Earth Science Programs - Basic Research Opportunities in Earth Science - page 121

Biogeochemistry; ENG = Directorate for Engineering (NSF); EPA = EnvironmentalProtection
Agency; ESH = Earth System History; FEMA = Federal EmergencyManagement Agency; ICDP =
International Continental Drilling Program; LExEn = Life inExtreme Environments; MARGINS =
Continental Margins Research; NASA = NationalAeronautics and Space Administration; NEHRP =
National Earthquake Hazards ReductionProgram; NIST = National Institute of Standards and
Technology; NOAA = NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration; ODP = Ocean Drilling
Program; OIA = Officeof Integrative Activities (NSF); OPP = Office of Polar Programs (NSF); REU =
ResearchExperience for Undergraduates; RPG = Research Planning Grants and career
advancement;RUI = Research in Undergraduate Institutions; SCEC = Southern California
EarthquakeCenter; USDA = U.S. Department of Agriculture; USGS = U.S. Geological
Survey;WEAVE = Water and Energy: Atmospheric, Vegetative and Earth Interactions.
Figures A.1 and A.2 show the evolution of the EAR budget over the past 24
years. Since 1982, the number of programs within EAR has increased, a trend
that accelerated in the 1990s. The budget for basic research has remained level
but has been reprogrammed to accommodate two additional core programs
(continental dynamics and hydrologic sciences) and 11 research-related special
emphasis programs (see Table A.1 ). As a result, funding for the discipline core
programs—the traditional heart of EAR—is at its lowest level in 20 years.
Another significant change in the EAR budget occurred in the early 1990s, when
funding priorities were shifted toward new facilities (e.g., Incorporated Research
Institutions for Seismology [IRIS] and University NAVSTAR Consortium
[UNAVCO]) and Science and Technology Centers (STCs). (These programs also
have a significant research component.) The creation of these facilities and
centers was in response to growing recognition in the 1980s of the creeping
obsolescence of academic research facilities in the Earth sciences. 1 , 2 , 3 Most of
these programs have been highly successful, and some have generated new
money for EAR. For example, in 1997, the Department of Defense transferred
funding for deployment of the Global Seismic Network (GSN) to EAR, and the
Geosciences Division increased EAR funding for IRIS. More than 7.5 Terabytes
of seismic data from the network and field experiments are now available through
the IRIS data management system.
1 Opportunities for Research in the Geological Sciences, National Academy Press,
Washington, D.C., 95 pp., 1983.
2 Research Briefings 1983, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 99 pp., 1983.
3 Earth Materials Research: Report of a Workshop on Physics and Chemistry of Earth
Materials, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 132 pp., 1987.