^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ AWG E-MAIL NEWS 2003-5 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ CONTENTS 1) AGI GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM SPECIAL UPDATE: 3-14-03 2) 2003 AWG OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR AWARD 3) UPCOMING WORKSHOPS 4) LOOKING FOR A SCIENTIST 5) NEED SOME ROOMIES 6) POSITION OPENINGS *???????Johnston and Company: California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR), Associate Director Programs and Administration ??????*???Penn State University: Faculty Position in Geoscience Education 7) CONTACT INFORMATION ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thanks to everyone who contributed to this issue of E-mail News ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1) AGI GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM SPECIAL UPDATE: 3-14-03 *** President's FY 2004 Budget Request: Department of Energy *** IN A NUTSHELL: The Department of Energy (DOE) funds a number of different geoscience- related programs. Similar to last year's request, the most dramatic cuts in the president's request for fiscal year (FY) 2004 involve fossil energy research and development (R&D) in oil and natural gas. The cuts to natural gas R&D are less than last year but still would represent a 40% cut from FY 2002 appropriations. Cuts to oil R&D would effectively eliminate all upstream exploration and production research, cutting that account to $2 million, down from $33 million in FY 2002. Overall, the president has requested $15 million for oil R&D, down 58% from last year's request and down 73% from FY 2002. Elsewhere in the department, funding for basic geoscience research within the Office of Science is essentially flat and geothermal funding is down 4% from last year's request. Funding for cleanup of the nuclear weapons complex is up 5%, and the request for Yucca Mountain is similar to last year but a big increase over what was actually appropriated in FY 2002. SPECIAL NOTE: Although Congress has finally passed the remaining FY 2003 appropriations bills, which the president is expected to sign, the program-level numbers have yet to fully emerge. A special update on that will be sent out next week. ********************** The total Department of Energy request for FY 2004 is $23.4 billion, an increase of nearly 6% from last year's request. The department is responsible for a wide array of missions, most not related to energy. The two largest parts of the budget are the National Nuclear Security Administration ($8.8 billion), which oversees the development and management of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, and environmental cleanup of former nuclear weapons production facilities ($7.8 billion). Scientific research at the DOE national laboratories and universities would receive $3.3 billion, and $2.5 billion -- a little over 10% of the total -- goes to energy-supply programs. *** Fossil Energy *** DOE's Office of Fossil Energy (FE) requested a total of $747 million, a decrease of nearly 7% from last year's request and down 12% from the fiscal year (FY) 2002 appropriation. Within that total, Research and Development (R&D) programs would receive $519 million, an increase of 8% from last year's request but down 10% from the previous year's allocation. More than 60% of the R&D funding goes to the president's $320 million Coal Research Initiative (CRI), which is predominately directed at downstream technology. CRI does include $62 million for carbon sequestration R&D, which marks a 40% increase from the FY 2003 request and close to double the previous allocation. Funding for oil and natural gas R&D combined make up only 8% of the total Fossil Energy R&D budget, a percentage that continues to drop with each new request. Funding for Natural Gas Technologies totals $27 million, an 18% increase from last year's request but a 40% cut from the FY 2002 appropriation. Nearly a quarter of this request goes towards research in hydrogen from natural gas as part of President Bush's FreecomCAR initiative. Also funded through the natural gas account is $3 million for joint research with industry into the potential of gas hydrates as a future energy resource. The funding for hydrates is down 22% from last year and down 63% from two years ago. The budget proposes to consolidate a number of programs under the Natural Gas Exploration and Production account into a new Sustainable Supply account while cutting 10% from last year's requested level. According to budget documents, this consolidation is in part due to a federal government-wide assessment of programs that encourages management to "phase out programs and activities that are neither productive nor integral to the program's mission and goals." Simply put, the Oil Technology R&D account is gutted in the president's request. As with natural gas, programs within the Oil Exploration and Production account have been consolidated but with much more dramatic cuts. The total Oil Technology request is $15 million, a 58% cut from last year's request and 73% less than the allocation for FY 2002. Funding for the Oil Exploration and Production account was slashed to a total of $2 million, down 88% from last year's request of $16 million and down 94% from the FY 2002 allocation of $33 million. The oil and natural gas R&D programs are some of the first to be subjected to a new White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) assessment of R&D programs based on relevance, quality and performance. Steep budget cuts reflect OMB's assessment that the programs have been ineffective, a conclusion that contrasts with a recent National Research Council report on the same programs that found significant returns on the federal investment. The deep cuts have produced concern on Capitol Hill. At a February 13th House Science Committee hearing on overall R&D funding in the FY 2004 budget, Committee Ranking