Directorate for Geosciences

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Directorate for Geosciences
Mississippi State University January 11, 2007
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Directorate for Geosciences (GEO)

• Research in the atmospheric, earth, and ocean
  sciences
• Principal source of federal funding for
  university-based fundamental research in the
  geosciences
• Advances scientific knowledge of Earth's
  environment
• Advances ability to predict natural phenomena of
  economic and human significance, including such
  topics as climate change, weather prediction,
  earthquakes, tsunamis, fish-stock fluctuations,
  and disruptive events in the solar-terrestrial
  environment (space weather)

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Directorate for Geosciences
Assistant Director for Geosciences Dr. Margaret
S. Leinen
Diversity and Education in Geosciences
Division of Earth Sciences
Division of Atmospheric Sciences
Division of Ocean Sciences
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Directorate for Geosciences

• Invites unsolicited proposals from all scientists
  with interests in the geosciences
• Sponsors special competitions, often
  interdisciplinary, in areas identified by the
  community as deserving special attention
• Provides long-term support for shared community
  resources and facilities
• Seeks to promote collaborations with scientists
  in other disciplines, funding agencies, and
  Nations
• Seeks to promote the integration of research and
  education, while broadening particpation in the
  geosciences

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Recent Cross-Cutting Activities in GEO

• Dynamics of Coupled Natural Human Systems (SBE,
  GEO, BIO, ENG) quantitative, interdisciplinary
  analyses of relevant human and natural system
  processes and complex interactions among human
  and natural systems at diverse scales.
• Carbon and Water in the Earth System (ATM,OCE,
  EAR) understanding of complex relationships
  between and within global water and carbon
  cycles.
• Cyberinfrastructure for Environmental
  Observatories Prototype Systems to Address
  Cross-Cutting Needs(OCI, GEO, BIO, ENG) for the
  development of practical environmental
  cyberinfrastructure prototypes along with a
  demonstration of their capability to answer
  significant environmental research questions.

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http//www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?divATM
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Division of Atmospheric Sciences (ATM)

• Furthers understanding of weather, climate and
  the solar-terrestrial system by expanding the
  fundamental knowledge of the composition and
  dynamics of the Earths atmosphere and geospace
  environment, including
• studies of the physics, chemistry, and dynamics
  of earth's upper and lower atmosphere and its
  space environment
• research on climate processes and variations
• studies to understand the natural global cycles
  of gases and particles in earth's atmosphere
• Supports large, complex facilities required for
  research in the atmospheric and solar-terrestrial
  sciences

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Division of Atmospheric Sciences Dr. Jarvis
Moyers
UCAR and Lower Atmospheric Facilities Section
Lower Atmosphere Research Section
Upper Atmosphere Research Section
Atmospheric Chemistry
Climate and Large-scale Dynamics
Aeronomy
Magneto-spheric Physics
Physical and Dynamic Meteorology
Paleo-climate
Solar Terrestrial Research
Upper Atmospheric Facilities
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Some of NSFs Lower Atmospheric Observing
Facilities
NSF/NCAR C-130Q
Integrated Sounding System (ISS)
Colorado State University CHILL Radar
University of Wyoming King Air
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ATM community Facilities
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http//www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?divEAR
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Division of Earth Sciences (EAR)

• Supports research to understand the structure,
  composition, and evolution of the Earth and the
  processes that govern the formation and behavior
  of the Earth's materials, including
• research to gain a better understanding of the
  Earth's changing environments, and the natural
  distribution of its mineral, water, and energy
  resources
• methods for predicting and mitigating the effects
  of geologic hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic
  eruptions, floods, and landslides
• dynamic modeling of earth system processes
• Supports theoretical, computational, laboratories
  and field stations, and state-of-the-art
  scientific infrastructure

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Division of Earth Sciences Dr. Arthur Goldstein
Surface Earth Processes Section
Deep Earth Processes Section
Geobiology Low Temp Geochemistry
Education Human Resources
Continental Dynamics
EarthScope
Geomorphology Land Use Dynamics
Geophysics
Instrumentation Facilities
Hydrologic Sciences
Tectonics
Petrology Geochemistry
Sedimentary Geology Paleobiology
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Multi-User Facilities
NSF-University of Arizona Accelerator Mass
Spectrometry (AMS) Laboratory
UCLA SIMS Laboratory (UCLASIMS)
North East National Ion Microprobe Facility
(NENIMF _at_ WHOI)
High-Resolution Computed X-ray Tomography
Facility (UTCT)
Facility for Electromagnetic Studies of the
Continents (EMSOC _at_ UUtah, UWashington,
UC-Riverside)
Institute for Rock Magnetism (IRM _at_ UMinn)
Amino Acid Geochronology Laboratory (AAGL _at_ NAU)
Arizona LaserChron Center (ALC _at_ U. of Arizona)
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EarthScope PBO, SAFOD USArray

• 400 transportable seismic stations occupying 2000
  sites (10 years)
• 40 magneto-telluric systems
• 100 campaign GPS stations
• 2400 campaign seismic stations

