funder Water Sustainability and Climate

USDA co-funder Ocean Acidification Regional and Decadal Earth

System ModelingDept. of Energy and USDA co-

funders Climate Change Education Research Coordination Networks Dynamics of Coupled Natural-

Human systems~ $158M 2-year

investment11

FY 2012 SEES ActivitiesSustainability Research NetworksSustainable Energy PathwaysSEES FellowsExclusive SEES focus in Partnerships for

International Research and Education (PIRE) Arctic regions (“ArcSEES” program)

Estimated $157M NSF investment

Future SEES Focus AreasHazards, Vulnerability, and Resilience

Coastal Zone Systems Information Science and Engineering

Chemistry, Materials, Engineering

FY13 Budget Request: $202.5M

NSF NETWORKS, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, AND WATER SUSTAINABILITY EXAMPLES

• Sustainability science, engineering, and education as an integrative systems approach• Investigators coordinate across disciplinary, organizational, geographical boundaries• Nurtures a open communications and a sense

of community among early career scientists• Encourages diverse stakeholder participation• FY 11 -- 11 awards, ~$8M total. • Water Diplomacy• Urban Sustainability• Women – Developing Countries

Research Coordination Networks

Marcellus Shale Research Network • Assembling data from watershed associations, governments, and scientists to further knowledge on effect of hydrofracking on groundwater • Database will be used to establish background concentrations of chemicals, and to assess changes.• Results can help community groups evaluate potential public health risks.

• Natural scientists, social scientists and legal scholars coordinating interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international research on the Colorado River Delta.

• Research activities focus on how natural and human-caused variation in water supply affects the biotas and landscapes of the Colorado River Delta in the United States and Mexico.

Colorado River Delta Research Coordination Network

Sustainability Research NetworksBeyond RCN-SEES

◦ larger, nationally important sustainability themes◦ Can fund gaps or new essential research for

comprehensive thematic coverage.◦ Can enhance existing research networks

Encouraged to develop links to other networks, government, and private sector, nationally and internationally

Multidisciplinary education and training are crucial components

Research on how Earth's water system is linked to climate change, land use, ecosystems, the built environment

Enable a new interdisciplinary paradigm in water research

Planning workshops, observatory/modeling and data synthesis

Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC)

Synthesis of behavioral and ecohydrologic models for dryland rivers

Climate change, land use, and urbanization in a Midwestern agricultural landscape

Scott

Sim

pson

Bryc

e Ri

chet

er

Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT)Educating Ph.D. scientists and engineers by

building on disciplinary knowledge with interdisciplinary training.

260 awards to over 110 lead universities in 43 states, DC, and PR (Since 1998)

Funding for approximately 5,800 graduate students.

Credit: Ron Paik, Hawaii IGERT

Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE)

Goals-- To facilitate development of a diverse, globally engaged US science and engineering workforce.-- To promote opportunities where international collaboration can enable advances that could not occur otherwise.-- To engage and share resources and infrastructure within and across institutions to build international partnerships.FY2012 solicitations focuses solely on SEES topicsEncourages research on global sustainability

including climate change, clean energy, food security, biodiversity, and communication networks.

Proposals should address linkages across natural social and/or built environments

EPSCOR Programs Can Play a Vital Role in Sustainability endeavors

A sustainable world is one in which human needs are met without harm to the environment, and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

www.nsf.gov/sees

Credit: Phillip Dickens, University of MaineCredit: Qiquan Qiao, South Dakota State UniversityCredit: Dauphin Island Sea Lab

Opportunity Space

Renewable Energy

Sustainability literacy

Ice sheet dynamics

Regional climate change

Socio-economic factors

Human , natural system interactions

Big Data Behavioral changes

Workforce needs

Possible Examples of Enhanced Leadership Roles in Sustainability

Graduate StudentsInternational ScienceCyberinfrastructure and Big DataEarly-career faculty networksCommunication vehicles

… others…

Graduate StudentsEvery year, NSF supports 2,000

Graduate Student Research FellowsCreate an EPSCoR cohort?Establish peer mentoring networks and

reporting approaches (AAAS)Communicate and model ethical

behavior and inculcate scientific integrity

Bill of Rights for graduate studentsTrack and report longitudinal outcomes?

International Science

International PartnershipsWho is Collaborating with Who?

What about the developing world?

• Most of Africa’s collaboration is with G20 countries, but South-South collaboration is a growing trend.

• Egypt and Sudan - important bridges

• Kenya and South Africa - important hubs

Vital Statistics – Unstoppable Trends

Spent on Research and Development Numbers of researchers

Number of publications

US $ % GDP2007 1145 B 1.7 7.1 M 1.6 M2002 790 B 1.7 4.7 M 1.1 M

Since the beginning of the 21st Century, global spend has almost doubled

US, Japan, Europe, Australasia all increased spending by roughly one-third

China, India and Brazil more than doubled expenditure Architecture of world science undergoing transformation, with

global networks, mostly self-organized (exceptions, human genome, CERN, etc.)

US still leads the world, with 20% of world authorship US, Japan, UK Germany, and France together command 59% China now second highest producer India has displaced Russia in top ten US has lost roughly one-fifth of its share in the past ten years

Some Major Global Societal Issues(A. Leshner: Building a Global Science Community, Nov 2011)SustainabilityRenewable energy Information and communications technologyUniversal access to educationPoverty and economic opportunityTechnology-based manufacturing and jobs Intellectual property rightsTerrorism and securityDisastersScience and Technology Capacity-BuildingVaccines and medical therapiesQuality and accessibility of Health Care

Internationally Collaborative Papers (2008)

United States (2008)

ChinaJapan

FranceGermanyUK

Switzerland

Source: Royal Society

United States (1996)

China1996

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0

Num

ber o

f Col

labo

rativ

e Pa

pers

Collaborative Papers as a proportion of national output 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6

International Opportunities Fund

Single call for proposals – April 2012First round Thematic Foci:

Coastal Vulnerability & Freshwater Security (>$30M)

Joint with G8 Heads of Research Councils Commitment from 11 countries

Science and Society Transformed by Data

Sustainability Science and Engineering ◦ Data- and compute-intensive◦ Integrative, multi-scale

Multi-disciplinary Collaborations To Address Complexity◦ Individuals, groups,

communities Sea of Data

◦ Age of Observation◦ Distributed, central

repositories, sensor- driven, diverse

◦ Open access and data citation

SEES Fellows -- Workforce Development Interdisciplinary,

research partnerships, professional development

>180 competitive proposals, 20 awards, ~$9M, 10 new grads, 6 PhDs since 2010. (pending final approvals)

Topics of recommended support

Atmospheric water transport Soil sustainability Food security Shale-gas resources Biodiversity Wastewater treatment Energy infrastructure Resilience of coastal ecosystems Biogeochemical cycling Agricultural greenhouse gas

emissions Biological control agents Impacts of urbanization Natural resource management

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Energy from

the Earth

Communications

Extreme Events

Thrivabilityand Sustain

LifeRAPID Response to

Hazards

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Thanks