^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ AWG E-MAIL NEWS No. 2000-45, October 25, 2000 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ CONTENTS: 1) IMPORTANT NOTICE!--CHRYSALIS ENDOWMENT FUNDRAISING 2) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON CORRESPONDENCE OR ONLINE COURSES 3) EVOLUTION:INVESTIGATING THE EVIDENCE-TEACHER WOKSHOP ***PLEASE DISTRIBUTE*** 4) AGI GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM SPECIAL UPDATE: 10-17-00 5) POSITION OPENINGS ***Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-temporary instructor 6) STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES ***University of Kansas-Grinnell Fellowships 7) SUBMISSION & MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111 1) IMPORTANT NOTICE!--CHRYSALIS ENDOWMENT FUNDRAISING AWG announces a new effort to endow The Chrysalis Scholarship The AWG Foundation has funded deserving women who have experienced an interruption in their formal education for the last twelve years through the Chrysalis Scholarship. Each year AWG and the AWG Foundation work hard and valiantly to raise the funds for this scholarship. The more funds we raise, the more scholarships we are able to fund. This year, through the generous offer of an anonymous donor, we begin the process of raising an endowment that will fund the Chrysalis Scholarship annually. Our goal is to raise $19,000 that will generate interest each year and fund one or more Scholarships. We need your help!! Please consider a generous donation to the AWG Foundation this year, and mark your donation for the Chrysalis Scholarship Endowment Fund With your help, we can continue to support women who return to complete their education and finish their theses and dissertations. Send you donations to: Martha McRae, AWGF Treasurer, 1125 East 6th 1/2 Street, Houston, TX 77009 222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222 22222222 2) REQUEST FOR INFORMATION Dear Ladies of the AWG, I am writing to you because I have just found your web site today. It was on a childrens science program on PBS. It seems rather providential as I have just this week decided that I must do something that I have wanted to do for twenty years. I never went to college, for various reasons. I have always had a deep desire to do so, and the degree that I have always wanted to pursue is a geology degree. After a difficult summer at my job and a lot of introspection, also the fact that I have one of those milestone birthdays looming on the horizon, I have decided I must get going on my dream to return to school. After finding your web site today I thought perhaps I could turn to you for advice and guidance. I have a rather full schedule as a wife and mother of 2 children, ages 10 and 9. I also work parttime at about 30 hours a week. So I do not really have the time or schedule to go to regular classes. I have an hour or two to myself in the evening and I think I could try to work in a correspondence or online type course. I know this would take a long time to finish, but I have a ten year type goal in mind. I just feel the need to get started. I have surfed on the net a bit and found 24 colleges that say they have this type of program. I have not contacted any of them yet. I am not sure what advice and direction you can give me, if any. I guess my specific question would be... Do you know of any programs such as I am trying to find? And are there schools you would recommend above others for a geology degree? In advance I thank you for your time, effort and consideration. Mary A. Kochivar P.O. Box 1795 Elizabeth, Co 80107 mkochivar@aol.com 333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 33333333 EVOLUTION: Investigating the Evidence A SHORT COURSE FOR TEACHERS, GRADES 6 TO 16 Held at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America Saturday, November 11-8:00 am to 5:00 pm Reno/Sparks Convention Center, room A4 Reno, Nevada Sponsored by The Paleontological Society and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in association with the University of California Museum of Paleontology What is the evidence for evolution? Why the controversies? How can teachers present major evolutionary concepts in their classrooms in meaningful ways? Join an energetic team of paleontologists and science educators in a full-day, hands-on workshop. We will concentrate on what science is and is not, the importance of teaching evolution, and best teaching strategies. The format will be a combination of informative sessions, discussions and hands-on activities presented by grade level. Highlights include: ? Why teach evolution? ? Teaching the process of science; ? New classroom activities that support major concepts in evolution including adaptation, natural selection, punctuated equilibrium, homologous structures, cladistics, and phylogenetics; ? Incorporating the World Wide Web into teaching. Plus: A complimentary copy of a 400+ page resource book; A special presentation by Charles Marshall of Harvard on missing links in the fossil record. You can register on-site or on-line at http://rock.geosociety.org/registration/annual/reg_secure_annual.asp. For information: Judy Scotchmoor: (510) 642-4877; judys@ucmp1.berkeley.edu Dale A. Springer: (570) 389-4747; dspringe@husky.bloomu.edu 444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 44444444 4) AGI GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM SPECIAL UPDATE: 10-17-00 *** Spending Bill for USGS Signed Into Law IN A NUTSHELL: President Clinton signed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill into law on October 11, 2000. