Welcome to BISO NEWS!

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The Online Newsletter of the Board on International Scientific Organizations

Issue #2, February 2002

This is the second issue of BISO News, the online newsletter of the Board on International Scientific Organizations. In response to reader requests, we have simplified the format and minimized the number of links you have to follow to reach the main articles. We have also reduced the total number of categories to make it easier for you to find the stories most relevant to your interests. BISO News is published in February, June, and September. We will be happy to send you an email notification as each new issue becomes available. If you are not already on this alert list, please send an email to majordomo@nas.edu . Leave the "subject" line blank and in the body of the message write "subscribe biso-news" and your email address. To unsubscribe, write "unsubcribe biso-news" and your email address. As always, we welcome your feedback on the format and content of BISO News; comments may be sent to biso@nas.edu .

Most of our 25 U.S. National Committees met during last fall and this issue describes the highlights of those meetings. It also reports briefly on BISO activities with the International Foundation for Science and on the issue of "monitoring foreign students." BISO and its associated USNCs continue to foster international collaborations and to seek ways to overcome political barriers to such collaborations. In addition to the meeting on foreign students, many USNC members engaged in activities specifically designed to underscore the universality of science. For example, USNC/IUGS member, Farouk El-Baz, participated in a meeting of experts representing the National Science Academies and other scientific organizations of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and the United States. The meeting addressed the difficulties facing all scientific cooperation during periods of political tension and violence, and participants resolved to continue their collaborative activities, with meetings taking place in the United States if necessary. New initiatives relating to job creation and agricultural research cooperation were given high priority.

Wendy D. White
Director, BISO

Table of Contents:

1. BISO and USNC Highlights
2. News from ICSU, Scientific Unions, and Other ICSU Bodies Other Activities
3. Membership and Staff News

BISO Highlights

Monitoring Foreign Students

On 30 October 2001, President Bush issued Presidential Directive 2, Combating Terrorism Through Immigration Policies. Section 3 -- Abuse of International Student Status --addresses the issue of tracking foreign students. As this directive would have consequences on scientific exchange, international study, and mobility of scientists, BISO responded to a request from OSTP and the Department of State to convene a consultative meeting at which government agencies could discuss the impact of the Directive with representatives of the university community. BISO convened this open and informal meeting on 4 December

Katherine Bellows, Assistant Dean and Director of International Student and Scholar Services at Georgetown University, moderated the discussion. Participants looked closely at the Directive and outlined what was already being done to respond to it. They then discussed additional requirements and identified what else needed to be done. More specifically, they defined sensitive areas and the methods and processes for controlling access to universities. They reviewed the current processes for screening applicants and discussed the possible impacts of proposed new control mechanisms for tracking students. Much of the discussion focused on the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) that the Immigration and Naturalization Service will make operational by 2003. SEVIS will improve reporting procedures and help protect against some abuse of student visas. The implementation of the system, however, will require substantial additional resources, training, and the inclusion of many smaller educational and vocational facilities. Several professional societies continue to track SEVIS implementation and other proposed legislation. Readers can find current information at the websites of NAFSA: the Association of International Educators; of the American Council on Education; and of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

BISO will also continue to monitor this issue, especially as it pertains to international scientific exchanges and the participation of foreign scientists in international congresses in the United States.

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USNC Highlights

Biological Science Highlights

Outreach Activities

New Poster Highlights USNC and IUBS Activities

At the fall meeting of the USNC for the International Union of Biological Sciences (USNC/IUBS) in Irvine, Vice Chair Donald Potts presented a beautiful poster describing the IUBS and USNC/IUBS program, current major activities, future IUBS events sponsored by USNC members, and contact information for the U.S. National Committee. This poster will be displayed at U.S. professional society meetings and conferences as a tool available to help advertise the activities of the committee and the Union. The four major activities of current focus include 1) Reproductive Biology in Aquaculture, 2) Toward an Integrative Biology, 3) Human Dimensions of Biodiversity, 4) Tree of Life. The poster is easy to update as the committee's activities change, and it can be made into a pamphlet for wide distribution.