Member Ralph Hall (D-TX) said, "I remain concerned that funding for oil and gas development programs continues to be cut while domestic production continues to decline at an ever increasing rate and industry research programs have been largely closed out. If the federal government doesn't step into the breach, then how can we expect to minimize our dependence on foreign oil in the next 10 years?" Also within the overall FE funding is $16.5 million for the Naval Petroleum & Oil Shale Reserves (NPR). The request zeros out funding for the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center, a research facility for new recovery and remediation technologies located at the Teapot Dome field in Wyoming. The request states that it "does not have a uniquely federal mission and is more appropriately carried out by the private sector." *** Office of Science *** Total funding for the DOE Office of Science would come to $3.3 billion in the president's request, a small increase from last year's request and essentially flat compared with the FY 2003 allocation. Within the Office of Science, the Basic Energy Sciences programs would receive $1 billion, again flat funding. The Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biological Energy Sciences account is slated to receive $209 million, a slight increase from last year's request and more than allocated in FY 2002. Within that amount, the geoscience funding for university and national lab research is essentially flat. Also within the Office of Science, the Biological and Environmental Research program would receive nearly $500 million, a small increase from last year's request but a decrease of close to 10% from the funding level two years ago. *** Nuclear Waste Disposal *** Last year's decision by the President and Congress to accept the Yucca Mountain site as the nation's permanent disposal site for high-level nuclear waste, means that the project has moved into its second phase. After more than 20 years and $4 billion in site characterization, funding for Yucca Mountain will now be focused primarily on activities to support the submission of a license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The budget request includes $591 million for licensing and program management activities, basically flat from last year's request but an increase of nearly 58% from the allocation two years ago. Within this amount, there is a sizable jump in funding for activities related to waste acceptance, storage, and transportation in anticipation of the repository accepting waste by 2010. *** Environmental Management *** The Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for managing the cleanup of the environmental legacy of the nation's nuclear weapons program -- everything from research to testing to production. EM has been under pressure from DOE and Congress to reform its management to result in quicker, more cost effective cleanup of sites. To respond to this request, the EM budget for FY 2004 is outlined in five new appropriations accounts. The total EM request comes to $7.2 billion, a 5% increase from the comparable FY 2003 budget request. The budget request states that this level of funding should provide the resources for EM to work towards its goal to complete cleanup of 89 of the 114 sites by the end of 2006. *** Geothermal *** Geothermal technology funded under the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is marked for a decrease of nearly 4% from last year's request, to total $25 million. Again, research related to hydrogen has won out over the established programs within this account. In total, EERE has requested $444 million, an increase of 9% from last year's request (nearly all of which is slated for hydrogen technology). Alert prepared by Margaret A. Baker and David Applegate, AGI Government Affairs Program Sources: Department of Energy budget documents and White House Office of Management and Budget. 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11 2) 2003 AWG OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR AWARD Is there a woman geoscientist professor who made a difference in your life? Please take the time to honor her by nominating her for the 2003 AWG Outstanding Educator Award. The Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) established the Outstanding Educator Award in 1988 to honor well-established college or university teachers who have played a significant role in the education and support of women geoscientists both within and outside the classroom. Examples of support include encouraging women to enter and continue in a geoscience career, providing opportunities for field and laboratory experience, and serving as a positive role model. In addition, awardees are selected on the basis of their contributions as professionals, involvement with professional societies or groups, and/ or participation in science education programs in their community. Deadline for nominations is 1 April, 2003. Nominations must include a current vitae and at least six letters of recommendation from professional colleagues, former students, and current students. Send nominations and supporting material to the Chair of the AWG Outstanding Educator Award selection committee: Suzanne O'Connell Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences Wesleyan University 265 Church St. Middletown, CT 06459 E-Mail: soconnell@wesleyan.edu The AWGF presents the Outstanding Educator Award at the AWG Breakfast held during the annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America. Previous recipients are Maria Luisa Crawford (1988), Sharon Mosher (1990); Laurie Brown (1991), the late Marie Morisawa (1992), Margaret Delaney (1993), B. Charlotte Schreiber (1994) , Mary Savina (1995), Linda Abriola (1996), Lisa Pratt (1997), Jan Tullis (1998), Pamela Hallock-Muller (1999), Suzanne O'Connell (2000), Judith Schiebout (2001) and Gail Ashley (2002). 