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National Science Foundation

Directorate for Biological Sciences

Performance Report for FY 2001

Table of Contents

[Introduction and Directorate Overview 1]{.smallcaps}

> [Role of Bio Directorate 1]{.smallcaps}
>
> [Sources of Information Used to Compile this report 3]{.smallcaps}
>
> Organizational Highlights for FY 2001 [3]{.smallcaps}

[Crosscutting and Coordination Activities 8]{.smallcaps}

> NSF-wide Initiatives [8]{.smallcaps}
>
> Interagency Activities [8]{.smallcaps}
>
> International Activities [13]{.smallcaps}

[Evaluations (Non COV Type Activities) 15]{.smallcaps}

[FY 2001-2004 COV Schedule And FY 2001 COV Results 19]{.smallcaps}

[Summary of Directorate Achievements for Outcome Goals 24]{.smallcaps}

[Examples for Relevant Outcome
Goals.............................................29]{.smallcaps}

A.  [Introduction and DIRECTORATE Overview]{.underline}

#### 

#### **Role of BIO Directorate** 

#### 

#### The Biological Sciences Directorate provides support for research to advance understanding of the underlying principles and mechanisms governing life. Research ranges from the study of the structure and dynamics of biological molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids, through cells, organs and organisms, to studies of populations and ecosystems. It encompasses both internal and external processes of organisms, and includes temporal frameworks ranging from measurements in real time through individual life spans, to the full scope of evolutionary time.

BIO's mission is to support the vitality of the biological sciences at
U.S. colleges and universities, especially in those areas where NSF has
major responsibilities. The Foundation is the nation\'s principal
supporter of fundamental academic research on plant biology,
environmental biology, and biodiversity. BIO plays a major role in
support of research resources for the biological sciences including
multi-user instrumentation, living stock centers, systematics
collections, biological field stations, and computerized databases,
including sequence databases for plants and micro-organisms.

Emphasis is placed on support for studies that enrich the fundamental
knowledge base and for projects integrating research and education.
Additional attention is given to supporting high risk/high potential
research and for new investigators beginning their scientific careers.

BIO manages its activities through four divisions:

The Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) supports
research and related activities that contribute to a fundamental
understanding of life processes at the molecular, subcellular, and
cellular levels.

The Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience (IBN) supports
research aimed at understanding the living organism \-- plant, animal,
and microbe \-- as a unit of biological organization.

The Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) supports fundamental
research on the origins, functions, relationships, interactions, and
evolutionary history of populations, species, communities, and
ecosystems. DEB also supports a network of long-term ecological research
(LTER) sites.

The Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) supports varied
activities that provide the infrastructure for contemporary research in
biology. These include instrument-related activities, research
resources, and training opportunities. DBI also manages the Plant Genome
Program.

#### **Linkage of 2001 BIO Budget to GPRA Outcome Goals**

## Table 1. BIO Budget & GPRA Goals

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 18%" />
<col style="width: 1%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 14%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 14%" />
<col style="width: 6%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 2%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td colspan="3"><h2 id="goals"><span
class="smallcaps">Goals</span></h2></td>
<td colspan="6"><h2 id="indicators"><span
class="smallcaps">Indicators</span></h2></td>
<td colspan="3"><h2 id="biological-sciences-directorate">Biological
Sciences Directorate </h2></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td colspan="3" rowspan="4"><p><strong>People –</strong> Development of
“a diverse, internationally competitive and globally-engaged workforce
of scientists, engineers, and well-prepared citizens.”</p>
<p><strong>$46.57M</strong></p></td>
<td colspan="6">Improved mathematics, science, and technology skills for
U.S. students at the K-12 level and for citizens of all ages.</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td colspan="6">A science and technology and instructional workforce
that reflects America’s diversity.</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td colspan="6">Globally engaged science and engineering professionals
who are among the best in the world.</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td colspan="6">A public that is provided access to the benefits of
science and engineering research and education</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td colspan="3" rowspan="4"><p><strong>Ideas</strong> – Enabling
“discovery across the frontier of science and engineering, connected to
learning, innovation, and service to society.”</p>
<p><strong>$369.02M</strong></p></td>
<td colspan="6">A robust and growing fundamental knowledge base that
enhances progress in all science and engineering areas including the
science of learning.</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td colspan="6">Discoveries that advance the frontiers of science,
engineering and technology.</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td colspan="6">Partnerships connecting discovery to innovation,
learning, and societal advancement.</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td colspan="6">Research and education processes that are
synergistic</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td colspan="3" rowspan="3"><p><strong>Tools</strong> – Providing
“broadly accessible, state-of-the-art information -bases and shared
research and education tools.”</p>
<p><strong>$64.16M</strong></p></td>
<td colspan="6">Shared-use platforms, facilities, instruments, and
databases that enable discovery and enhance the productivity and
effectiveness of the science and engineering workforce</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td colspan="6">Networking and connectivity that take full advantage of
the Internet and make science, mathematics, engineering and technology
information available to all citizens</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td colspan="6">Information and policy analyses that contribute to the
effective use of science and engineering resources.</td>
<td colspan="3"></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>KEY:</td>
<td><p>High</p>
<p>Emphasis</p></td>
<td colspan="2"></td>
<td>Medium Emphasis</td>
<td></td>
<td>Low Emphasis</td>
<td></td>
<td colspan="2">Not Applicable</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

BIO supports the key NSF program functions: people (\$46.57M in FY01);
ideas (\$369.02M in FY01) and tools (\$64.16M in FY01). Programs focused
on developing human resources include the Faculty Early Career
Development (CAREER) program, Research Experiences for Undergraduates
(REU) site awards, the Integrative Graduate Education and Research
Training (IGERT) program, postdoctoral programs, ADVANCE and the G K-12
programs. Ideas is broadly defined as research project support and
includes disciplinary, multidisciplinary and cross-cutting research
projects, centers and center-like activity, i.e. Long-Term Ecological
Research sites, Plant Genome Centers, the Center for Ecological Analysis
and Synthesis, and Science and Technology Centers. Tools includes
biological research resources such as multi-user instrumentation, living
stock centers, genome sequencing, systematics collections, biological
field stations, computerized databases and funding for research
facilities, e.g. a small amount of funding is provided to research
facilities (\$1.1M in FY01) for support of the Cornell High Energy
Synchrotron Source (CHESS) funded primarily through MPS and the National
Nanofabrication Users Network (NUNN) funded primarily through ENG.

## [Sources of Information Used to Compile This Report]{.underline}

Information for this report came from a variety of sources, the most
important of which were the four Committee of Visitor (COV) reviews held
during FY 2001. Each Committee reviewed a sampling of jackets, program
annual reports, and a variety of other data in order to answer critical
questions regarding the Directorate's performance relative to the NSF's
strategic plan and performance plan for FY 2001. Other sources of data
include: program annual reports; workshop reports; NSF Budget Request to
Congress, FY 2001; press releases; other media press reports; the
Executive Information System (EIS) for trend data; and the BIO back-up
book, a compendium review of BIO programs updated and used in
preparation for Congressional hearings.

