OARS funding Geology & Earth Science

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological patterns and processes at all spatial and temporal scales. Areas of research include biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, molecular evolution, life history evolution, natural selection, ecology, biogeography, ecosystem structure, function and services, conservation biology, global change, and biogeochemical cycles. Research on organismal origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and evolutionary history may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative experiments; synthesis activities; as well as theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling.

The Long Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) Program supports the generation of extended time series of data to address important questions in evolutionary biology, ecology, and ecosystem science. Research areas include, but are not limited to, the effects of natural selection or other evolutionary processes on populations, communities, or ecosystems; the effects of interspecific interactions that vary over time and space; population or community dynamics for organisms that have extended life spans and long turnover times; feedbacks between ecological and evolutionary processes; pools of materials such as nutrients in soils that turn over at intermediate to longer time scales; and external forcing functions such as climatic cycles that operate over long return intervals.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental research on populations, species, communities, and ecosystems. Scientific emphases range across many evolutionary and ecological patterns and processes at all spatial and temporal scales. Areas of research include biodiversity, phylogenetic systematics, molecular evolution, life history evolution, natural selection, ecology, biogeography, ecosystem structure, function and services, conservation biology, global change, and biogeochemical cycles. Research on organismal origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and evolutionary history may incorporate field, laboratory, or collection-based approaches; observational or manipulative experiments; synthesis activities; as well as theoretical approaches involving analytical, statistical, or computational modeling.

EarthScope is an Earth science program to explore the 4-dimensional structure of the North American continent. The EarthScope Program provides a framework for broad, integrated studies across the Earth sciences, including research on fault properties and the earthquake process, strain transfer, magmatic and hydrous fluids in the crust and mantle, plate boundary processes, large-scale continental deformation, continental structure and evolution, and composition and structure of the deep Earth. In addition, EarthScope offers a centralized forum for Earth science education at all levels and an excellent opportunity to develop cyberinfrastructure to integrate, distribute, and analyze diverse data sets.

This BAA for Transportation and Air Quality Near Road Cooperative Research evolved from recent experience with transportation and air quality research and practitioners in consideration of the current information needs and data gaps. A similar effort was undertaken by FHWA in 2009 related to the application of the latest modeling techniques and methodologies. Results of that effort proved fruitful in providing enhanced mechanisms to estimate emissions and expedited delivery of transportation projects. Based on the latest information at research conferences, current data gaps and research needs for highway projects related to air quality fall predominantly at the project-level. Addressing these needs will again aid in characterizing the potential for environmental/air quality impacts for projects in anticipation of moving a project forward in an efficient manner.

The Geomorphology and Land-use Dynamics Program supports innovative research into processes that shape and modify landscapes over a variety of length and time scales. The program encourages research that quantitatively investigates the coupling and feedback among such processes, their rates, and their relative roles, especially in the contexts of variation in climatic, biologic, and tectonic influences and in light of changes due to human impacts. Such research may involve fieldwork, modeling, experimentation, theoretical development, or combinations thereof.

This initiative enables interagency cooperation on one of the most pressing problems of the millennium - understanding interactions across the FEW nexus - how it is likely to affect our world, and how we can proactively plan for its consequences. It allows the partner agencies - National Science Foundation (NSF) and the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA/NIFA) and others - to combine resources to identify and fund the most meritorious and highest-impact projects that support their respective missions, while eliminating duplication of effort and fostering collaboration between agencies and the investigators they support.

The Health Effects Institute is a nonprofit corporation chartered in 1980 as an independent research organization to provide high-quality, impartial, and relevant science on the health effects of air pollution. As part of its mission, HEI established the Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award to provide funding for outstanding investigators who are beginning independent research. By providing financial support for investigators at an early point in their careers, the institute hopes to encourage highly qualified individuals to undertake research on the health effects of air pollution.

Wildlife Acoustics' mission is to support efforts in conservation and environmental stewardship. We want to enable those involved in animal biology, research and conservation to do their best work easily and quickly. To that end, Wildlife Acoustics has established a grant program to support bioacoustics research efforts from chiropteran, avian, terrestrial, amphibious and marine wildlife, to everything else in between.

The Plant Biotic Interactions (PBI) program supports research on the processes that mediate beneficial and antagonistic interactions between plants and their viral, bacterial, oomycete, fungal, plant, and invertebrate symbionts, pathogens and pests. This joint NSF-NIFA program supports projects focused on current and emerging model and non-model systems, and agriculturally relevant plants. The program's scope extends from fundamental mechanisms to translational efforts, with the latter seeking to put into agricultural practice insights gained from basic research on the mechanisms that govern plant biotic interactions. Projects must be strongly justified in terms of fundamental biological processes and/or relevance to agriculture and may be purely fundamental or applied, or include aspects of both perspectives. All types of symbiosis are appropriate, including commensalism, mutualism, parasitism, and host-pathogen interactions. Research may focus on the biology of the plant host, its pathogens, pests or symbionts, interactions among these, or on the function of plant-associated microbiomes. The program welcomes proposals on the dynamics of initiation, transmission, maintenance and outcome of these complex associations, including studies of metabolic interactions, immune recognition and signaling, host-symbiont regulation, reciprocal responses among interacting species and mechanisms associated with self/non-self recognition such as those in pollen-pistil interactions.

