Science Policy Report

Address all comments to the Science Policy Office at:
sciencepolicy@sciencesocieties.org

28 April 2021

In This Issue:

Policy News

Science and Society News

International Corner

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

Policy News

Senators Dick Durbin (D, IL) and Jerry Moran (R, KS), reintroduced legislation that would require a five percent annual funding increase each year for the next ten years for research activities at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). With federal agriculture research investments on the decline, the America Grows Act would restore the United States’ commitment to publicly funded agriculture research at USDA. The funding boost would go to: ARS, NIFA, NAS and ERS. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA joined over 100 other organizations in supporting the bill. Email your Senators today to ask them to co-sponsor the bill. Read the full article.

 

The U.S. Congress this week got its first chance to weigh in on proposals to expand the mission and massively boost the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Speaking to spending panels in the Senate and the House of Representatives, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan made the case for President Joe Biden’s request for a 20% boost in NSF’s 2022 budget as a first step in that buildup. In a separate pitch before the Senate commerce and science committee, which authorizes NSF programs, a panel of academic and industry leaders gave a ringing endorsement to a sweeping expansion at NSF proposed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY). Read the full article. 
 

President Joe Biden pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas pollution in half by 2030 at a virtual climate summit Thursday, outlining an aggressive target that would require sweeping changes to America's energy and transportation sectors. The White House also said it would double its climate-related financing for low-income countries by 2024 and push the private sector to fund sustainable infrastructure, mitigation initiatives and other investments. Read the full article.
 

President Biden's picks yesterday for two leadership roles at the Department of Energy may put top voices on environmental justice into the driver's seat for advancing the president's climate agenda. Biden tapped Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, a professor of soil geochemistry at the University of California, Merced, and an outspoken voice on equity issues, to lead DOE's Office of Science. If confirmed, Berhe would lead an office that manages many of the department's collaborations with university researchers, making it an important hub for clean energy innovation. Her nomination may also elevate the Office of Science's extensive research on biology and Earth systems, which helps inform international climate modeling and advances in biofuels. As a researcher, Berhe's work has dealt with how soil interacts with other Earth systems, including by storing carbon dioxide from the air. Read the full article.
 

U.S. Senator Mike Braun (R-IN), Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) , Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reintroduced the bipartisan Growing Climate Solutions Act. The bipartisan bill would create a structure at the Department of Agriculture to help farmers increase their adoption of “climate smart practices” and have better access to voluntary carbon markets. The bill has broad, bipartisan support from 43 Senators and over 70 agricultural and environmental organizations. The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry voted to advance the legislation at a business meeting and Senator Stabenow feels confident the bill will move to a vote on the full Senate floor soon. Read the full article.
 

House Agriculture Committee Republicans on Friday introduced a package of legislation to address climate change through agricultural incentives, aiming to offer alternatives to expected Democratic proposals for addressing global warming. The lawmakers sponsoring the five bills say they hope to gain bipartisan support for their proposals and are asking for a committee review of the 2018 farm bill's climate initiatives. The Republican proposals come as lawmakers have begun introducing a series agriculture bills focused on climate action with hopes of inclusion in negotiations over President Joe Biden's infrastructure package. Read the full article.
 

Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-ME, and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, on Thursday, April 21 – Earth Day –reintroduced the bicameral Agriculture Resilience Act, which sets a roadmap to achieve net-zero emissions from agriculture by 2040. Pingree first introduced the legislation in the 116th Congress, but a spokeswoman said the new version First introduced in the House in the 116th Congress the reintroduced version of the bill, now with a Senate companion, incorporates important modifications. The bill now expands provisions to better serve and prioritize farmers of color, as well as beginning and veteran farmers and ranchers, makes conservation programs more accessible to organic and transitioning to organic producers; and incorporates perennial agriculture throughout the bill, recognizing the climate mitigation and adaptation contributions of these production systems. Read the full article.
 

Science and Society News

Jenna Hershberger didn’t mean to make waves. Instead, like many of the most revolutionary tools, waves was born of necessity. It’s a free, open‐source R‐package for statistical analysis of data collected from handheld spectrometers. It works on its own, or dovetails neatly with Breedbase, an existing platform for storing and analyzing data from a variety of crops around the world. Here, Hershberger, an ASA, CSSA, and SSSA member, details how scientists in the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section at Cornell collaborated with the Boyce Thompson Institute team that runs and maintains Breedbase. The outcome of their collaboration is the formal release of the waves R‐package through a recent article in The Plant Phenome Journal. Read the full article.
 