For FY 2001, BIO continued the process established in FY 1999 for data
gathering for the statistical portion of the program annual reports and
the COVs. Standard definitions were adopted across the directorate and
standard sources of data were agreed upon. Upon conclusion of the fiscal
year, the standard reports were run simultaneously from the NSF
databases using these agreed upon data sources and definitions.

## [Organizational Highlights for FY 2001]{.underline}

Since the early 1980s, the National Science Foundation has been the lead
agency in the support of research using the model plant *Arabidopsis*,
as well as in the effort to sequence the *Arabidopsis* genome. The
sequencing of *Arabidopsis*, the first complete plant genome to be
sequenced, was announced with a press release (NSF Press Release 00-94)
issued on December 13, 2000 and was featured on the cover of the
December 14, 2000 issue of the journal Nature. This project was
completed six years ahead of schedule. Since *Arabidopsis* is a model
organism for plant biology studies, much of the knowledge generated from
its genome sequence is readily applicable to many other plants.
Sequencing of the *Arabidopsis* genome was done through an international
effort involving six groups in Europe, Japan, and the United States. NSF
leads the joint U.S. effort that also includes support from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy.

![](media/image4.jpeg){width="1.25in"
height="0.9409722222222222in"}Using the model plant *Arabidopsis*, a
number of researchers have made important discoveries. For example,
Lynch (DEB-9024977) studied the effect of the accumulation of mildly
deleterious alleles in the context of population size and organellar
genome. His research led to more thorough understanding of "mutational
meltdown"; a process by which small populations avoid normal natural
selection and accumulate large numbers of mildly deleterious genes. But
the process eventually leads to an inability of the genome to respond to
environmental stress, exacerbated by the small population size,
resulting in population extinction. Lynch's work has considerable
importance to conservation biology, and indeed much of the *Arabidopsis*
work supported in the last decade has similar value to problems of
modern society.

Shippen (MCB-9982499) at Texas A&M University is interested in
understanding the structure and function of telomeres, and uncovering
the link between telomere integrity and cell multiplication. Cells in
the body can only divide a finite number of times. Each time the cell
divides; it creates a copy of its set of chromosomes. Telomeres seal the
ends of chromosomes in plants and animals much like the plastic tip on
the end of a shoelace. Like the plastic tip that wears out allowing the
lace to fray and become hard to use, so does the telomere break down in
most cells in the human body over time. Funding from NSF was invaluable
in helping Shippen's lab develop a new model system for telomere biology
using *Arabidopsis thaliana* (the results of which were published this
year in Science and announced by NSF in news release #pr0115).
Exploiting the completed genome sequence of *Arabidopsis*, her lab has
found that plants lacking telomerase, in striking contrast to other
higher organisms, tolerate extreme gene damage and yet remain
metabolically active. She is now crossing plants defective in DNA repair
genes with plants deficient in telomerase to uncover the contributions
of the DNA damage surveillance machinery in identifying dysfunctional
telomeres. In no other higher eukaryotic system has this experiment been
done, and hence she is in a unique position to gain insight into
fundamental aspects of the DNA damage response.
![](media/image5.png){width="0.4111111111111111in"
height="1.1861111111111111in"}

The biological sciences are experiencing the progressive integration of
genomics across all research areas. Genomics is the development and
analysis of sets of data representing the DNA sequences that encode the
total genetic complement of an organism. The genetic complement is like
a blueprint: it contains the plans for the organism\'s development and
functioning. Scientists visualize an organism\'s blueprint by sequencing
its DNA. Such information has provided new insights and been the key
tool in a number of projects.
![](media/image6.jpeg){width="0.7708333333333334in"
height="0.7597222222222222in"}

To improve taxonomic classification relevant to conservation, Pierce
(DEB-9615760), Harvard University tested the relatedness of members of a
butterfly subfamily using mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences. The
group studied includes the only "carnivorous" forms in the large family
Lycaenidae, famous for its mutualistic ant-associated butterflies. With
samples provided from an extensive worldwide network of colleagues, her
results showed the direction of multiple shifts in diet preferences
throughout the group. A unique product of the project was a databases of
insect specimens and associated DNA samples maintained by the Museum of
Comparative Zoology at Harvard, where the PI helped create an exhibit on
"the double lives of butterflies," that was featured in local Boston
newspapers and on the Martha Stewart television show.

An Accomplishment Based Renewal (DEB-9707427) supported continued
studies by Schardl, University of Kentucky, and several U.S. and
European colleagues on the species diversity, evolutionary history, and
complex life cycles of fungi that live inside the stems and leaves of
grass species, including commercial turf grasses. Data from
gene-sequence comparisons resulted in the description of several new
species. The fungal species differentially affect seed-set in the grass
host, and can also induce the accumulation of alkaloids, which may be
toxic to livestock and other herbivores. A reliable taxonomy provides
important guidance to agriculturists and horticulturists concerned with
livestock pasturage and turf grass management.

![](media/image7.jpeg){width="1.8888888888888888in"
height="1.3888888888888888in"}DNA sequence data is an essential tool but
is not enough to tell us everything about how an organism develops and
functions. Building on the large and growing store of information
amassed in the international sequence databases, biologists are now able
to tackle the next frontier in biology, functional genomics, which uses
the genome sequence information in combination with data from other
biological research to study what genes do - that is, how patterns of
sequence are related to patterns of function. Functional genomics offers
unprecedented opportunity to understand living systems through use of
large scale, genome-derived information. BIO\'s first major program in
functional genomics, the \"2010 Project\", began in FY 2001, and will
continue through the year 2010. It' goal is to determine the functions
of the 25,000 genes of the flowering plant, *Arabidopsis thaliana*.
Selected from 106 competitive proposals, the 28 newly funded activities
include participants from 43 institutions in 20 states. The awards total
\$43.8 million over four years and are the first under this initiative.
One example of the projects funded is led by Gloria Coruzzi
(IBN-0115586) from New York University and includes researchers at the
University of California-San Diego and the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. This project applies the latest bioinformatic software
tools to fill a publicly accessible web database cataloguing gene
functions related to nitrogen metabolism. Because nitrogen is a key
element in the growth of all plants, this research will have a broad
impact on the understanding of plant development. (NSF Press Release
01-77)

BIO\'s role in the area of environmental biology is equally important.
Recent findings of the \"Deep Green\" project offer a particularly good
example. During the past five years, this collaboratory has blossomed to
include over 200 scientists in 12 countries. Armed with powerful
computational and molecular tools and the conceptual underpinnings of
modern systematic biology, the researchers made radical new discoveries
about the history of plant life on earth that were featured in a press
release (NSF Press Release 01-09) and on the cover of the journal Nature
on February 1, 2001. They significantly rearranged the "family tree" of
green plants since they found that ferns and horsetail are not as
currently believed, lower, transitional evolutionary grades between
mosses and flowering plants. They are in fact the closest living
relatives to seed plants. Thus, using genomic tools, modern systematists
are rewriting the textbooks on animal and plant evolution. Ramifications
of these findings span practical areas ranging from agriculture to
economics. Knowing the family tree of all life is essential if we are to
make correct choices in combating invasive species, restoring damaged
ecosystems, understanding the functional role of genes, and discovering
new biological compounds.