The Tectonics Program supports a broad range of field, laboratory, computational, and theoretical investigations aimed at understanding the deformation of the terrestrial continental lithosphere (i.e. above the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary). The Program focuses on deformation processes and their tectonic drivers that operate at any depth within the continental lithosphere, on time-scales of decades/centuries (e.g. active tectonics) and longer, and at micro- to plate boundary/orogenic belt length-scales.

The Geophysics Program supports basic research in the physics of the solid earth to explore its composition, structure, and processes from the Earth's surface to its' deepest interior. Laboratory, field, theoretical, and computational studies are supported. Topics include (but are not limited to) seismicity, seismic wave propagation, and the nature and occurrence of geophysical hazards; the Earth's magnetic, gravity, and electrical fields; the Earth's thermal structure; and geodynamics. Supported research also includes geophysical studies of active deformation, including geodesy, and theoretical and experimental studies of the properties and behavior of Earth materials.

With support from the Rita Allen Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences is offering two awards of $37,500 each to support the formation and development of collaborative science communication researcher-practitioner partnerships. These awards are intended to facilitate the efforts of science communication researchers and practitioners to collaboratively plan projects that pursue shared research interests aligned with the new report.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Defense Sciences Office (DSO) is sponsoring an event (D3) to (1) familiarize attendees with DSO's mission and the nature of the efforts we support; (2) promote understanding of how to do business with DSO and (3) facilitate discussions with potential performers. The event is scheduled for Thursday, June 15, 2017 at the DoubleTree Crystal City (300 Army Navy Drive Arlington, VA 22202); selected sessions will be webcast for those who would like to participate remotely.  Advance registration is required for attending the event in person or for viewing the webcast.

Research Grants: Research grants are available to established scientists of all ages working at accredited institutions in the United States. Applications will be judged on the scientific merit and the innovative aspects of the proposal as well as on the competence of the applicant. Grants-in-Aid: The Grants-in-Aid program is designed for researchers at the assistant professor level who experience difficulty in competing for research funds because they have not yet become firmly established. Grants-in-Aid can also be made to senior scientists. All applications will be judged on the scientific merit and innovative aspects of the proposal, as well as on past performance and evidence of the applicant's continued productivity. Grants-in-Aid are awarded for a one-year period and do not exceed $30,000.

The NIP supports all aspects of scientific and technological research aimed to advance NASA's mission in Earth system science (http://science.nasa.gov/about-us/science-strategy/). In research and analysis, the focus areas are: * Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems, * Climate Variability and Change, * Water and Energy Cycle, * Atmospheric Composition, * Weather, and * Earth Surface and Interior.

The NRA covers all aspects of basic and applied supporting research and technology in space and Earth sciences, including, but not limited to: theory, modeling, and analysis of SMD science data; aircraft, scientific balloon, sounding rocket, International Space Station, CubeSat and suborbital reusable launch vehicle investigations; development of experiment techniques suitable for future SMD space missions; development of concepts for future SMD space missions; development of advanced technologies relevant to SMD missions; development of techniques for and the laboratory analysis of both extraterrestrial samples returned by spacecraft, as well as terrestrial samples that support or otherwise help verify observations from SMD Earth system science missions; determination of atomic and composition parameters needed to analyze space data, as well as returned samples from the Earth or space; Earth surface observations and field campaigns that support SMD science missions; development of integrated Earth system models; development of systems for applying Earth science research data to societal needs; and development of applied information systems applicable to SMD objectives and data. Awards range from under $100K per year for focused, limited efforts (e.g., data analysis) to more than $1M per year for extensive activities (e.g., development of science experiment hardware).

This project will address the parkâ¿¿s desire to provide experiential development opportunities for a young scientist with the additional benefit of helping to meet the needs of paleontology resource monitoring, inventory, research, preservation, and outreach. Monitoring will be done utilizing monitoring forms, locality forms, photography, mapping, and the GRCA paleontology database. Prioritization for monitoring will be assessed using a quantifiable vulnerability method developed at GRCA and being adopted at other NPS sites. A new monitoring form for paleontology resources will be produced to improve observational analysis and consistency in the field. This method will be further tested by field data collection and improved to benefit future research and monitoring at GRCA and other NPS paleontological park units (over 200 units). The work will include a collaboration with the NPS WASO chief paleontologist for building programmatic paleontological studies and compliance. Field assessments will be carried out along at least 2 major trail systems between the north and south rims including off-trail fossiliferous sources.

The NRA covers all aspects of basic and applied supporting research and technology in space and Earth sciences, including, but not limited to: theory, modeling, and analysis of SMD science data; aircraft, scientific balloon, sounding rocket, International Space Station, CubeSat and suborbital reusable launch vehicle investigations; development of experiment techniques suitable for future SMD space missions; development of concepts for future SMD space missions; development of advanced technologies relevant to SMD missions; development of techniques for and the laboratory analysis of both extraterrestrial samples returned by spacecraft, as well as terrestrial samples that support or otherwise help verify observations from SMD Earth system science missions; determination of atomic and composition parameters needed to analyze space data, as well as returned samples from the Earth or space; Earth surface observations and field campaigns that support SMD science missions; development of integrated Earth system models; development of systems for applying Earth science research data to societal needs; and development of applied information systems applicable to SMD objectives and data.

The Core Fulbright Scholar Program offers over 500 teaching, research or combination teaching/research awards in over 125 countries. Opportunities are available for college and university faculty and administrators as well as for professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars and many others. In addition to several new program models designed to meet the changing needs of U.S. academics and professionals, Fulbright is offering more opportunities for flexible, multi-country grants.