Annually, we ask members to become involved in the Societies through a variety of service opportunities. Committee members, working together, achieve and advance the visions and missions of the Societies by developing and recommending policy, providing advice on editorial issues, and assisting in building stronger member-focused Societies.  The committee volunteer sign-up is done online. Login and submit your interests for 2021 by Monday, June 1. 
ASA Committee Information
CSSA Committee Information
SSSA Committee Information

At President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate, the U.S. announced plans to launch the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate). AIM for Climate will catalyze greater investment in agricultural R&D and innovation to help to raise global ambition and underpin more rapid and transformative climate action in all countries, including by enabling science-based and data-driven decision and policy-making. Investments in agricultural innovation and R&D can enhance existing approaches and deliver new ways to sustainably increase agricultural productivity, improve livelihoods, conserve nature and biodiversity, and adapt and build resilience to climate change, all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon. The innovation and R&D areas targeted through AIM for Climate will include: sustainable productivity improvements; land, water, carbon, and other input use efficiency; resilient crop and livestock production; enhanced digital tools; and inclusive, equitable and sustainable food systems. Read the full article.
 

A new report from The Science Coalition highlights the impact of 53 spinoff companies created from federally funded university research. The study found these companies contributed more than $720 million to the economy, created thousands of jobs, and strengthened supply chains across the country, underscoring how important the partnership between federal research agencies and universities is in sparking economic growth, catalyzing innovation, and supporting our role as a global leader. Read the full article. 
 

In a complex dance, Earth’s climate affects, and is affected by, the sky, land, ice, sea -- and by life, including people. To understand climate change, which scientists believe may be one of the most important challenges humankind has ever faced, we need to comprehend Earth’s natural and human systems and how they interact. The answers may determine the future of life on our planet. For Earth Day, we look at 10 recent discoveries from U.S. National Science Foundation-funded climate change research and what they tell us about a warming planet. Read the full article.
 

Nominations for the 2021 Norman Borlaug Field Award are open! This award honors a young scientist or extension worker who has shown Borlaug-like determination, dedication and intellectual innovation in the fight to eliminate global hunger, malnutrition and poverty. This prestigious award offers a USD $10,000 prize endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation, to recognize science-based achievement in international agriculture and food production by an individual under 40. Learn more and nominate here. 

The Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) kicked off yesterday with a call to preserve this vast community of living soil organisms and the vital ecosystem services they provide. Soils are one of the main global reservoirs of biodiversity. They host more than 25 percent of the world's supply of this valued resource from where 95 percent of the food we eat is produced. Soil organisms play a crucial role in sustaining lives on our planet, said Director-General QU Dongyu in his opening remarks to the symposium. However, he expressed great concern about how soil biodiversity and overall soil health were under constant threat posed by deforestation, land use change, wildfires, soil erosion, pollution, mono cropping, overuse of chemicals, surface sealing and urban sprawl. Read the full article.
 

Poa annua, or annual bluegrass, a turfgrass species commonly found on golf course putting greens around the world, possesses transgenerational memory, “remembering” whether its parent was mowed or not mowed, according to a new study by Penn State researchers. The discovery solves a two-decades-old mystery that has vexed Penn State Professor of Turfgrass Breeding and Genetics David Huff, whose research trials are aimed at breeding Poa annua to produce seed for golf greens. After extensive genetic analysis and comparison of mowed and unmowed Poa annua clones over several generations, researchers saw that the “stress” from mowing affected the development of the turfgrass. In findings recently published in Crop Science, they reported that they have observed that the transgenerational inheritance of close mowing stress is correlated with heritable patterns of DNA methylation. Read the full article.
 

Recognizing the need to provide educational activities that young people and others can pursue at home, in the classroom, and in additional settings during this challenging time, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is opening submissions for its Earth Science Week contests.
AGI is sponsoring four contests honoring this year's theme, "Water Today and for the Future," for the celebration of Earth Science Week that will take place October 10-16, 2021. This year's competitions will feature video, photography, visual arts, and essay contests. Learn more, including how to enter, here.
 