Since over 80,000 species of vascular plants may exist in the Amazon,
identifying pollen collected from this region can be extremely
difficult. In this high-risk project Bush and Weng (DBI-0096936), at the
Florida Institute of Technology, will try to create the first
computer-based key and digital image guide for Amazonian pollen. If they
are successful, researchers worldwide will have a new powerful tool for
identifying and studying tropical biodiversity.

Through the use of mathematical modeling, researchers have devised a
simple and inexpensive method for the prevention of Chagas disease.
Reporting in the July 27 edition of Science, Joel Cohen of the
Rockefeller University and Columbia University's Earth Institute
(DEB-991552) and Ricardo E. Gürtler of the University of Buenos Aires
predicted how four populations-bugs, chickens, dogs and people-interact
with the protozoan parasite *Trypanosoma cruzi* each season in an
individual household. The model allowed the researchers to determine
that the practice of keeping chickens and dogs inside the house
increased the population of blood-feeding bugs called triatomines, also
known as the "kissing bug," which in turn increase the parasite
population that causes Chagas disease. By excluding infected animals
from sleeping areas and spraying insecticides on a predetermined
schedule, the people could virtually eliminate transmission of the
parasite. (NSF Press Release 01-59)

![](media/image8.jpeg){width="1.8854166666666667in"
height="1.2951388888888888in"}

Martin C. Wikelski (IBN-0118069) had been studying marine iguanas for 14
years when the tanker "Jessica" ran ashore on San Cristobal Island in
the Galápagos archipelago. Wikelski and his colleagues had baseline
corticosterone data collected 3 days before the spill. With the aid of a
SGER award, Wikelski et al. were able to obtain corticosterone data 10
days after the spill. Oiled and non-oiled iguanas did not differ in
their corticosterone levels, but post-spill levels were significantly
elevated over the pre-spill levels. In previous studies with these
iguanas, costicosterone levels as high as those observed post-spill only
had been found in animals that died shortly afterwards.

Fahrbach and Robinson (IBN-9807560) have observed, in studies of the
neuroanatomical basis of hormone-mediated behavioral development in the
honeybee, that such bees learn olfactory associations as they emerge
from the hive to forage for flower nectar. These studies are the first
to use a social insect as a model system to assess the effects of a
hormone on cognition, and provide a new perspective for understanding
bee foraging behavior. They could also have substantial impact on
agriculture. There has been a large response in the popular press to
this work, with coverage from the New York Times, National Public Radio,
the BBC and many other European news organizations.

Studies with loggerhead turtle hatchlings (Lohmann; IBN-9816065) provide
the first direct experimental evidence that animals can derive
positional information from the earth's magnetic field. If hatchling
turtles imprint on the magnetic features of their native beach, it may
not be possible to reintroduce turtles to beaches where they have been
extirpated. In addition, sources of magnetic disruption near nesting
beaches may prevent females from locating their native beach for
nesting. These findings are likely to provide insight into the guidance
of other migratory animals such as salmon birds and marine mammals. This
work has important implications for conservation of endangered
species.![](media/image9.jpeg){width="1.613888888888889in"
height="1.0625in"}

Finally, 2001 saw the launch of the first activity associated with the
multi-year, interagency Microbe Project. USDA (lead), CIA, DoD, DoE,
USGS, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF have joined together to
enhance our knowledge about the earth's most abundant and important but
least known organisms. The Microbe Project has three broad goals: to
build needed infrastructure, to promote research, and to develop human
resources and an informed public. In 2001, a special competition to
support the DNA sequencing of microbes important in basic research and
agriculture was jointly managed by NSF and the USDA. For additional
information see Cross Cutting section below.

**[B. Crosscutting and Coordination Activities]{.underline}**

**[NSF-wide Initiatives]{.underline}**

## Table 2. NSF-Wide Initiatives and BIO Participation 

**[Interagency Activities]{.underline}**

BIO is involved in numerous interagency activities to leverage resources
and to ensure the appropriate transfer of knowledge into the public and
private sector.

**[Examples:]{.underline}**

**Name of Activity:** **Ecology of Infectious Disease.**

This activity, begun in FY 2000, supports efforts to understand the
underlying ecological and biological mechanisms that govern
relationships between human-induced environmental change and the
emergence and transmission of infectious disease. The highly
interdisciplinary research projects study how large-scale environmental
events, such as habitat destruction biological invasion, and pollution,
alter the risk of emergence of viral, parasitic, or bacterial disease in
humans and other species.

**Participating agencies:** NIH, NSF, USDA/ARS, NASA and USGS.

**NSF Role:** NSF provides funding for projects within its mission.

**Role of other agencies:** NSF and NIH have provided funding, and
USDA/ARS, NASA and USGS have provided in kind support

**Website for agency plan:**

**Leveraging of funds:** NSF and NIH have jointly committed more than
\$23 million to fund 13 projects over a period of 5 years. The program
is ongoing in FY 2001.

**Common goals:** The focus of this program is on the development of
predictive models for the emergence and transmission of diseases in
humans and other animals, and ultimately the development of strategies
to prevent or control them.

**Interagency coordination:**

**Common outcomes:** The 13 funded projects totaling \$4M for FY2001,
\$2M from each agency, covered a wide spectrum of diseases and systems,
from prions in North American deer and elk populations (0091961, Hobbs,
Colorado State), to tuberculosis in African Buffalos (0090323, Getz, UC
Berkeley) to malaria in Belize (NIH award) (NSF Press Release 00-86).

**Name of Activity:** **Metabolic Engineering Working Group (MEWG)**

The MEWG is comprised of individuals from eight federal agencies who
work together to facilitate assistance to those investigating
application of metabolic engineering principles in a wide range of
areas. The Biotechnology Research Subcommittee under the Office of
Science and Technology Policy established this interagency working group
in 1995. Metabolic engineering is the targeted and purposeful alteration
of metabolic pathways in an organism in order to better understand and
utilize cellular pathways for chemical transformation, energy
transduction, and supramolecular assembly. Alterations include the
redirection of cellular activities and the rearrangement of the
enzymatic, transport, and regulatory functions of the cell through the
use of recombinant DNA and other techniques. This can be done in
microbes as well as cell cultures from plants, insects and animals.

**Participating agencies:** NSF (lead), USDA, DoD, DoE, EPA, NASA, NIH,
NIST.

**NSF Role:** NSF continues to serve as the lead agency in this
activity. For proposals of interest to two or more of the participating
agencies, the MEWG has agreed that the NSF format and review criteria
are to be used.

