This year saw a number of changes in the LTER management team in the Division of Environmental Biology (BIO/DEB) at the National Science Foundation (NSF). As of October, when Todd Crowl left NSF to return to his position at Utah State University, I became Program Officer for the LTER Program, along with Matt Kane, who also worked with the program last year.
This year’s full management team for LTER at NSF also includes program officers from:
- The Office of Polar Programs (Roberta Marinelli, who manages the Palmer Station (PAL) and McMurdo (MCM) projects)
- GEO/Ocean Sciences (Dave Garrison, who manages the Moorea Coral Reef (MCR), Plum Island Ecosystem (PIE), Georgia Coastal Ecosystem (GCE), Santa Barbara Coastal (SBC), and North Temperate Lakes (NTL) projects
- Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences (Tom Baerwald, who co-manages the Central Arizona-Phoenix (CAP) and Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) awards
- Deborah Winslow and Stephen Langdon from the Cultural Anthropology program)
- BIO/Division of Biological Infrastructure (Peter McCartney and Liz Blood)
- Office of International Science and Engineering (Myra McAuliffe)
We all thank Todd for his recent service to the LTER program and Henry Gholz, who has transitioned to other responsibilities at NSF this year, for his exemplary long-term leadership and service to the program.
Supplements to LTER awards will be handled somewhat differently beginning this year. We expect to send instructions in January that describe categories that will be considered for supplementary support in the coming year and the process and format for applying for a supplement.
Researchers should note that there is a new Grant Proposal Guide (NSF 11-1) that includes some important changes that you should be aware of for future proposal submissions, such as the new requirement for a Data Management Plan.
Also, there have been a few other changes in NSF policy since the last LTER renewals. Currently, NSF must have evidence of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval for any project that includes use of vertebrates before an award can be made to support that project.
Similarly, NSF must have evidence of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval or exemption for a project involving human subjects before an award can be made to support a project.
Additionally, a proposal that requests funding to support a postdoctoral researcher must include, as a supplementary document, a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such an individual.
We have begun to organize the site reviews that will occur during 2011, with the North Temperate Lakes (NTL), H.J. Andrews (AND), Coweeta (CWT), Konza (KNZ), and Palmer (PAL) up for mid-term project review.
I look forward to meeting more of the LTER scientists and learning about what you see as the challenges and opportunities for the LTER Network and its contributions to scientific understanding based on excellent long-term, site-based research and long-term time-series data. Please feel free to contact me by email or phone, or to drop by if you are in the area of NSF.
Nancy Huntly is the Program Director for LTER and Evolutionary Processes, Division of Environmental Biology, NSF