ASBMB to Assume Publication of Biochemistry Journal

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) has taken over publication of the international journal, BAMBED (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education) which was formerly published by Elsevier Science on behalf of the International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB). The next edition will be released in early 2002. This journal may contribute to the activities of the USNC and help with public relations of the committee.

Travel Grant Programs

Microbiological Sciences

The USNC for the International Union of Microbiological Societies (USNC/IUMS) applied in December to the National Science Foundation for a travel grant program for young investigators to attend the upcoming IUMS Congresses in July 2002. The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), which works closely with the committee, has pledged $20,000 for a travel grant program for scientists from developing countries to attend the Congresses in Paris. The travel grant program has been very successful in the past in fostering collaborations among younger scientists from other countries, as well as exposing U.S. scientists to the scientific and cultural community of international microbiologists, and to a broad spectrum of research areas in microbiology. In 1999, a travel grant program was established by the USNC for the IUMS Congress held in Sydney, Australia, where a total of 17 individual and two joint grants were awarded.

Biophysics

The USNC for the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB) was not able to apply in time to the NSF for a travel grant program because of the change in program officers within BISO last summer. However, the Biophysical Society, which is closely affiliated with the USNC/IUPAB, is sponsoring $10,000 for a travel grant program. The funds will be administered by the society and the USNC will decide on the awardees during their meeting, February 23, 2002, in San Francisco.

The ASBMB has chosen Peter Moore of Yale University as the ASBMB Lecturer for the IUPAB Congress in Buenos Aires in April 2002. He will be giving a plenary lecture at the Congress entitled "The Recent Excitement in Ribosome Crystallography". The ASBMB will cover all travel and meeting expenditures and present Dr. Moore with a plaque at the meeting.

Workshops

"Biodiversity Survival in Modern Habitats"

The USNC/IUBS is sponsoring a symposium entitled "Biodiversity Survival in Modern Habitats" at the AAAS annual meeting in Boston on February 16, 2002, 3:00 - 6:00 pm. The interdisciplinary symposium is being organized by Cynthia Beall and Catherine Badgley. For a synopsis of the symposium and a list of speakers, please refer to the AAAS website and look under the heading "Environmental and Biological Diversity".

"Defining the Mandate of Proteomics in the Post-Genomics Era"

A symposium entitled "Defining the Mandate of Proteomics in the Post-Genomics Era" is being organized by the USNC/IUBMB and the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences. George Kenyon, Chair of the USNC, will chair the symposium. The conference will be held on February 25, 2002, 8:00 am - 5:30 pm. A reception will be held from 5:30 - 7:30 in the Great Hall following the symposium.

Miscellaneous News

Biochemistry: In Response to September 11th

In response to the events of September 11, 2001, the leadership of the ASBMB decided upon ways the society could contribute intellectually to the threats of bioterrorism. Robert Wells, President of the ASBMB, announced in October that the society is establishing a database of scientists in fields including biochemistry, microbiology, virology, public health, bioethics, biological weapons, and regulatory practice and enforcement. The database of experts can be used as a tool for the national public health and defense agencies. The database will list experts in certain fields who can help educate our health care professionals to prepare for the increasing threat of bioterrorism. Additionally, these experts can be called upon for more specific assignments as certain challenges arise. Anyone who has the expertise, time, and interest to participate in these functions is welcome to contact the ASBMB National Office. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Charles Hancock, ASBMB, at 301-530-7145 or asbmb@asbmb.faseb.org , alternatively, you may contact Dr. Wells at 713-677-7651 or rwells@ibt.tamu.edu .

USNC/IUBS Enjoys Guest Lecture by Professor Walter Fitch

The USNC/IUBS received a special guest lecture during their fall meeting by Professor Walter Fitch of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Irvine. Dr. Fitch is an expert in the mutation and molecular evolution of influenza viruses. In the 1960s, while a researcher at the University of Wisconsin, he was one of the first scientists to verify evolution at the molecular level instead of by physical characteristics, helping to initiate the burgeoning field of molecular phylogenetics. His research on the evolution of flu viruses is providing information that helps scientists predict future epidemic strains and choose the most effective strains for vaccine development.