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and land management agencies were beneficiaries of last-minute negotiations between the Clinton Administration and Congress to increase funding levels. The increases were largely related to a compromise on spending for conservation and land acquisition programs. In the final bill, USGS programs receives $882 million. Fossil energy R&D at the Department of Energy receives $433.7 million. This update also briefly reports on funding for other Department of the Interior agencies and the U.S. Forest Service. Two weeks into the new fiscal year, only three of the required thirteen appropriations bills have been signed into law. Nothing new there as appropriations delays have become a regular feature of Washington's partisan landscape. What is surprising is that the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill (H.R. 4578) is the third FY 2001 spending bill to become law, having receiving the president's signature on October 11th (Public Law 106-291). In recent years, non- spending provisions -- known as "riders" -- on environmental and public land-related resource issues have earned the Interior bill multiple veto threats and made it one of the last spending bills completed, often as part of a massive omnibus spending measure. *** Conservation and Land Acquisition The FY 2001 bill does contain a few riders, but the principal sticking point in negotiations this time centered on the president's Lands Legacy initiative, the centerpiece of his budget request for the Department of the Interior (DOI). Earlier versions of the Interior bill that passed the House and Senate contained little funding for the initiative's federal land acquisition and conservation programs. At the same time, Congress was working on its own acquisition/ conservation plan. Known as the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA; H.R. 701), the bill would direct federal oil and gas royalty payments into the Land and Water Conservation Fund and related state and federal land acquisition and conservation programs. At one point, negotiators tried to insert CARA, which passed the House with broad bipartisan support, into the Interior bill in place of the president's requested Lands Legacy spending. In the final compromise, CARA provisions were altered and renamed as the Land Conservation, Preservation, and Infrastructure Improvement Program (LCPIIP). LCPIIP is a six-year program that is not mandatory and "does not guarantee annual appropriations" in future years. According to the DOI Budget Office, LCPIIP uses a "fence and cap" structure by which "funds are set aside under the budget resolution and can only be spent for new land conservation, preservation and infrastructure improvement activities (cap mechanism). While funds are subject to appropriations through the annual appropriations process, they may not be spent on any other purposes (fencing mechanism)." LCPIIP will provide $1.6 billion over the six-year term -- $1.2 billion to DOI and U.S. Forest Service programs and $400 million to coastal programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In FY 2001, DOI programs receive $686 million in addition to amounts provided elsewhere in the bill. The USGS receives $20 million of these funds for cooperative geologic mapping ($5 million), earth science information management and delivery ($2 million), water resources/stream gages ($5 million), biological research ($3 million), and science support/ accessible data transfer ($5 million). *** U.S. Geological Survey The House-Senate conference report refers to the USGS as the "primary steward of the Nation's public lands." The bill's base allocation for the USGS is $862 million, a boost from both the House and the Senate versions of the bill but still lower than the $895.4 million requested in the President's budget. When the funds provided in LCPIIP are added, the grand total for the agency is $882 million, an increase of $73.7 million from the FY 2000 enacted level (see table below). The National Mapping Division gets $128.7 million, including $56.6 million for national data collection and integration, $36.7 million for geographic research and applications, and $35.4 million for earth science information management and delivery ($37.4 million once the LCPIIP funds are added). Report language calls USGS the "appropriate agency to manage the Landsat program in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration." Funding for the Geologic Division totals $220.8 million of which $72.9 million is for geologic hazards assessment programs (including a $2 million increase over FY 2000 for earthquake hazards and a $1 million increase for the cooperative geological mapping program separate from the $5 million in LCPIIP funds). Language in the final report explains that some of the additional funds for the geologic mapping program are expected to be used to develop a prototype database of maps converted to digital format. Geologic landscape and coastal assessments receive $69.5 million, and the geological resources research initiative receives $78.4 million. The Water Resources Division receives $197.2 million -- $95.0 million for the water resources assessment and research program, $33.8 million for the water data collection and management program, $62.9 million for the Federal-State program, and $5.5 million for the water resources research institutes. According to the USGS Budget Office, funding for the stream gaging program receives a nice boost from several sources, including the $5 million from LCPIIP and $2.7 million in emergency appropriations for USGS stream gages in specified regions affected by natural disasters. Because the funding from LCPIIP is not a guaranteed annual appropriations and is "to remain available until expended," these funds will not be used for adding new gages to the network. Instead, funds from LCPIIP will be used to enhance current sites and improve services. *** Table of Total FY 2001 Funding for U.S. Geological Survey (figures in millions) Program FY 2001 enacted change from FY 2000 Natl. Mapping Div. (NMD) 128.7 +1.6% LCPIIP info management 2.0 TOTAL NMD 130.7 +3.2% Geologic Division (GD) 220.8 +4.5% IIP geologic mapping 5.0 TOTAL GD 225.8 +6.9% Water Resources Div. (WRD) 197.2 +6.1% LCPIIP stream gages 5.0 TOTAL WRD 202.2 +8.8% Biological Res. Div. (BRD) 157.9 +15.3% LCPIIP bio research 3.0 TOTAL BRD 160.9 +17.5% LCPIIP science support 5.0 USGS Total 882.0 +8.4% *** Land Management Agencies Excluding the funds that were added in the LCPIIP, the other geoscience activities funded in the Interior bill were higher overall than in either the House or Senate bills. The Department of the Interior receives a total of $9.38 billion. Among DOI agencies affecting the earth sciences, the Bureau of Land Management receives $1.7 billion, including $176.9 million for land resources, $76.9 million for energy and minerals, $3.9 million for Alaska minerals, $625.5 million for wildland fire management, and $31.1 million for land acquisition. The funding for land acquisitions is nearly double the FY 2000 level but still well below the president's $60.9 million request for these activities. The Fish and Wildlife Service receives $964.1 million, the National Park Service is allotted $1.94 billion, and the Minerals Management Service receives $139.5 million. Although the U.S. Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture, it is included in the Interior appropriations bill, receiving $3.6 billion. The total includes $229.6 million for forest and rangeland research and $139.5 million for cooperative forestry. Under LCPIIP, the Forest Service receives an additional $30 million for forest legacy, $20 million for additional planning/inventory/monitoring, and $4 million for urban and community forestry. *** Department of Energy The Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Fuels programs are also part of this bill. They receive $1.5 billion -- $433.7 million for fossil energy research and development (R&D), $1.6 million for the Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserve, $814.9 million for energy conservation, and $161.0 million for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Within the $433.7 million for fossil energy R&D, $82.4 million will go to advanced coal-powered systems, and $52.7 million will go for fuel cell R&D. Research into greenhouse gas sequestration will receive $18.8 million. In the natural gas sector, exploration and production receive the same funding as in FY 2000 ($14.3 million) and R&D into gas hydrates receives a healthy $10.0 million. Petroleum exploration and production supporting research, which had a low budget request compared to previous years, receives an increase over both the budget request and FY 2000 levels to total $28.9 million. Also within the petroleum and oil technology subdivision, reservoir life extension/management receives $14.7 million, the effective environmental protection activities receive $10.8 million, emerging processing technology applications receive $3.6 million, and the new ultra clean fuels initiative receives $10.0 million. *** Non-Spending Provisions Following the trend of the last several years, the Interior appropriations bill includes legislative riders, including one that prevents any funds from the bill to be used to implement changes in hardrock mining regulations that are "not consistent with the recommendations contained in the National Research Council report entitled 'Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands' so long as these regulations are also not inconsistent with existing statutory authorities." Another rider would affect the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project by requiring that the analysis of the project conforms with current regulations before a final decision is made. The DOI Budget office has a quick summary of the legislative provisions included in the FY 2001 bill . -Special update prepared by Margaret Baker, AGI Government Affairs Program 555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 55555555 5) POSITION OPENINGS ***Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-temporary instructor I need a female instructor to teach a basic undergrad. Geology course in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The compensation is very good. The dates are: Feb. 3 through Feb.28. One flies through a European hub city enroute to Riyadh with a 2 night stop in Paris, London or Geneva to get the visa, and then directly from that city to Riyadh. Tickets are business class. References are required, as well as an interview; expenses paid to the interview. Please call at 203-932-7112, send resume via Fax 203-931-6089 to me: Dr.M.L.McLaughlin Thank you. 666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 6666666 6) STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES ***University of Kansas-Grinnell Fellowships The Grinnell Fellowship is a one-year fellowship of up to $20,000 for a qualified Ph.D. student. Subsequent support for three years as an RA or TA will be offered if reasonable progress toward the degree is made. There are three fellowships to be awarded for the next academic year. Details of research programs and facilities at KU are available on the worldwide web at http://www.geo.ukans.edu. You can contact Dr. Douglas Walker [jdwalker@ku.edu, Dept. of Geology, 1474 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 120, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7613 (785) 864-4974)] or the persons listed with each description for further information. Thermochronology and Tectonics. The fellowship recipient will be expected to conduct research in the new (U-Th)/He thermochronology laboratory. Potential research projects include the application of low-temperature thermochronology to regional tectonic problems in the western US, Tibet, and Iran and/or the further development of the (U-Th)/He thermochronometer. Contact Dr. Daniel Stockli (626-395-6177; stockli@gps.caltech.edu) for further information Organic Geochemistry. The student selected to receive this fellowship will be expected to do research in the new environmental organic geochemistry laboratory working with gas chromatography and HPLC. Students interested in studying organic reactions with aquifer materials and other reactive solids used in groundwater remediation are encouraged to apply. For further information, Dr. J.F. (Rick) Devlin, Dept. of Geology, 1474 Jayhawk Blvd. Room 120, Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7613 (785-864-4974). Biogeochemistry. The student selected to receive the fellowship will be expected to develop an innovative research project focused on interactions between microorganisms and minerals in subsurface environments. For further information, contact Dr. Jennifer Roberts Rogers, USGS, 3215 Marine St., Boulder, CO 80303 (303-541-3001; jrrogers@usgs.gov). 777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777 7777777 7) SUBMISSION & MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION ***Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue of AWG E-Mail News. For submissions to AWG E-Mail News, contact Editor Joanne Kluessendorf at editor@awg.org. For advertising, contact the Ad Editor at ads@awg.org. PLEASE SEND AD COPY OR OTHER SUBMISSIONS AS RTF FILES OR AS PART OF AN E-MAIL MESSAGE ***For membership information or to join AWG, visit our website at or contact our business office at ***E-mail or address changes? Send to office@awg.org, please.