222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222 3) UPCOMING WORKSHOPS The National Association of Geoscience Teachers and the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE) announce the following workshops which are part of On the Cutting Edge professional development program: Early Career Faculty in the Geosciences: Teaching, Research, and Managing Your Career College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA June 5-9, 2003. The deadline for applications (on-line) is March 17, 2003 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer03/index.html Designing Effective and Innovative Courses in the Geosciences Hamilton College, Clinton, NY July 27-31, 2003 The deadline for applications (on-line) is March 17, 2003 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/coursedesign03/index.html The following website provides web-resources and information about other workshops that are part of the On the Cutting Edge professional development program for geoscience faculty http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops For more information, please contact Heather Macdonald, rhmacd@wm.edu 333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 33 4) LOOKING FOR A SCIENTIST Greetings, I am the librarian at a secondary textbook publishing company. We publish a series of shorter science textbooks called Science Explorer, and each book opens by focusing on a living scientist in the field. One of the books is called Inside Earth, and we would like to profile a working woman scientist. I am hoping that your organization could give me a list of possible scientists that could be interviewed for a profile. Some of the editor's other criteria for inclusion are: Location: CA (not from Menlo Park CA), TX, FL, NC Ph.D. or graduate student Specialty: geologist, seismologist, volcanologist, plate tectonics Specialist, economics geologist (not prospecting for oil) Thanks for any help you can give. Karen Holtzman Executive Director Prentice Hall Needham Library Voice: 781-455-1262 Fax: 781-433-7521 karen.holtzman@phschool.com 444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444 44 5) NEED SOME ROOMIES I am attending two conferences over the next few months and would like to share space with others who will be at the same conferences.The first is the American Association of Geographers annual meeting in New Orleans beginning the first week in March. The other is the INQUA Conference this summer in Reno. Gwendolyn Rhodes Geology Department University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Phone: 301-405-7328 Fax: 301-314-9661 555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 55 6) POSITION OPENINGS Johnston and Company California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR), Associate Director Programs and Administration California Center for Land Recycling (CCLR), Associate Director Programs and Administration - Applicants must have strong technical and project management skills and demonstrated ability to supervise staff, manage projects, write proposals and market programs and ability to interact with project proponents, community groups, regulatory agencies and volunteer committees. Strong public speaking skills, and a commitment to the environment and the principles of smart growth are essential. Master's of science degree in a related field and five to seven years of solid experience with environmental site assessments and remediation of contaminated properties. Experience in entitlement processes, assembling public and private sector funding for community economic development projects and the ability to negotiate successful real estate transactions. Inquiries and résumés should be directed to: Johnston and Company Attn: CCLR 6167 Bristol Parkway Suite 140 Culver City, CA 90230. Fax: 310-410-3906 or E-mail: johnstonco@earthlink.net. Additional information regarding CCLR is available at www.cclr.org. ***************************** Penn State University Faculty Position in Geoscience Education The Department of Geosciences invites applications for a fixed-term (2 year) faculty appointment as an Assistant Professor of Geoscience Education. This position is part of an established program to improve instruction in courses for majors and non-majors. The Department enrolls 120 undergraduate majors and a comparable number of graduate students, and offers a diverse suite of General Education courses to over 3500 students annually. The successful candidate will be expected to design and implement an innovative teaching project, preferably in collaboration with other faculty members. Participation in curricular reform efforts and innovative pedagogy are desired. In addition, the appointee will teach three courses per year, two of which come from our General Education offerings. He or she is also expected to collaborate with faculty on research projects in his or her specialty. Qualifications include a Ph.D. in any area of Geoscience, and a record of effective classroom teaching. To apply, please submit a curriculum vita, a letter of application including statements of both teaching and research interests, and contact information (including e-mail) for at least three references. Mail applications to Dr. Tanya Furman, Chair, Search Committee, Pos #: E-15071, Department of Geosciences, 403 Deike Building, Penn State University, University Park PA 16802. Review of applications will begin March 15th 2003 and continue until the position is filled. The position has a firm start date of August 1st 2003. For additional information see: www.geosc.psu.edu. Women and Minorities are encouraged to apply. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity and the diversity of its workforce. 666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666666 66 7) CONTACT INFORMATION To submit an item to E-MAIL NEWS contact: editor@awg.org To submit advertising contact: ads@awg.org To change your address or be removed from the list contact: office@awg.org