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CODATA Highlights

October 2001 USNC-CODATA business meeting
The committee held its regularly scheduled business meeting on October 26, 2001, to review and plan for its national and international activities. The major projects it is currently working on are described below. The committee also discussed the "Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by Federal Agencies," issued in September by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Brooke Dickson of the OMB provided an overview of the Guidelines and the committee discussed issues related to their implementation by the federal science agencies.

International CODATA Working Group on Archiving Scientific Data
The USNC-CODATA is supporting a U.S. subgroup of this international CODATA working group. The chair of both the CODATA working group and of the U.S. subgroup is Dr. William Anderson, software architect and consultant. The U.S. subgroup met in October 2001 and January 2002 to work on several existing CODATA working group projects and to discuss plans for future activities. These include: participating in the planning of a data archiving workshop May 20-21, 2002, in Pretoria in collaboration with the South African National Research Foundation; drafting a report and organizing a roundtable session for the 2002 CODATA Conference; drafting a proposal for a new CODATA Task Group on the Preservation and Archiving of S&T Data in Developing Countries; and participating in various other related scientific data archiving meetings over the next year. Dr. Anderson will be giving a presentation on these activities at a "Seminar on Digital Preservation of the Record of Science--State of the Art," that is being organized by the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information on February 14-15, 2002, in Paris. Dr. Anderson and the USNC-CODATA director, Paul Uhlir, will be participating in the Pretoria Workshop in May. Please click here for more information about the CODATA Working Group on Archiving Scientific Data.

Workshop on Scientific Data for Decision Making Toward Sustainable Development: Senegal River Basin Case Study
This workshop, which will be held in Dakar, Senegal on March 11-15, 2002, was described in the last issue of the BISO Newsletter. It is a collaborative effort between the USNC-CODATA and the Senegal National CODATA Committee. Please click here for details about this project.

First Inter-American Symposium on Selected Scientific Data Activities
The USNC-CODATA is organizing this Symposium, which will be held September 28-29, 2002, in Montreal, Canada. The planning committee for this activity met in October to make progress on organizing the event. The purpose of the Symposium will be to provide a forum for Latin American scientists, data managers, and representatives of science funding organizations to meet with their U.S. counterparts to discuss potential activities of mutual interest, exchange information about ongoing and planned research and related data activities, and identify and initiate specific new projects related to data management and exchange. The topics to be addressed at the Symposium have been narrowed to two discipline tracks -- environmental science and materials science. The meeting will include an additional focus on data archiving and preservation issues in these two areas, in order to link it more closely to the data archiving activities described above.

2002 CODATA Conference
The next international CODATA Conference will be held in Montreal, Canada from September 30 to October 3, 2002, immediately following the Inter-American Symposium. The members and staff of the USNC-CODATA are involved in all facets of the planning and organization of this Conference, in collaboration with the Canadian National CODATA Committee and international CODATA. Abstracts for contributed papers, posters, and technical demonstrations are now being solicited. The deadline for abstract submissions is March 22, 2002. Please see the CODATA Web site for the First Circular and other related information about this Conference.

Earth Science Highlights

USNC Booths at GSA and AGU

In partnership with the NRC's Division on Earth and Life Studies, BISO and the USNCs in the geosciences sponsored booths at the Geological Society of America and American Geophysical Union fall meetings. Materials were available to inform the scientific community of the international unions and their USNCs, and committee members staffed the booths to answer questions from meeting attendees.