**Role of other agencies:** A multidisciplinary panels review proposals
(NSF Program Announcement: NSF 01-19). Based on both external and panel
reviews, each participating agency then decides which of the proposals
they wish to support. In addition to the funding activities, the members
of the MEWG and appropriate scientists and engineers at the member
funding agencies perform an annual review of each funded project, which
includes an annual interagency meeting with the Metabolic Engineering
PIs. The MEWG meets throughout the year at different agency locations.

**Website for agency plan:** www.epa.gov/opptintr/metabolic/index.htm

**Leveraging of funds:** The "Metabolic Engineering Project Inventory"
consists of a total of 15 projects
(<http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/metabolic/agency.hem>), all of which are
funded by more than one of the participating agencies. The participating
agencies will make available up to a total of \$4.5M from current
research funding (including agency in-kind support such as equipment,
laboratory space, personnel time, materials) in support of the FY 2001
announcement.

**Common goals:** To provide an opportunity for an inter-agency granting
activity in the area of Metabolic Engineering in order to stimulate
research on metabolic pathways and metabolic engineering in living
systems. This research includes conceptual and technical approaches
necessary to understand the integration and control of genetic,
catalytic, and transport processes.

**Interagency coordination:** MEWG holds monthly meetings, annual
workshops and occasional seminars.

**Common outcomes:** Three of five anticipated grant competitions have
been held to date (NSF 98-49, NSF 99-85, and NSF 01-19). Two more are
anticipated.

**Name of Activity:** **Phytoremediation**

**Participating agencies:** NSF, EPA (lead), DoD (Office of Naval
Research), and DOE

**NSF Role:** Awarding grants in areas related to NSF mission.

**Role of other agencies:** Agencies other than EPA will process and
award grants in their respective areas according to their award
procedures.

**Website for agency plan:**

**Leveraging of funds:**

**Common goals:** The goal of this activity is to conduct a joint
extramural grants research program in phytoremediation. Remediation
technologies are needed to avert risk to humans or natural resources
from metals and organic contaminants in the environmental, such as heavy
metals in soil or aquatic environments from mining, manufacturing, or
agriculture. Phytoremediation, or the use of plants for bioremediation,
may offer an alternative to conventional technologies, to remove
contaminants from soil or sediments in situ for disposal or recycling,
or to be left in place after inactivation. Representatives of the four
agencies involved developed mutually agreeable language for an
announcement that was released in 2000. The announcement was for
research projects that would address the fundamental mechanisms of
interactions between microorganisms, plants, and contaminant chemicals
in soils and sediments (including marine, estuarine, or freshwater
systems), which result in the degradation, extraction, volatilization,
or stabilization of the waste chemical.

**Interagency coordination:** An Advisory Panel for the Joint Program on
Phytoremediation consisted of 25 panelists, and members of all
participating agencies attended panel discussions.

**Common outcomes:** The agencies anticipate funding 6 -- 7 proposals.
Two proposals are being funded by NSF/BIO, for a total of \$866,927. One
proposal will be funded by NSF/ENG, for \$446,000. EPA will be funding
three proposals for a total of \$907,000:

**Name of Activity:** **The Microbe Project**

The Microbe Project Interagency Working Group was convened in August
2000, and is charged with developing a coordinated interagency action
plan for microbial genomics activities. This coordinated interagency
(and international) effort will seize opportunities offered by
genome-enabled microbial science.

**Participating agencies:** USDA (lead), CIA, DoD, DoE, USGS, EPA, FDA,
NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, NSF.

**NSF Role:** NSF plays a unique and critical role in the Microbe
Project because of its focus on basic science and education.

**Role of other agencies:** NIH, NSF and DoE are continuing current
programs and developing new plans to exploit genomic information and
tools to understand the biology of a microbial cell. NOAA's Ocean
Exploration Initiative will look at microbes in ocean ecosystems never
before accessed or studied. Many of the research areas covered by the
Microbe Project directly address the missions of NIH, NSF, USDA, EPA,
FDA , DoE, NASA and NOAA. These agencies are very interested in
supporting genome-enabled microbial research, either through existing
programs or through the development of new, possibly multi-agency
initiatives.

**Website for agency plan:**
[http://www.reeusda.gov/1700/microbialgenomic/microbialgenomics.htm]{.underline}

**Leveraging of funds:** Some projects are cofunded.

**Common goals:** The Microbe Project has three broad goals: to build
needed infrastructure, to promote research, and to develop human
resources and an informed public.

-   The three major components of infrastructure needed to support
    microbial genomics research are 1) genome sequences, 2) tools,
    technologies and biological resources, and 3) databases and
    bioinformatics.

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-   Genome-enabled microbial research holds enormous promise for
    understanding life at its most basic level, and for enabling
    breakthrough applications in health, agriculture, biotechnology, the
    environment, and national defense.

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-   The education and training of students, scientists, and the public
    in genome-enabled microbial biology, and assuring a diversity of
    participants in this area, is essential.

**Interagency coordination:** Representatives of the participating
agencies form an Interagency Working Group that is responsible for
coordinating efforts among the agencies, and for implementing
interagency activities that address broad needs that cross agency
boundaries.

**Common outcomes:** In 2001, the first implementation year of the
Microbe Project, NSF and the USDA collaborated on a joint microbial
genome sequencing special competition. Seventy-one proposals were
submitted. Of these, the USDA funded eight, the NSF funded eight, and
one was co-funded by both agencies for total expenditure of \$8M, \$4M
from NSF and \$4M from USDA. Exciting research funded through this
competition include an award to Sogin (MCB-0135272), Marine Biological
Laboratory, to sequence the genome of the microsporidian *Nosema
locustae*, and post the sequence data on the Marine Biological
Laboratory\'s web server ([www.mbl.edu](http://www.mbl.edu/)); a grant
to Dean (MCB-0136064), North Carolina State University, (in partnership
with the Whitehead Institute-Center for Genome Research, cofunded with
the USDA), to generate and assemble the entire genome of the fungal
pathogen, *Magnaporthe grisea*, causative agent for rice blast disease;
and a grant to Farman (MCB-0135462), University of Kentucky, to isolate
and sequence telomeric regions of the plant pathogen *Magnaporthe
grisea*, and *Neurospora crassa*.

**[Examples of International Activities Include:]{.underline}**

**Name of activity: *Arabidopsis* Genome Sequencing Project**

The first plant genome sequence to be completed was for *Arabidopsis,*
published in the December 14, 2000 issue of Nature*.* The work was
conducted by an international consortium of scientists organized into 6
sequencing groups from the European Union (E.U.), France, Japan and the
U.S. The genome sequencing project was part of the Multinational
Coordinated *Arabidopsis thaliana* Genome Research Project established
in 1990.

**Lead country:** USA

**Role of NSF:** Lead agency

**Role of other countries:** The *Arabidopsis* project was funded by the
E.U., France, Japan and the U.S. The Science Steering Committee of the
Multinational Coordinated *Arabidopsis thaliana* Genome Research
Project, consisting of eleven scientists representing the world-wide
*Arabidopsis* research community, provided overall guidance and
oversight to the sequencing groups.