When poultry litter is applied to the same field continuously for several years, some litter‐derived elements such as phosphorus (P) accumulate in the soil and become a concern for eutrophication and other environmental issues. The most recommended management practice to prevent excess nutrient buildup in the soil is to apply just enough poultry litter to meet the P need of the crop. However, this does not supply enough other nutrients to meet the crop’s need, making it necessary to supply nutrients from other sources, increasing production costs. A recent article in the Soil Science Society of America Journal looks at whether a new management strategy that involves rotating poultry litter with synthetic fertilizers in combination with rotation of cotton, corn, and soybean would minimize nutrient accumulation from repeated poultry litter applications. Read the full article.
 

The Geological Society of America is seeking an early-career geoscience graduate to spend a year in Washington D.C. as the 2021-2022 GSA Science Policy Fellow. The "in-house" fellow works with GSA's Director for Geoscience Policy to bring science and scientists into the policy process. The fellow acts as a science policy liaison, keeping GSA members informed, involved, and represented in national policy in areas such as research funding, energy and natural resource assessments, climate change policy, and natural hazard mitigation and response. Consideration of applications will begin 15 May. Learn more and apply here.
 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) seeks input to establish a new Farm of the Future competitive grant program. The FY2021 Omnibus Appropriations Bill provided $4 million to NIFA “for a competitive grant to an institution in the land-grant university system to establish a Farm of the Future testbed and demonstration site.” NIFA plans to implement this program by supporting an integrated research and extension project. As a stakeholder, customer, or partner, you are invited to contribute your expert opinion on how Federal investments can best address current needs and challenges facing farms of the future. Ultimately, this information will guide development of a Request for Applications. Participate in a Live virtual listen session on Thursday, May 6 from 2 to 4 p.m. (CT). Register here.
 

International Corner

In dense tropical forests in Sierra Leone, scientists have rediscovered a coffee species not seen in the wild in decades - a plant they say may help secure the future of this valuable commodity that has been imperiled by climate change. The researchers said on Monday that the species, called Coffea stenophylla, possesses greater tolerance for higher temperatures than the Arabica coffee that makes up 56% of global production and the robusta coffee that makes up 43%. Arabica's flavor is rated as superior and brings higher prices than robusta, which is mainly used for instant coffee and coffee blends. But Arabica has limited resilience to climate change and research has shown its global production could fall by at least 50% by mid-century. Read the full article.
 

The relatively modest research investments outlined in Canada’s new federal budget could make it difficult for the nation to recruit and retain scientific talent, Canadian science advocates fear. The multiyear spending plan includes CA$2.2 billion in mostly new funding for life sciences, but much of the money is targeted at boosting biomedical applications and vaccine development. Many research groups had hoped for greater investment in basic research at a time when, just across the border, U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed large increases for fundamental science. Read the full article.
 

Adding the likes of peas, lentils, beans, and chickpeas to your diet, and farming more of them, could result in more nutritious and effective food production with large environmental benefits, scientists have found. Researchers calculated a “nutritional density” unit for different types of crops. They found that swapping cereals for leguminous plants in European crop rotations provided more nutrient-rich produce for both animal and human consumption. Thanks to the way that legumes grow, it also reduced synthetic fertilizer use and pollution. Read the full article.
 

Though genetically modified (GM) cotton has been safely cultivated in Mexico at a commercial scale more for than 20 years, the government is jeopardizing the future of the nation’s textile industry by restricting new approvals of GM seeds. Cotton farmers are fighting back. They’ve started to organize and demand access to GM cotton seeds through the Comite Nacional Sistema Producto Algodon (National Committee on the Cotton Product System). They have asked President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador to instruct the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) to allow them to use GM seed and criticized the “unilateral decisions of SEMARNAT.” Read the full article. 

To meet future global wheat production needs, improving grain yield is the primary goal of wheat‐breeding programs across the globe. Investigations of the contribution of morphophysiological traits to wheat yield potential and knowledge on the limiting factors for wheat yield improvements are essential to the continuous improvement of grain yield in wheat‐breeding strategies. In an article recently published in Crop Science, researchers evaluated the grain yield and associated traits of eight milestone wheat cultivars that were released between 1969 and 2012 in southwestern China. Their results showed that significant genetic improvement has been achieved in this region. Read the full article.
 

