Message from the Director

This year the National Science Foundation unveiled its “10 big ideas,” a research agenda intended to shape the future at NSF. The timing is intentional with respect to the election. These are the questions with which NSF intends to engage the new leadership, and to motivate future budget requests. With creativity, the CEREO community may engage on most if not all of these ideas in future research. Those that are immediately obvious as relevant to our environmental work are: (1) “Navigating the New Arctic,” recognizing the rapid and profound change currently occurring in polar regions, and proposing an ambitious new environmental observing platform; (2) “Harnessing Data for 21st Century Science and Engineering,” an initiative to develop a national approach to cyberinfrastructure and a workforce capable of data-intensive research at the leading edge; (3) “Understanding the Rules of Life: Predicting Phenotype,” to motivate interdisciplinary research that ultimately results in ability to predict an organism’s observable characteristics — its phenotype — from what we know about its genetics and environment. The “Rules of Life” topic dominated a recent meeting of NSF’s Directorate for Biological Sciences Advisory Committee, in which we spent a day exploring scales of interaction from molecules to ecosystems, and left convinced that this topic indeed provides rich opportunity for discovery. In addition to these research themes, NSF already is funding the INCLUDES program to promote greater diversity in engineering and science, and it proposes to create new funding mechanisms for mid-scale research infrastructure, as well as innovative research that cuts across across the directorates within NSF. Director France Córdova urges scientists and engineers to support the initiative by submitting ambitious proposals that cut across traditional boundaries, a great space for CEREO.

– Stephanie

Research News

Seattle Food-Energy-Water Summit

Steve Burges Visits WSU

Steve Burges is a Professor emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. Dr. Burges will be visiting WSU in the first week of November and delivering two talks on hydrology and water resources engineering in an ecosystem context.

His research interests are broad, and have covered the spectrum of surface water hydrology and he has worked on many societal issues related to water resources planning and management around floods, droughts, and water supply. His more recent work has centered on gravel bed river scour as it relates to salmonid spawning; novel measurements of rainfall to mitigate the hydrologic effects of urbanization; developing spatial hydrologic models; and exploring alternative reservoir release patterns conditioned on long-term forecasts.

Hydrologic Variability, Reservoir Storage and Water Supply Reliability
Wednesday, Nov 2, 2016  |  9am
PACCAR (PETB) 202

Hydrologic Models- Classification: Lumped, Distributed- Conceptual to Physically Based
Thursday, Nov 3, 2016  |  1:30pm
PACCAR (PETB) 405

Steve was born in Newcastle, Australia, in 1944 and completed his undergraduate degrees at The University of Newcastle, graduating in 1967 with a B.Sc. in Physics & Mathematics, and a B.E. (Hons. I),in Civil Engineering. He earned his MS in 1968 and Ph.D. in 1970, in Civil Engineering, from Stanford University. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (1988), American Geophysical Union (1990), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1996).  He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Washington and a Professional Hydrologist in the American Institute of Hydrology.

Other News

Future CEREO workshops

Last year, CEREO offered three workshops related to programming, data analysis and science communication.  The Center is in the process of identifying new and valuable workshops to offer the environmental community at WSU.  We encourage everyone to provide input using the survey below.  Thanks!

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES

GENERAL OPPORTUNITIES

Integrated Earth Systems (IES) Due Date: November 14, 2016

The goal of the Integrated Earth Systems (IES) program is to investigate the interplay among the continental, terrestrial, and interior systems of the planet. The program provides an opportunity for collaborative, multidisciplinary research into the operation, dynamics, and complexity of Earth systems that encompass the core of the Earth through the surface.

NIFA Funding Opportunity: Community Food Projects (CFP) Competitive Grants Program  Due Date: November 30, 2016

In FY 2017 NIFA’s CFP intends to solicit applications and fund two types of grants. The types are entitled (1) Community Food Projects (CFP) and (2) Planning Projects (PP).  Apply for Grant

FY 2017 Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) Request for Application (RFA) Due Date: January 19, 2017

Grants.gov Page: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=289645.  This page includes a synopsis of the funding opportunity, a link to the full announcement (RFPA) and the application package.

NORTHWEST SCIENCE COMMUNICATION CONFERENCE January 26-27, 2017 at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)

Science Talk NW will unite active scientists, science communicators, journalists, students, and trainees for two exciting days of learning how to talk science to non-scientists or those outside your discipline.  Contact: Dr. Allison Coffin, allison.coffin@wsu.edu; Amelia Veneziano, aveneziano@wsu.edu

Call for Proposals: WASHINGTON HIGHER EDUCATION SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCE: Caring for Our Common Home  February 16-17, 2017, Gonzaga University Spokane, WA

Registration is already open. Before January 5, 2017, early-bird registration fees are $160 for staff/faculty/community partners, and only $40 for students.  http://WAHESC.org

NIFA Announces up to $48.1 Million in Funding Available for Specialty Crop Research

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) released details on up to $48.1 million in available funding to support systems-based research and extension activities to accelerate science-based solutions and new technology for the specialty crop industry.

Improving Graduate Student Preparedness for Entering the Workforce, Opportunities for Supplemental Support– Due dates vary by Directorate

Supplemental funding is available in FY 2016 and FY 2017 to support science and engineering doctoral students so that they can acquire the knowledge, experience, and skills needed for highly productive careers, inside and outside of academe.  NSF will consider support for supplements to existing research awards to enhance professional development opportunities for students in PhD programs as described by each Directorate/Office.

STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES

 CALL for Applications: Raelyn Cole Editorial Fellowship — Limnology & Oceanography Letters Due Date: November 14, 2016

The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) is launching the Raelyn Cole Editorial Fellowship, a unique opportunity to contribute to the development of early-career aquatic scientists in scientific publishing, including open-access publishing, peer review, and scientific writing.  Please submit to Dr. Patricia A. Soranno, Editor-in-Chief, Limnology & Oceanography Letters, at soranno@anr.msu.edu

NEW CLASSES THIS SPRING

SPRING 2017 | LND_ARCH 499 | LND_ARCH 600

RAINWORKS CHALLENGE, M 2:10‐4:00 (1‐4 credits) Instructor: Hope Hui Rising, PhD, PLA

Climate change has resulted in more sustained droughts and more intense storms. The impacts of climate change will affect young generations the most. Come find out how you can help climate‐proof our campus!  For more details Contact Professor Hope Hui Rising at hope.rising@wsu.edu for questions or information.

GEOG 404/504 ST: The Cryosphere

MWF 11:30 – 12:20 Dr. Tim Bartholomaus,  tbartholomaus@uidaho.edu

Learn: How glaciers flow, why snow is melting off earlier in the spring, how ice preserves a record of past global temperatures, how permafrost alters the landscape, and much more…