**Leveraging of NSF funds:** The US (NSF, DOE and USDA) provided
approximately half the project costs. The remainder came from the E.U.,
France and Japan.

**Name of activity: International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups**

(NSF/NIH/USDA): an interagency activity to support "bioprospecting" for
potential therapeutic agents in the context of biodiversity conservation
and sustainable economic development in developing countries.

**Lead country:** USA

**Role of NSF:** lead agency

**Role of other countries:** Other countries participate not as
governments, but through the individual laboratories or investigators
that receive funding. Groups of diverse private and public institutions,
including universities, pharmaceutical companies and environmental
organizations, collaborate on projects in several countries that address
biodiversity conservation and the promotion of sustained economic
activity through product discovery from biological diversity.

**Leveraging of NSF funds:** NSF contributes \$0.5 million per year
towards a combined total of \$2.5 million per year from NSF, NIH and
USDA.

**Name of Activity: International Long Term Ecological Research
Network.**

In 1993, the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network hosted a
meeting on international networking in long-term ecological research.
Researchers from over 40 nations decided there to form the International
Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network. They produced a mission
statement and recommended action steps toward developing a worldwide
program with the infrastructure necessary to facilitate communication
and distributed database management.

**Lead country:** USA

**Role of NSF:** lead agency

**Role of other countries:** As of May 2000, twenty-one countries had
established formal national LTER programs and joined the ILTER network.
Ten more are actively pursuing the establishment of national networks
and many others have expressed interest in the model. This group meets
annually in one of the member countries. Reports of past meetings are
available at the LTER web page at
[www.lternet.edu](http://www.lternet.edu/). In 2001 the annual meeting
was held in the United Kingdom.

Highlights of the meeting included news of the formation of the African
regional network and one national network in Namibia. Central and
Eastern Europe reported that at the last regional meeting, which was
held in Prague in April 2001, attendees discussed organization of
regional networking, development of joint projects for coordination, a
web page, perspectives of cooperation within common projects, and
funding problems. East-Asia - Pacific participants discussed the
formation of an information managers' network.  The People's Republic of
China is expanding the number of sites in their network from 29 to 39
and the Chinese Ecological Research Network has offered to host the 2003
ILTER annual meeting in Xian, Shan-xi Province. Malaysia and the
Philippines are both working to develop networks.

Latin America reported that Brazil's network started officially in 1999
with 9 sites and the National Research Council -- CNPq -- held a
national competition for three more sites. The Latin American Regional
Network met in April 2001 in Bariloche, Argentina, as part of the first
joint meeting of the Argentine and Chilean Ecological Societies,
attended by over 1000 scientists. In 2001 five new research
collaborations between French \"Zones Ateliers\" and corresponding LTER
sites in the U.S was initiated. A major announcement was made in
September of a new agreement for EU sponsorship of a pan-European ILTER
network that will focus on combining social and environmental research.

**Leveraging of NSF funds:** NSF/INT provides a small amount of funding
for travel

**[C. Evaluations (Non-COV Type Activities)]{.underline}**

The narratives below provide information on the program assessments and
evaluations other than Committee of Visitor and Advisory Committee
assessments. These are other types of evaluations, that were completed
in FY 2001 and for which information was available at the time this
report was prepared. The reports, studies, and evaluations are
frequently used in setting new priorities or documenting progress in a
particular area. A table showing the schedules for COV assessments and a
discussion of results obtained for Outcome Goals based on the COVs is
presented in Section D.

**[Title]{.smallcaps}:** **"Evolution of Development and Tree of Life
Workshop Report"**

**Findings:** Representatives from both the evolution of developmental
mechanisms (EvoDevo) and Tree of Life (ToL) communities agreed that
research progress in these areas was constrained by the same major needs
and that the elimination of these constraints would lead to remarkably
fruitful and exciting interactions between evolutionary developmental
biology and evolutionary systematics. Communities long separated
technically and conceptually have now converged on a common set of
evolutionary questions. The participants felt that after decades of
separation we must exploit the powerful synergism presented by this
convergence.

**Recommendations:**

-   A competition to create about 100 arrayed BAC and cDNA libraries of
    representative organisms on the Tree of Life ("First 100").

-   Grants for functional analysis tool development production of BAC or
    sequenced libraries of additional organisms that address fundamental
    evolution of development questions.

-   Support for sequencing about 24 major developmental gene families in
    the First 100 organisms.

-   Collaboration among phylogeneticists and evolution of development
    researchers to develop a robust informatics infrastructure.

**Where to obtain a copy:**
[http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2001/bio012/]{.underline}

Actual copy: Attached

[**Title:**]{.smallcaps} **Tree of Life Workshops**

"Research Needs in Phyloinformatics" and "Developing the Technology and
Infrastructure Needed for Assembly of the Tree of Life"

**Findings:** A major new coordinated research effort is necessary. The
integration of expertise and of data from a variety of sources will be
essential for resolving the most vexing phylogenetic problems, and
coordinated research groups will be the most efficient means to achieve
this objective. Specifically, the workshop participants envision the
funding of Tree of Life \"networks\" and \"hubs\", and of a
\"phyloinformatics\" facility focused on synthesis and outreach.

**Recommendations:** The NSF should establish, as soon as possible, a
new program focused on \"Assembling the Tree of Life\" (ATOL). The
concrete benefits to science and society stemming from ATOL, and the
feasibility of accomplishing its major mission, justifies the
development of a major new initiative and the investment necessary to
build and maintain such a program. Specifically, the ATOL program should
support the development of the following new structures:

-   [Tree of Life Networks.]{.underline} TOLNets are the essential
    mechanisms for coordinating individual investigators from diverse
    fields of knowledge who are working on reconstructing the phylogeny
    of Life

-   [Tree of Life Hubs]{.underline}*.* TOLHubs, with a concentration of
    expertise and specialized facilities, would serve the ATOL effort as
    focal points for obtaining and synthesizing phylogenetic data. They
    would facilitate interactions among TOLNets and function as ATOL
    training centers.

-   [Phyloinformatics and Coordination Infrastructure
    (PICI)]{.underline}*.* Centralization of the informatics program
    would avoid duplication of effort and facilitate integration among
    databases. Intellectual synergy would be promoted by co-locating
    research scientists, visiting scholars, and support staff in one
    place. Investment in such a center would establish a global resource
    and encourage cooperation with ongoing biodiversity and
    bioinformatics initiatives.

Throughout the development of this program it will be critical to
support training relevant to all aspects of ATOL, and the development of
new methods for gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing phylogenetic
data. Furthermore, every effort must be made to foster
cross-disciplinary efforts, international collaboration, and linkage to
other relevant programs.

*Timing and implementation.* Strong support was expressed for initiating
the program by calling for research and training proposals carried out
through TOLNets and TOLHubs, and, separately, for proposals to establish
PICI. The existence of PICI is critical to the entire effort and it
should be funded from the outset of the program.