Research, Education, Extension Funding Opportunities

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $10 million for foundational research to address the challenges of managing and processing the increasingly massive data sets produced by today’s scientific instruments, facilities, and supercomputers in order to facilitate more efficient analysis. As scientific user facilities are upgraded and expanded, data are produced at a rate beyond our capacity to store, analyze, stream, and archive. There is an urgent need to develop new techniques to shrink these data sets by removing trivial or repetitive data while preserving the important scientific information that can lead to discovery. A key challenge is to reduce data without losing important scientific information and to assure scientists that key information has been preserved. Research supported by this program will address both the efficiency and effectiveness of data reduction techniques and their inherent trustworthiness in preserving vital scientific information. Preproposal deadline, May 6. Read the full announcement.
 

The Kirchner Food Fellowship is accepting applications for an opportunity to receive hands-on investment training focused on food and agriculture businesses, providing long-term environmentally and economically sustainable solutions. Candidates for this year's cohort must be graduate or undergraduate students attending a Historically Black College or University. Deadline, May 15. Read the full announcement. 
 

The Scientific Exchanges Program (SEP) advances USDA’s agricultural research goals to promote collaborative programs among agricultural professionals of eligible countries, the United States, the international agricultural research system, and United States entities conducting research in the agricultural sciences. SEP accomplishes this by providing fellowships to individuals from eligible countries who specialize or have experience in agricultural education, research, extension, or other related fields. Fellowships promote food security and economic growth in eligible countries by educating a new generation of agricultural scientists, increasing scientific knowledge and collaborative research to improve agricultural productivity, and extending that knowledge to users and intermediaries in the marketplace. The collaborative nature of the training and research programs benefits the fellow, his or her home institution, and partner country; the U.S. host institution, its professors, researchers, and students; and the global agricultural sector by improving agricultural productivity, systems, and processes in partnering nations through the transfer of new science and agricultural technologies. Deadline, June 10. Read the full announcement.
 

The purpose of the 2021 Soil Science Collaborative Research Proposals is to promote research that informs and improves soil survey. As such, each proposal must include significant collaboration with soil survey personnel (such as MLRA soil survey offices, Regional Offices or State Soil Scientists). Proposal deliverables and their connection to soil survey must be clearly explained. This competitive cooperative research program focuses on soil science and soil survey research topics and needs. The objectives of the research are to: 1) Promote research collaboration between the NRCS Soil and Plant Science Division (SPSD) and university cooperators on significant national issues, 2) Provide technology transfer and training for NRCS staff, and 3) Assist in training of students in soil science and related fields. Deadline, June 15. Read the full announcement. 
 

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing availability of Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Proposals will be accepted from the following several states. See the links for full announcement details and deadlines. 
Missouri – Deadline, May 31
Virginia – Deadline, June 18
South Dakota – Deadline, June 21
Maine – Deadline, June 21
Florida – Deadline, July 12
 

To continue expansion and scaling efforts from NSF's Geosciences Opportunities for Leadership in Diversity (GOLD) Program and related activities to broaden participation in the geosciences, and to develop unique approaches for greater inclusion in the geoscience education and research community, NSF welcomes submission of the following types of proposals. 1) Early-Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) Proposals: NSF welcomes EAGER proposals that envision new efforts to create educational or degree granting geoscience programs at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) or scale existing geoscience programs into graduate programs at MSIs. 2) Conference Proposals: Convenings that invite new project ideas for broadening participation in the geosciences with a strong emphasis on the role of the social and behavioral sciences are encouraged. 3) Research Coordination Networks (RCNs) RCNs should advance a field or create new directions in research or education by supporting groups of investigators to communicate and coordinate their research, training and educational activities across disciplinary, organizational, geographic and international boundaries. Deadline, June 1. Read the full announcement. 
 

To further scientific and technological cooperation between the United States and the European Community, the National Science Foundation and the European Research Council signed an Implementing Arrangement to enable U.S.-based scientists and engineers with active NSF awards, particularly those early in their careers, to pursue research collaboration with European colleagues supported through EU-funded European Research Council (ERC) grants. This solicitation invites current NSF grantees to submit supplemental funding requests for research visits to any identified, appropriate ERC-funded European research group. NSF particularly encourages requests from NSF grantees who are early in their careers or who are still actively building their careers. Further, the letter gives instructions on how to submit supplemental funding requests and other relevant policies and requirements. Deadline, June 7. Read the full announcement. 
 

