AIBS Public Policy Report, Volume 18, Issue 20, October 2, 2017
The AIBS Public Policy Report is distributed broadly by email every two weeks to the AIBS membership. Any interested party may self-subscribe to receive these free reports by email or RSS news feed, by going to www.aibs.org/public-policy-reports. With proper attribution to AIBS, all material from these reports may be reproduced or forwarded. AIBS staff appreciates receiving copies of materials used. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact the AIBS Director of Public Policy, Robert Gropp, at 202-628-1500 x 250. PCAST to be Revived, Reports Indicate The White House has confirmed that the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology will be reconstituted. President Trump is expected to sign an executive order in the near future to reapprove the committee. Questions remain, however, about whether the Council will be funded and whether or not it will continue to have dedicated staff support. The Council has been vacant since President Obama’s departure from the White House. Administrations dating back to President Franklin Roosevelt have received guidance from scientific advisory bodies. According to a White House official, once a new director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is confirmed, they will be charged with reassembling the Council. There is not currently a director of OSTP and no nomination has been announced. EPA to Close Research Labs Some regional environmental labs will be closed or merged as part of a new plan by the Environmental Protection Agency. Details are scant, but according to union officials and lab workers, at least five regional labs will be relocated or consolidated. One of the locations under consideration for closure or relocation is Houston, Texas; that facility oversees testing of Superfund toxic waste sites. The leases for several facilities, including in California, Georgia, Massachusetts, and Nevada, will not be renewed. In those instances, the agency will relocate the programs to other locations and has offered buyouts to some employees. Senior Lawmaker Seeks Examination of Politicization of Science Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate potential violations of scientific integrity policies by the Trump Administration. Nelson is the Ranking Member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “I am troubled by renewed reports of interference in the funding, conduct, and communication of science at some federal agencies. For examples, at the Environmental Protection Agency, it is reported that a political appointee without a scientific background is now reviewing all research grant solicitations and editing or cancelling them when he sees fit. Across several agencies, references to climate change and peer-review scientific information on the health effects of burning fossil fuels have been removed. Other scientific studies underway have been cancelled, ostensibly to protect the fossil fuel industry from damaging findings. Such censorship is troubling. Debate on science is healthy—in fact, it is part of the scientific process. But, suppression or distortion of science, especially science that impacts public health, cannot be tolerated.” AIBS expressed its concern with the new EPA policy for grant solicitations referenced by Senator Nelson in a letter to Administrator Pruitt on 21 August. The AIBS letter may be read at https://www.aibs.org/position-statements/20170821_epa_grant_solicitation.html. Government Watchdog Calls for Reforms to NSF Indirect Cost Rates In a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), recommendations are made for the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve guidance for setting indirect cost rates on research grants. Indirect costs are not directly identifiable with a specific research project, but are required for an organization to do the research. Examples of indirect costs include laboratory occupancy costs, libraries, IT, data transmission and storage, administration, and compliance with federal regulations. Since 2000, 16 to 24 percent of total award funding by NSF was spent on indirect costs. NSF stated that year-to-year variations are due to several factors, including the type of activities supported, type of research, disciplinary field, and type of organization. GAO found that NSF staff “have not consistently followed [federal] guidance for setting indirect cost rates” and that the agency’s internal guidance does not include “sufficient details” for carrying out supervision of indirect costs. Three recommendations were made: 1) require NSF staff to follow existing written internal guidance regarding indirect cost rate proposals, 2) add additional details to internal guidance, and 3) add procedures to update the internal guidance based on relevant actions by other federal agencies. NSF concurred with the recommendations and plans to implement them. Enhance Your Scientific Skills: Register for AIBS Professional Development Program on Interdisciplinary and Team Science Reports abound from professional societies, the Academies, government agencies, and researchers calling attention to the fact that science is increasingly an inter-disciplinary, transdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international endeavor. In short, science has become a "team sport." There is a real and present need to better prepare scientists for success in this new collaborative environment. The American Institute of Biological Sciences is responding to this call with a new program for scientists, educators, and individuals who work with or participate in scientific teams. Team science is increasingly common in 21st century biological, life, and environmental sciences. Collaboration is no longer limited to sharing ideas with the biologist in the lab next door. The questions confronting science often require teams that may include a mix of computer and information scientists, physical and social scientists, mathematicians, ethicists, policy and management experts, as well as community stakeholders and citizen scientists. Adding to this complexity, teams span programs within organizations, cross organization boundaries to form institutional consortia, and often include international partners. This intensive, two-day, interactive, professional development course was designed by scientists and experts on collaboration and teamwork to provide participants with the knowledge and skills required to become productive and effective members of scientific teams. From its first offering the course has evolved to include a greater focus on team planning and teamwork, and less time allocated to university administration of interdisciplinary teams. Nothing teaches collaboration like practicing collaboration. This is not a course that asks you to learn in isolation. It is a microcosm of scientific collaboration, with extensive hands-on learning as part of a scientific team, with scientific case studies and examples. This course is designed for anyone involved in collaborative scientific endeavors. Team leaders will find the course especially helpful. Because participants will work on "real-world" team science concerns, we encourage multiple members of a team to attend together. We can also customize the course and bring it to your university, department, lab, or research team. This course provides the right foundation from which your team can successfully accomplish your goals. Learn more at https://www.aibs.org/events/team_science_event.html. Short Takes
From the Federal Register The following items appeared in the Federal Register from 18 to 29 September 2017. For more information on these or other recent items, please visit the AIBS Federal Register Resource at www.aibs.org/federal-register-resource/index.html. Week Ending 29 September 2017 Commerce
Agriculture
Quick, free, easy, effective, impactful! Join the AIBS Legislative Action Center. The Legislative Action Center is a one-stop shop for learning about and influencing science policy. Through the website, users can contact elected officials and sign-up to interact with lawmakers. The website offers tools and resources to inform researchers about recent policy developments. The site also announces opportunities to serve on federal advisory boards and to comment on federal regulations. This new tool is made possible through contributions from the Society for the Study of Evolution, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, and the Botanical Society of America. AIBS and our partner organizations invite scientists and science educators to become policy advocates today. Simply go to policy.aibs.org to get started.
The American Institute of Biological Sciences is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) scientific association dedicated to advancing biological research and education for the welfare of society. AIBS works to ensure that the public, legislators, funders, and the community of biologists have access to and use information that will guide them in making informed decisions about matters that require biological knowledge. The organization does this through informing decisions by providing peer-reviewed or vetted information about the biology field and profession and by catalyzing action through building the capacity and the leadership of the community to address matters of common concern. Founded in 1947 as a part of the National Academy of Sciences, AIBS became an independent, member-governed organization in the 1950s. Today, Today, AIBS has over 140 member organizations and has a Public Policy Office in Washington, DC. Its staff members work to achieve its mission by publishing the peer-reviewed journal BioScienceand the education Web site ActionBioscience.org, by providing scientific peer-review and advisory services to government agencies and other clients, and by collaborating with scientific organizations to advance public policy, education, and the public understanding of science. Website: www.aibs.org. |
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