**Where to obtain a copy:**
[http://www.research.amnh.org/biodiversity]{.underline}

Title: Outcomes and Impacts of the NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research
Fellowships Program

General Information: The Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
Program, initiated in 1990, is the only Federal fellowship program where
the applicant must present a plan for research and training that
increases the participation of under-represented minorities in biology.
Fellowships have durations of up to three years and consist of a
\$36,000 stipend, \$9,000 in research costs, and a \$5,000 institutional
allowance per year, for a total of \$50,000 annually. The NSF spends
about \$1,000,000 per year on this program. Since inception of the
program, BIO has supported 128 Minority Fellows.

Findings: Not yet available -- the study will run from August 15, 2001
to August 15, 2002.

Recommendations: Several interim reports on outcomes will be produced,
with a final report on the impacts.

Title: "The Microbe Project: A Report from the Interagency Working Group
on Microbial Genomics."

Findings: There are major areas of research as yet untouched that would
increase our understanding of the broader microbial world, its
diversity, and its potential applications. A coordinated interagency and
international effort is needed to seize the opportunities offered by
genome-enabled microbial science. In recognition of this need, the
Microbe Project Interagency Working Group was convened in August 2000,
and charged with developing a coordinated interagency action plan or
microbial genomics activities. The Microbe Project has three broad
goals: to build needed infrastructure, promote research and develop
human resources and an informed public.

Recommendations:

-   Microbial genome sequencing should be expanded to include
    scientifically important but as yet understudied microbes.

-   Individual agencies should continue, or as necessary, increase
    support for research on technique and tool development.

-   The Federal government should initiate a deliberate planning effort
    to address the issue of providing sustained support for and access
    to microbial genomic resources.

-   Develop standardized bioinformatics tools for the analysis of
    microbial genomes.

