Findings and Recommendations - Basic Research Opportunities in Earth Science - page 97

effort on nanotechnology, which recognizes the importance of microbial
interactions with minerals and surfaces.
Research on microorganisms in the environment would serve as an
important link between the emerging fields of geobiology and Earth materials and
would be a central component of future studies of the Critical Zone. It would be
strengthened by increased support for natural and mobile laboratories (see “
Instrumentation and Facilities ” below), as well as enhanced access to
geochemical tools though centers and other facilities. It would benefit from EAR
and Education and Human Resources (EHR) support for cross-disciplinary
training of students and professionals, discussed below under “Education.” There
may be significant opportunities for collaborating with other NSF directorates
(e.g., Biological Sciences Directorate), as well as with other federal agencies
(e.g., DOE, USDA, NIH) in this domain, as outlined in the committee's previous
discussion of potential agency partnerships in “Geobiology.”
Planetary Science
International exploration of the solar system and extrasolar planets, along
with a number of proposed sample return missions, will provide a wealth of new
data and materials with which to address basic questions about the origin and
evolution of the Earth and planets and, possibly, of life. However, present funding
structures and practices are ill-suited to capitalize on the excitement and
opportunities these new data and materials will provide. NASA, quite rightly,
places a great deal of emphasis on planetary science investigations that are
directed primarily toward the design, data collection, and interpretation of results
from specific spacecraft missions. However, funding for investigator-driven basic
research is becoming increasingly inadequate to support the large and diverse
research communities that should be engaged in the new era for planetary
science. Although EAR programs consider proposals for basic research in
planetary sciences, very little EAR funding is actually invested in such research.
NSF-Astronomy sponsors telescopic investigations of solar and extrasolar planets
but is not a logical home for the complementary types of planetary research
discussed in Chapter 2 . Without support for broad-based planetary science in
NSF, there is the danger that important opportunities in this field will be missed
as new data sets and extraterrestrial samples accumulate over the next 10 years.
Recommendation: To promote increased interactions between the Earth
and planetary science research communities and to exploit the basic
research opportunities arising in the study of