Future Role of USNC/GS Discussed at GSA Meeting

The USNC for the Geological Sciences met in conjunction with the annual Geological Society of America (GSA) meeting in Boston, November 2-3, 2001. As part of the meeting, the committee asked representatives from the professional societies in the geosciences and government funding agencies to attend and discuss the role of the different institutions in international geoscience. Representatives from the GSA, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Geological Institute, the State Department, the National Science Foundation, the US Geological Survey and the International Union for the Geological Sciences attended and briefed the committee on how they viewed their respective roles. The committee members and their guests then discussed how they might facilitate working together in the future. The consensus was that there was very little overlap in their respective roles but all parties could benefit from increased communication. The USNC/GS agreed to try and fill this role in the future. At the meeting, the committee also agreed to adopt equity and sustainability as themes for 2002. The committee, together with from members of the USNC/IUGG, will organize a symposium at the spring AGU meeting in Washington with the topic "Sustainability of Fresh Water, Fossil Fuels, Minerals, and Other Earth Resources: How Much, How Deep, How Expensive, and How Certain?" It also proposed to organize the Pardee Symposium at the 2002 GSA Meeting in Denver, entitled "The Role of the Earth Sciences in Fostering Global Equity and Stability" with W.G. Ernst, Grant Heiken, Susan M. Landon, Patrick Leahy, and Eldridge Moores serving as co-conveners.

Committee Prepares for 2003 INQUA International Congress

The USNC for INQUA also met in conjunction with the GSA meeting and continued in its role as oversight committee for the INQUA International Congress to take place in Reno, NV in 2003. The committee heard from the Program Committee Chair, John Clague, and the Organizing Committee Secretary, Nick Lancaster, regarding plans for the meeting. The Congress is being hosted by the Desert Research Institute.

Geodesy and Geophysics

The USNC for the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics met at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO in November 2001. The committee heard reports from its delegates to the seven international associations that form the IUGG. The reports and minutes from the meeting will be available on the committee's website. The committee also began discussions regarding the IUGG International Meeting to be held in Sapporo, Japan in the summer of 2003. The committee will seek financing for a travel grant program for young scientists and hopes to be able to finance an office at the meeting location for different US scientific bodies.

Food Security a Top USNC/Soil Science Priority

The U.S. National Committee for Soil Science met October 20-21, 2001, immediately preceding the Soil Science Society of America annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. A report of the meeting can be found on the committee website. Among the topics discussed at the meeting was that of food security. It was first brought up during the discussion of what the national committees could do as part of the counter-terrorism activities of the National Academies. The committee raised the point that an international soil resource inventory is needed before much further work could be done on food production in many countries. In this vein, the USNC/SS will draft a resolution on this topic for the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) Council meeting in August 2002. In addition, the committee was briefed by Winfried Blum, IUSS Secretary General and chair of the ICSU food security initiative. The ICSU Committee on Sciences for Food Security held a scoping workshop January 25-26, 2002, in Paris, attended by representatives of many ICSU bodies, to define the future activities of ICSU on food security. Look for a report on this meeting on the USNC/SS website and in the next issue of BISO News.

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Physical and Engineering Sciences Highlights

Getting New Experts Involved in IUPAC - USNC/IUPAC Chair Introduces the Young Observer Program to Other Countries

USNC/IUPAC Chair, Dr. Edwin Przybylowicz, (former V.P. at Eastman Kodak, NAE member, and IUPAC Bureau member) published an article in Chemistry International (Vol. 24, No. 1) introducing the merits of the Young Observer program to encourage other member nations of IUPAC to initiate similar programs. The Young Observer program enables U.S. chemists under the age of 45 to attend the IUPAC General Assemblies in order to interact with top scientists from around the world. In July 2001, 12 scientists (four women and eight men) were selected to participate in the Young Observers program at the General Assembly in Brisbane, Australia, where they gained awareness of the important role that IUPAC plays as an international organization in the chemical sciences and technology fields. The program was supported by generous grants from the National Science Foundation, Research Corporation, American Chemical Society, and U.S. corporate sponsors. The next Young Observer program will be held in Ottawa, Canada, in August 2003. Further information on this program is available at www.nationalacademies.org/usnc-iupac/yo.