-   Database issues (including standardized annotation, interoperability
    and long term support)must be resolved through an interagency effort
    with planning activities to begin immediately.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Each agency, as its mission directs, should encourage and support
    genome --enabled microbial research objectives, as described in this
    report.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Individual and interagency activities initiated as part of the
    Microbe Project should contain elements that encourage training and
    /or educational activities, and include efforts to enhance the
    diversity of participants in all aspects of each activity.
    Interagency coordination of the development and distribution of
    training materials should be encouraged.

```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
-   Continue coordination cross agencies of all Microbe Project
    activities, in part through the development of an interagency
    Microbe Project web site.

Where to obtain a copy:
[www.ostp.gov/html/microbial/start.htm](http://www.ostp.gov/html/microbial/start.htm)

D.  2001-2004 COV SCHEDULE AND FY 2001 COV RESULTS

**Table 3. Cov Schedule FY 2001-2004**

+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| ## BIO [DIRECTORATE]{.smallcaps}  |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| **[Division]{.smallcaps}**        | **[Program/Cluster               |
|                                   | Title]{.smallcaps}**             |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| **FY 2001 COVs**                  |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Biological Infrastructure (DBI)   | Plant Genome Research Program    |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Environmental Biology (DEB)       | Long-Term Ecological Research    |
|                                   | (LTER) Program; Long-Term        |
|                                   | Research in Environmental        |
|                                   | Biology (LTREB) Program;         |
|                                   | Cross-Site Competition Program   |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Integrative Biology &             | All clusters (Division-wide)     |
| Neuroscience (IBN)                |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Molecular & Cellular Biology      | Cell Biology Cluster             |
| (MCB)                             |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| # FY 2002                         |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Biological Infrastructure (DBI)   | Instrumentation Cluster          |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Environmental Biology (DEB)       | Ecological Studies Cluster       |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Integrative Biology &             | Physiology & Ethology Cluster    |
| Neuroscience (IBN)                |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Molecular & Cellular Biology      | All clusters (Division-wide)     |
| (MCB)                             |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| # FY 2003                         |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Biological Infrastructure (DBI)   | Research Resources & Training    |
|                                   | Cluster                          |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Environmental Biology (DEB)       | All clusters (Division-wide)     |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Integrative Biology &             | Neuroscience Cluster             |
| Neuroscience (IBN)                |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Molecular & Cellular Biology      | Genetics Cluster                 |
| (MCB)                             |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| # FY 2004                         |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Biological Infrastructure (DBI)   | All clusters (Division-wide)     |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Environmental Biology (DEB)       | Systematic & Population Biology  |
|                                   | Cluster                          |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Integrative Biology &             | Developmental Mechanism Cluster  |
| Neuroscience (IBN)                |                                  |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| Molecular & Cellular Biology      | Biomolecular Structure &         |
| (MCB)                             | Function and Biomolecular        |
|                                   | Processes Clusters               |
+-----------------------------------+----------------------------------+

**[COV Results for Outcome Indicators and Goals by
Program/Cluster/Division]{.underline}**

Table 4. COV Results for "People" Outcome Indicators and Goals by
Program/Cluster/Division

+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| **People -- Development of "a    |       |         |       |       |
| diverse, internationally         |       |         |       |       |
| competitive and globally-engaged |       |         |       |       |
| workforce of scientists,         |       |         |       |       |
| engineers, and well-prepared     |       |         |       |       |
| citizens."**                     |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| ## [Indicat                      | Plant | LTER/   | IBN   | Cell  |
| ors]{.smallcaps} {#indicators-1} | G     |         | Div   | Bi    |
|                                  | enome | LTREB/  | ision | ology |
|                                  | Pr    |         |       | Cl    |
|                                  | ogram | Cro     |       | uster |
|                                  |       | ss-Site |       |       |
|                                  |       | P       |       |       |
|                                  |       | rograms |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| Improved mathematics, science,   | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR    |
| and technology skills for U.S.   |       |         |       |       |
| students at the K-12 level and   |       |         |       |       |
| for citizens of all ages.        |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| A science and technology and     | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR    |
| instructional workforce that     |       |         |       |       |
| reflects America's diversity.    |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| Globally engaged science and     | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR    |
| engineering professionals who    |       |         |       |       |
| are among the best in the world. |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| A public that is provided access | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR    |
| to the benefits of science and   |       |         |       |       |
| engineering research and         |       |         |       |       |
| education                        |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| Overall Rating for Goal by COV   | **S** | **S**   | **S** | **S** |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+

All COVs judged that the programs being reviewed had satisfactorily met
this goal.

No COV provided a rating for the individual indicators (except for the
IBN Divisional COV's rating of Successful for the fourth indicator).
However, in most cases the COVs' comments as well as examples, in many
cases, indicate that they judged that that the indicators had been
satisfactorily met. For example:

-   The LTER/LTREB COV stated that "about 50% of the LTER sites have
    good to very good K-12 and undergraduate education efforts."

-   The Cell Biology COV noted that "Cell Biology program officers are
    diligently and creatively addressing the problem of diversity in
    America's scientific workforce."

-   The IBN Divisional COV stated that "A significant number of
    IBN-funded projects involve interactions with scientists from other
    countries."

-   The Plant Genome COV found a wide range of databases and outreach
    efforts that are being supported by the program and stated that "it
    is critical for PI's to continue and expand this kind of public
    outreach."

However, some problems and areas for improvement were noted:

-   The LTER/LTREB COV had significant problems in interpreting some of
    the indicators and/or in finding specific data to judge them. The
    fourth indicator was called "a vague criterion." Further, the COV
    stated that "no LTER or LTREB site reports that we reviewed
    completed" information about global engagement and recommended that
    "it would be better to change this element to be more specific." And
    it noted that "Only one of the subsets of LTER sites examined
    specified a high level of success" in diversity.

-   The Cell Biology COV stated that "Global engagement is not a
    strategic goal of the Cell Biology Cluster" and that "Public access
    to the benefits of research in cell biology is difficult to
    measure."

-   The IBN Divisional COV stated that "there are no methods in place by
    which any such improvements \[improved skills for all citizens\]
    could be measured, let alone ascribed to a specific IBN investment."

**Table 5.** COV Results for "Ideas" Outcome Indicators and Goals by
Program/Cluster/Division

+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| **Ideas -- Enabling "discovery   |       |         |       |       |
| across the frontier of science   |       |         |       |       |
| and engineering, connected to    |       |         |       |       |
| learning, innovation, and        |       |         |       |       |
| service to society."**           |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| ## [Indicat                      | Plant | LTER/   | IBN   | Cell  |
| ors]{.smallcaps} {#indicators-2} | G     |         | Div   | Bi    |
|                                  | enome | LTREB/  | ision | ology |
|                                  | Pr    |         |       | Cl    |
|                                  | ogram | Cro     |       | uster |
|                                  |       | ss-Site |       |       |
|                                  |       | P       |       |       |
|                                  |       | rograms |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| A robust and growing fundamental | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR    |
| knowledge base that enhances     |       |         |       |       |
| progress in all science and      |       |         |       |       |
| engineering areas including the  |       |         |       |       |
| science of learning.             |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| Discoveries that advance the     | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR    |
| frontiers of science,            |       |         |       |       |
| engineering and technology.      |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| Partnerships connecting          | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR    |
| discovery to innovation,         |       |         |       |       |
| learning, and societal           |       |         |       |       |
| advancement.                     |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| Research and education processes | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR    |
| that are synergistic             |       |         |       |       |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+
| Overall Rating for Goal by COV   | **S** | **S**   | **S** | **S** |
+----------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+-------+

All COV's judged that the programs being reviewed had been successful at
meeting this goal.

Again, the COVs did not rate the individual indicators, but is clear
from the text of their reports that they felt that all the programs
reviewed had successfully met the indicators. For example:

-   The Plant Genome COV stated that "The Committee found the
    contributions to the knowledge base to be perhaps the area of
    greatest success in the Plant Genome Project."

-   The LTER/LTREB COV said that "Results of the LTER site research
    contribute to the frontiers of science, including the setting forth
    of new hypotheses, approaches, methods, and perhaps most
    importantly, syntheses of data."

-   The Cell Biology COV noted that "The Cell Biology Cluster supports
    several grants that enable partnerships between the science of cell
    biology and learning and society."

-   The IBN Divisional COV judged that "IBN (and all divisions in the
    BIO directorate) places strong emphasis on both research and
    teaching and these are clearly implemented in the funded programs.
    This is exemplified by the increased use of criterion 2 in the peer
    review process."

No COVs found any significant concerns with this goal or any of its
indicators.

**Table 6.** COV Results for "Tools" Outcome Indicators and Goals by
Program/Cluster/Division

+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
| **Tools -- Providing "broadly   |       |         |       |         |
| accessible, state-of-the-art    |       |         |       |         |
| information-bases and shared    |       |         |       |         |
| research and education          |       |         |       |         |
| tools."**                       |       |         |       |         |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
| ##  [Indicato                   | Plant | LTER/   | IBN   | Cell    |
| rs]{.smallcaps} {#indicators-3} | G     | LTREB/  | Div   | Biology |
|                                 | enome |         | ision | Cluster |
|                                 | Pr    | Cro     |       |         |
|                                 | ogram | ss-Site |       |         |
|                                 |       | P       |       |         |