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA is announcing the availability of Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials (On-Farm Trials) to stimulate the adoption and evaluation of innovative conservation approaches in partnership with agricultural producers. For 2021, applications are accepted from eligible entities for projects addressing at least one of the following priorities: Irrigation Management Technologies; Climate Smart Agricultural Solutions; Management Technologies and Strategies; and Soil Health Demonstration Trial. Up to $25 million is available for On-Farm Trials in 2021. NRCS anticipates that at least $10 million of On-Farm Trials funding in 2021 will be awarded to entities applying for the Soil Health Demonstration Trial (SHD) component. On-Farm Trials projects may be between three and five years in duration. Deadline, June 21. Read the full announcement.
 

The NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) is a core NSF STEM education program that seeks to promote novel, creative, and transformative approaches to generating and using new knowledge about STEM teaching and learning to improve STEM education for undergraduate students. The program is open to application from all institutions of higher education and associated organizations. NSF places high value on educating students to be leaders and innovators in emerging and rapidly changing STEM fields as well as educating a scientifically literate public. In pursuit of this goal, IUSE supports projects that seek to bring recent advances in STEM knowledge into undergraduate education, that adapt, improve, and incorporate evidence-based practices into STEM teaching and learning, and that lay the groundwork for institutional improvement in STEM education. In addition to innovative work at the frontier of STEM education, this program also encourages replication of research studies at different types of institutions and with different student bodies to produce deeper knowledge about the effectiveness and transferability of findings. IUSE also seeks to support projects that have high potential for broader societal impacts, including improved diversity of students and instructors participating in STEM education, professional development for instructors to ensure adoption of new and effective pedagogical techniques that meet the changing needs of students, and projects that promote institutional partnerships for collaborative research and development. Deadline, July 21. Read the full announcement. 
 

The National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce) invites innovative proposals that address the critical need for recruiting, preparing, and retaining highly effective elementary and secondary mathematics and science teachers and teacher leaders in high-need school districts. To achieve this goal, Noyce supports talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers. It also supports experienced, exemplary K-12 STEM teachers to become teacher leaders in high-need school districts. In addition, Noyce supports research on the effectiveness and retention of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts. Noyce offers four program tracks: Track 1: The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarships and Stipends (S&S) Track, Track 2: The NSF Teaching Fellowships (TF) Track, Track 3: The NSF Master Teaching Fellowships (MTF) Track, and Track 4: The Noyce Research Track. In addition, Capacity Building proposals are accepted from proposers intending to develop a proposal in any of the program's tracks. Deadline, August 31. Read the full announcement.
 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS), in collaboration with the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), seeks to promote interdisciplinary research that enables novel mathematical and computational approaches that capture and explore the full range of mechanisms and biological variability needed to better understand complex and nonlinear behavior across multiple biological systems and scales. Proposals funded through MODels for Uncovering Rules and Unexpected Phenomena in Biological Systems (MODULUS) are anticipated to cultivate innovative modes of collaboration among researchers working at the interface of mathematics and molecular and cellular biology, with an emphasis on systems-scale integration. Each proposal submitted should  address a current state-of-the-research challenge and describe a strategy for formative integration of mathematical and biological understanding to address the challenge. In addition, the proposal should describe the unique interdisciplinary training opportunity for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers working on the project. Proposals accepted at any time. Read the full announcement.
 

Sources: Farm Journal Foundation; ScienceInsider; USA Today; EE News; The White House; The Fence Post; USDA; NSF; Science Coalition; PSU News; GSA; Reuters; The Guardian; Alliance for Science; DOE-SC; NRCS;

Vision: The Societies Washington, DC Science Policy Office (SPO) will advocate the importance and value of the agronomic, crop and soil sciences in developing national science policy and ensuring the necessary public-sector investment in the continued health of the environment for the well being of humanity. The SPO will assimilate, interpret, and disseminate in a timely manner to Society members information about relevant agricultural, natural resources and environmental legislation, rules and regulations under consideration by Congress and the Administration.

This page of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA web site will highlight current news items relevant to Science Policy. It is not an endorsement of any position.