John Marburger meets with Crystallographers

Dr. John Marburger, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and White House Science Advisor, was a guest speaker at the fall meeting of the USNC/Cr. He spoke about the important role that crystallography plays in many scientific fields such as drug development, proteomics, and nanomaterials. The fall meeting highlighted the development of the USNC/Cr programs such as the Latin American Initiative - promoting crystallography in Latin America by awarding travel grants and sponsoring symposia; Education - providing web-based materials for students; and Travel Awards - providing grants for young scientists to attend crystallographic meetings. The next IUCr General Assembly will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, August 6-15, 2002. Click on the PDF file below for a look at the lastest USNC/Cr newsletter:

Crystallography Travel Grants

The USNC/Cr is now awarding travel grants to attend the IUCr Congress in Geneva, Switzerland, August 2002. Funds are available for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who are U.S. residents or at U.S. training institutions in any of the crystallographic, diffraction, and imaging sciences affiliated with the International Union of Crystallography. Speakers and organizers at the Congress are also welcome to apply. For more information visit the website at www.sdsc.edu/Xtal/USNCCr/travelgrant.html.

Math: Guidelines for On-Line Publishing

With the increase of academic papers being distributed on the web, new challenges regarding access to information and copyright protection are being addressed. A delicate balance must be found between the interests of disseminating information freely and to a wider audience, and protection for the publisher. The Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union has endorsed guidelines for authors. Complete details can be found at http://www.mathunion.org/IMU_Committees/want_pub.htm.

Student Prizes at the 2002 USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting

Three graduate students were awarded cash prizes as well as travel grants for outstanding papers presented at the 2002 National Radio Science Meeting in Boulder, Colorado, January 9-12, 2002. The U.S. National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science (USNC/URSI) conducted the competition and awarded the prizes. The winners were Sigrid Close of Boston University who presented the paper: Scattering Characteristics of Meteor Head Echo Data Collected Using ALTAIR, Sang-il Lee from the University of Washington - Experimental Results for a CW-Mode Optically Controlled Microwave Switch With a Carrier Confinement Structure, and Sermsak Jaruwatanadilok also from the University of Washington - Techniques to Improve Imaging Through Discrete Scattering Media. The competition is held annually at the National Radio Science Meeting, which is organized by 9 URSI Commissions and several IEEE divisions. More information on the conference is available at http://cires.colorado.edu/ursi/.

Fourteenth U.S. National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics

The Fourteenth U.S. National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics will be held June 23-28, 2002, in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, hosted by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics. The registration deadline is May 1. See http://www.esm.vt.edu/usncam14/ for more information. The U.S. National Committee for TAM will meet on June 23 at Virginia Tech.

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News from ICSU, Scientific Unions, and Other ICSU Bodies

ICSU

New Appointments for Top Two ICSU Posts

On 26 October 2001, the President of ICSU, Professor H. Yoshikawa announced the appointments of two experienced research administrators to its top executive positions. Thomas Roswall, founding director of the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP), and most recently director of the International Foundation for Science, took the post of executive director on 1 January 2002. A microbiologist and soil ecologist by training, Roswall was rector of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences from 1994 to 2000. He succeeded Larry Kohler, who has been on leave of absence from the International Labour Office in Geneva for the past two years, and is returning to his previous employer. Dr. Carthage Smith stepped into the newly created position of Deputy Executive Director in early November. A neuroscientist who headed the international section of Britain's Medical Research Council since 1999, Smith brings extensive experience in science program management and policy development. For more information about the appointments, please see the ICSU website.

ICSU Announces New Grants Cycle

Applications for ICSU's competitive grants program must be received at the ICSU Secretariat by 1 March 2002. This program is strictly reserved for ICSU member and affiliated organizations and we post the information here for the benefit of officers of ICSU Unions who may not have received the announcement from ICSU. Please keep in mind that ICSU seeks to support new scientific initiatives that are of an interdisciplinary/international nature. These grants are intended to act as a catalyst for the future development of ICSU's scientific initiatives by providing seed money to further assess and develop these ideas. The ICSU Grants Program receives significant financial support from UNESCO and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (through BISO). Please carefully read the program statement to assure that you meet all requirements prior to submitting the application forms. The forms as well as the statement are posted on the ICSU Web site.