• 875 permanent GPS stations
• 39 permanent seismic stations
• 175 borehole strainmeters
• 5 laser strainmeters

MREFC Project 200M construction science,
EO, cyberinfrastructure
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http//www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?divOCE
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Division of Ocean Sciences (OCE)

• Supports basic research and education to further
  understanding of all aspects of the global oceans
  and their interactions with the solid earth and
  the atmosphere, including
• biological, chemical and physical processes that
  characterize both coastal seas and deep ocean
  basins
• geological and geophysical processes that shape
  the continental shelves and deep sea floor
• resource and hazard assessment and the health of
  the oceans complex and diverse ecological
  systems
• Supports operation, acquisition, construction,
  and conversion of major shared-use oceanographic
  facilities needed to carry out oceanographic-relat
  ed research programs

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Division of Ocean Sciences Dr. Julie Morris
Integrative Programs Section
Ocean Sciences Section
Marine Geosciences Section
Chemical Oceanography
Marine Geology Geophysics
Ocean Sciences Education
Oceanographic Instrumentation Technical Services
Biological Oceanography
Ocean Drilling
Oceanographic Technology Interdisciplinary
Coordination
Physical Oceanography
Ship Facilities Support
Ship Operations
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Ocean Section Water Column and Life

• Physical Oceanography
• Biological Oceanography
• Chemical Oceanography
• Priority research programs include
• Non-Equilibrium Ecosystem Dynamics
• Climate variability studies
• Biogeochemical cycling studies
• Interactions between the ocean and the
  atmosphere, solid earth and ice that surround it
• Transformation of chemical compounds and phases
  within the marine system
• Marine chemistry, microbial, and ecological
  studies of stressed environments including coral
  reefs and harmful agal bloom regions
• Time series
• Research examples GLOBEC, CLIVAR, BATS, VERTIGO

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Marine Geosciences Section Seafloor and Ocean
Margins

• Marine Geology and Geophysics
• Ocean Drilling Program
• Priority research programs include
• Structure, tectonic evolution and volcanic
  activity of the ocean basins, the continental
  margins, the mid-ocean ridges, and island arc
  systems
• Processes controlling exchange of heat and
  chemical species between seawater and ocean rocks
• Genesis, chemistry, and mineralogic evolution of
  marine sediments
• Processes controlling deposition, erosion and
  transport of marine sediments
• Ocean ridge crest processes and coupling to vent
  communities, macrobiology and sub-sea floor
  microbial communities
• Continental margin studies focused on dynamics
  and evolution of the ocean-continent transition
• Research examples Ridge 2000, MARGINS

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Ocean Observatories Initiative
Regional Cabled Observatory
Global
Coastal
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GEO Budgets
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GEO Diversity and Education

• Education and diversity are critical in promoting
  the overall health of the geoscience enterprise
• GEOs commitment extends beyond providing support
  for the training of graduate students
• GEO supports quality geoscience education at all
  levels, including active outreach to the public
• GEO offers several programs to address diversity
  and education activities within the geosciences
  including
• Geoscience Education (GeoEd)
• Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the
  Geosciences (OEDG)
• Geoscience Teacher Training (GEO-Teach)

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Geoscience Education (GeoEd)

• Supports projects that will
• pilot projects initiate innovative geoscience
  education activities (upto 150k 2yrs Total
  1.5m/yr) or
• integrate geoscience research and education
  collaborative activities into existing Louis
  Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation
  (LSAMP), Alliances for Graduate Education and the
  Professoriate (AGEP), and/or Centers of Research
  Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST)
  projects (up to 500K 4 yrs Total 1m.yr)
• NSF 05-609 (next deadline November 15, 2007)

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Other Education Programs in Geosciences

• Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
• Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI)
• CAREER Program
• Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education
  (GK-12)
• Integrative Graduate Research Traineeship Program
  (IGERT)
• Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence
  (COSEE)

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Opportunities for Enhancing Diversity in the
Geosciences (OEDG)

• Primary goal is to increase participation in
  geoscience education and research by students
  from groups currently underrepresented in
  science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
• NSF 04-590
• letters of intent - Sept. 14, 2006 proposals -
  Oct. 18, 2006
• Contact Jill Karsten 703.292.8500 or
  jkarsten_at_nsf.gov

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Other NSF Diversity Programs of interest to the
Geosciences

• Research in Disabilities Education (RDE Div.
  EHR)
• Research on Gender in Science Engineering (GSE
  Div EHR)
• ADVANCE increasing particip. and advancement of
  women in academic science and eng. Careers (Div.
  SBE)

• Historically Black Colleges Universities
  Undergrad. Program (HBCU-UP Div. HER)
• LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate (Div. EHR)
• Alliances for Graduate Education and the
  Professoriate (AGEP Div. EHR)

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GEO Contacts

• Directorate-wide programs to fund formal and
  informal geoscience education activities (GeoEd)
• Contact Jill Karsten (jkarsten_at_nsf.gov)
• Division of Atmospheric Sciences
• http//www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?divATM
• Division of Earth Sciences
• http//www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?divEAR
• Division of Ocean Sciences
• http//www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?divOCE