ICSU General Assembly

The 27th General Assembly of ICSU will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 23-28 September 2002. BISO must submit its recommendation for candidates for offices of President-elect, Vice-President for Scientific Planning and Review, Vice-President for External Relations, Secretary-General, and Treasurer by 23 March. If you have suggestions for nominations, please contact Wendy White.

New Publication Released on Electronic Publishing in Science

The Proceedings and Recommendations of the Second ICSU/UNESCO Conference on Electronic Publishing in Science, which was held in Paris in Febuary 2001, are now available at the ICSU Press Website. Any queries, comments or proposals arising from the conference and its recommendations would be welcomed by the ICSU Press Committee. A Spanish translation of 'The Guidelines for Scientific Publishing' has also been mounted there and at several sites in Latin America.

ICSU Unions

International Union of Soil Sciences

The 17th World Congress of Soil Science is fast approaching: 14-21 August 2002 in Bangkok, Thailand. The general theme of the meeting is "Soil Science: Confronting New Realities in the 21st Century". Futher information, including the list of symposia and registration information can be found at the congress website, http://www.17wcss.ku.ac.th/ . Unlike previous years, all U.S. soil scientists may register as members of IUSS, since the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Committee for Soil Science represent all U.S. soil scientists to the union. The registration fee for IUSS members increased from $350 to $420 as of 1 February 2002. Student registration fee is $180 as of 1 February.

Other ICSU Bodies

International Foundation for Science

In early November, Bruce Alberts, President of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and Bruno Messerli, Chairman of the IFS Board of Trustees, co-hosted a reception for the 29th Meeting of the IFS Board of Trustees. At that reception, there was also a ceremony to present Philippe Rasoanaivo with the IFS Sven Brohult Award for 2001. BISO staff organized the reception and BISO chair, Henry Metzger, attended part of the Board of Trustees meeting. The NAS provides a voluntary contribution to IFS and asks BISO to maintain a partnership with this non-governmental organization. As IFS is also a scientific associate of ICSU, communication among the three organizations is critical.

IFS is an NGO that provides research grants to developing country scientists, allowing them to conduct relevant and high quality research on the management, use, and conservation of biological resources and their environment. IFS believes that the interests of both science and development are best served by promoting and nurturing the research efforts of young science graduates, who are at the beginning of their research careers. Since 1974, IFS has provided support, mainly in the form of small research grants, to over 3,200 scientists in 99 developing countries. IFS has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. See http://www.ifs.se for more information.

At the Board of Trustees Meeting, IFS Director, Thomas Rosswall, confirmed his decision to become the next Executive Director of ICSU and Jacques Gaillard was named acting Director. BISO will work with Gaillard to strengthen U.S. support of and participation in IFS. Most immediately, BISO has suggested that the members of its USNC network be called upon to review proposals, partner with grantees, and provide expert advice on research grants. IFS experience with the evaluation and review of its program will prove useful to BISO as it undertakes its own reviews.

International Biodiversity Observation Year

The International Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY) secretariat, in conjunction with the US National Committee for DIVERSITAS, invited representatives from interested parties to discuss the organization of a "National Biodiversity Observation Event" in the year 2002 and to act as a steering committee. Representatives from such groups as the World Wildlife Fund, the National Geographic Society and the Earth Day Network, along with USNC members and staff from IBOY and the NRC met at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Representatives presented different ideas for the proposed event and the group quickly settled on two possible scenarios. The first scenario would encourage a national series of "BioBlitzes", taking advantage of planned blitzes for the coming year. For information on the BioBlitz idea, please visit http://www.im.nbs.gov/blitz.html.

The representatives also decided to encourage natural history museums, zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums and other institutions dealing with biodiversity to set aside a day in May for special programs devoted to biodiversity and directed at the general public and especially children. USNC member Russ Graham cited his work at the Denver Museum of Natural History as an example. The representatives decided that this agenda could not be accomplished in one day and decided to promote May as National Biodiversity Observation Month. Information and means of participation in these activities can be found at www.biodiversitymonth.org .

DIVERSITAS Task Force Offers New Scientific Plan

In the fall of 2002, a task force met in Paris to draft a new scientific plan for DIVERSITAS. The task force included USNC/DIVERSITAS members Andy Dobson, Hal Mooney, Diana Wall and Marvalee Wake. Asked by the sponsors to simplify the previous program and using input from national committees, the task force developed a draft plan. The new DIVERSITAS plan will have three core projects

• Understanding, monitoring and predicting biodiversity changes.

• Assessing impacts of biodiversity changes.

• Developing the science of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

In addition, the plan will retain the integrated transversal networks in its present program - the Global Invasive Species Program and the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment - and proposes a new network - Greening Agriculture. The DIVERSITAS Secretariat invites your comments on the draft program. You can see the full draft plan on the DIVERSITAS website.

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Membership and Staff News

Membership News

We like to welcome the following members to the USNC system:

Nadine Aubry, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USNC/TAM
Joel D. Brock, Cornell University, USNC/Cr
Ravinder Chona, Texas A&M University, USNC/TAM
Danny Goroff, Harvard University, Chair, USNC/MI
Thomas J.R. Hughes NAE, Stanford University, USNC/TAM
James A. Kaduk, BP Chemicals, USNC/Cr
Dale G. Karr, University of Michigan, USNC/TAM
Gary King, Harvard University, USNC/CODATA
Glenda Lappan, Michigan State University, Vice Chair, USNC/MI
Andrew Norris, Rutgers University, USNC/TAM
Marilyn M. Olmstead, University of California at Davis, USNC/Cr
Yahya Rahmat-Samii, University of California, Los Angeles, USNC/URSI
Morton Roberts NAS, Chair. USNC/IAU
Michael S. Shur, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USNC/URSI
Ronald E. Stenkamp, University of Washington, USNC/Cr
Frederic Y.M. Wan, University of California, Irvine, USNC/TAM

We would also like to thank those members who have recently completed their service:

Daljit Ahluwalia, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USNC/TAM
Michael Bernitsas, University of Michigan, USNC/TAM
Peter Buseck, Arizona State University, USNC/Cr
Connie Chidester, Pharmacia & Upjohn, USNC/Cr
Robert M. Glaeser, University of California, Berkeley, USNC/Cr
John Hutchinson NAE, NAS, Harvard University, USNC/TAM
Bing K. Jap, Lawrence Berkley National Lab, USNC/Cr
William E. Larson, University of Minnesota, USNC/SS
David McDowell, Georgia Institute of Technology, USNC/TAM
Allan Pierce, Boston University, USNC/TAM
Melinda Piket-May, University of Colorado, USNC/URSI
Ronald Pogorzelski, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USNC/URSI
Charles T. Prewitt, Carnegie Institution of Washington, USNC/Cr
Andrea Prosperetti, Johns Hopkins University, USNC/TAM
Ian Robinson, University of Illinois, USNC/Cr
Cynthia Stauffacher, Purdue University, USNC/Cr

Staff News

Mariza Silva, who was the Senior Program Assistant in BISO, has taken a new position at the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Milestones

Roy D. D'Andrade, former member of the USNC for the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, received the NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing. This prize of $10,000 is awarded annually for excellence in scientific reviewing within the past 10 years (the 2002 field is anthropology). Dr. D'Andrade, professor, department of anthropology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, was chosen "for his creative synthesis of intersections of anthropology with psychology and his insightful interpretations of historical trends shaping the future goals of anthropology." The award was established by Annual Reviews, the Institute for Scientific Information, and The Scientist in honor of J. Murray Luck and has been presented since 1979.

Bettie Sue Masters, biochemistry professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, was elected President-Elect of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). Dr. Masters will assume her post this summer. The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology selected her as the 2001-2002 Vice President-Elect for Science Policy. She served as a member and former Chair for the USNC/IUBMB and remains an active ex-officio member of the committee. Dr. Masters is also a member of the Institute of Medicine.

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