|                                 |       | rograms |       |         |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
| Shared-use platforms,           | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR      |
| facilities, instruments, and    |       |         |       |         |
| databases that enable discovery |       |         |       |         |
| and enhance the productivity    |       |         |       |         |
| and effectiveness of the        |       |         |       |         |
| science and engineering         |       |         |       |         |
| workforce                       |       |         |       |         |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
| Networking and connectivity     | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR      |
| that take full advantage of the |       |         |       |         |
| Internet and make science,      |       |         |       |         |
| mathematics, engineering and    |       |         |       |         |
| technology information          |       |         |       |         |
| available to all citizens       |       |         |       |         |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
| Information and policy analyses | NR    | NR      | NR    | NR      |
| that contribute to the          |       |         |       |         |
| effective use of science and    |       |         |       |         |
| engineering resources.          |       |         |       |         |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+
| Overall Rating for Goal by COV  | **S** | **S**   | **S** | **S**   |
+---------------------------------+-------+---------+-------+---------+

Again, all COVs found that the programs that they were reviewing had
successfully met this goal, but did not rate the individual indicators.
As with the other goals, however, the text of the reports indicates that
the indicators were met. For example:

-   The IBN Divisional COV judged that "IBN has made several important
    contributions to the development of tools and databases and has
    taken advantage of tools and resources developed in other divisions
    and directorates."

-   The LTER/LTREB COV "found that LTER/LTREB participants contributed
    in numerous ways to increased use of new tools and techniques."

-   The LTER/LTREB COV also noted that "the investments by NSF in
    long=term ecological research have been fruitful in a number of
    ways. In particular, LTER and LTREB projects have led not only to
    groundbreaking science, but also to fundamental changes in
    environmental policy and management. For example, long-term data
    from the Hubbard Brook LTER study guided Clean Air legislation.
    Long--term research on disease ecology at the Institute of Ecosystem
    Studies (Lyme's Disease) and the Sevilleta LTER (Hanta virus) have
    had important applications for the public health policy."

-   The Plant Genome COV stated that "The web sites developed with Plant
    Genome Program funding are open and available to the world's
    citizens. The committee believes that the Program should continue to
    lead the way in educating citizens about the value of the research
    it funds."

However, there were some concerns about the indicators:

-   The Plant Genome COV "had trouble distinguishing between 'enabling
    discovery' and 'enhancing the productivity and effectiveness of the
    science and engineering workforce.'" It was also confused as to the
    meaning and scope of the third indicator. However, it decided to
    "take advantage of the inscrutability of this question: to state
    that "The Interagency Working Group that led to the formation of the
    Plant Genome Project is itself the best example of how information
    and policy led to a much more effective use of science and
    engineering resources."

-   The Cell Biology Cluster COV stated that "it can be difficult to
    determine information about the shared use of platforms, facilities,
    instruments or databases that enable discovery, from the jackets."
    It also found no specific data relating to network, but opined that
    "it seems likely that most or even all funded researchers are
    networked and taking advantage of the Internet."

-   Regarding the whole Tools goal, the LTER/LTREB COV noted that "The
    reporting system needs to be revised because many of the
    accomplishments for this section were NOT included in the reporting
    materials and would have gone unnoticed or unreported if the
    individual members of the COV had not been previously aware of their
    existence."

E.  **[Summary of directorate / office achievements]{.underline}**

**[for outcome goals]{.underline}**

The four COVs held in FY2001 clearly felt that BIO had met the GPRA
goals for People, Ideas and Tools. No major problems were noted for the
People indicator. However, the COVs noted that the issue of attracting
and retaining underrepresented groups into BIO-supported science areas
is an ongoing challenge. No problems were noted for the Ideas or Tools
goals. The COVs did mention that they had trouble interpreting the Tools
indicators or finding concrete data upon which to make a judgement.
Finally, it should be noted that none of the COVs separately rated the
indicators listed for each goal.

**[FOR MANAGEMENT GOALS]{.underline}**

**[Table 7. Annual Performance Goals for NSF's Management]{.underline}**

+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
| **[Performance | FY 2001     | NSF-Wide    | BIO         | Di        |
| Areas]         | Annual      | Performance | Performance | rectorate |
| {.smallcaps}** | Performance |             |             | Results   |
|                | Goal        |             |             | Goal:     |
|                |             |             |             |           |
|                |             |             |             | **        |
|                |             |             |             | [(Met/Not |
|                |             |             |             | M         |
|                |             |             |             | et)]{.sma |
|                |             |             |             | llcaps}** |
+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
| ##### NSF Busi |             |             | #####       | #####     |
| ness Practices |             |             |             |           |
+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
| Electronic     | 95 %        | 99%         | **100 %**   | **Met**   |
| Proposal       |             |             |             |           |
| Submission - % |             |             |             |           |
| full proposals |             |             |             |           |
| received       |             |             |             |           |
| through        |             |             |             |           |
| FastLane       |             |             |             |           |
+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
| **Electronic   | 10          |             |             |           |
| Proposal       |             |             |             |           |
| Processing** - |             |             |             |           |
| *\# of pilot   |             |             |             |           |
| paperless      |             |             |             |           |
| projects*      |             |             |             |           |
+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
| ## NSF Staff   |             |             |             |           |
+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-----------+
| **Diversity**  | Increase    | 35 women    | **6 women   | **Met**   |
|                | total       | and 20      | and 1       |           |
|                | number of   | minorities  | minority    |           |
|                | hires to    | were hired  | were hired  |           |
|                | S&E         | (out of 104 | (out of 14  |           |
|                | positions   | hires)\*\*  | hires)**    |           |
|                | from        |             |             |           |
|                | under       |             |             |           |
|                | represented |             |             |           |
|                | groups.     |             |             |           |
+----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-----------+

\*\* Includes OPP hires, which were not in included in the FY 1997
Baseline.

**[INVESTMENT GOALS]{.underline}**

**Table 8. Annual Performance Goals For NSF\'s Investment Process**

+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| ## [Per       | ## [        | ## [        | ##         | ## [D      |
| formance Area | FY 2001 Ann | NSF-Wide Pe |  [BIO Perf | irectorate |
| ]{.smallcaps} | ual Perform | rformance]{ | ormance]{. |  Results - |
|               | ance Goal]{ | .smallcaps} | smallcaps} | - Goal:]{. |
|               | .smallcaps} |             |            | smallcaps} |
|               |             |             |            |            |
|               |             |             |            | ## [(Met/N |
|               |             |             |            | ot Met)]{. |
|               |             |             |            | smallcaps} |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| ## [Pr        |             |             | ##         |            |
| oposal and Aw |             |             |            |            |
| ard Processes |             |             |            |            |
| ]{.smallcaps} |             |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| **Use of      | At least 85 | 88%         | **96%**    | **Met**    |
| Merit         | %.          |             |            |            |
| Review** - *% |             |             |            |            |
| projects      |             |             |            |            |
| funded.*      |             |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| **I           | Reviewers   |             |            | **Met**    |
| mplementation | address the |             |            |            |
| of Merit      | elements of |             |            |            |
| Review        | both        |             |            |            |
| Criteria** -- | generic     |             |            |            |
| **Reviewers** | review      |             |            |            |
|               | criteria.   |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| **I           | POs address |             | []{.mark}  | ###        |
| mplementation | both        |             |            | ###### Met |
| of Merit      | generic     |             |            |            |
| Review        | review      |             |            |            |
| Criteria** -- | criteria    |             |            |            |
| **Program     | when making |             |            |            |
| Officers**    | award       |             |            |            |
|               | decisions.  |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| **Customer    | 95%         | 100%        | 100%       | **Met**    |
| Service --**  |             |             |            |            |
| Time to       |             |             |            |            |
| Prepare       |             |             |            |            |
| Proposals --  |             |             |            |            |
| *Prog. Ann.   |             |             |            |            |
| available for |             |             |            |            |
| 3 months      |             |             |            |            |
| before due    |             |             |            |            |
| date*.        |             |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| **Customer    | 70 %        | 62%         | 57%        | Not Met    |
| Service --**  |             |             |            |            |
| Time to       |             |             |            |            |
| Decision - *% |             |             |            |            |
| proposals     |             |             |            |            |
| processed     |             |             |            |            |
| within 6      |             |             |            |            |
| months*       |             |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| **Award       | \$110,000.  | \$113,601   | **\        | **Met**    |
| Size** --     |             |             | $143,140** |            |
| *increase     |             |             |            |            |
| average       |             |             |            |            |
| annual award  |             |             |            |            |
| size*         |             |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| **Award       | 3.0 years.  | 2.9 years   | **3.1      | **Met**    |
| Duration** -- |             |             | years**    |            |
| *lengthen     |             |             |            |            |
| average award |             |             |            |            |
| duration*     |             |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+
| **Maintaining | 30 %        | 28 %        | **33 %**   | **Met**    |
| Openness in   |             |             |            |            |
| the System**- |             |             |            |            |
| *% awards to  |             |             |            |            |
| new           |             |             |            |            |
| in            |             |             |            |            |
| vestigators*. |             |             |            |            |
+---------------+-------------+-------------+------------+------------+

## Proposal and Award Process

***Use of Merit Review:***

BIO exceeded this goal by using external peer review on 96% of BIO
funded projects.

***Implementation of Merit Review Criteria - Reviewers:***

COV reviews were conducted in FY 2001 in each of the four BIO Divisions.
In all cases, the merit review criterion (criterion 1) was found to have
been appropriately addressed. One report noted that the reviewers took
the intellectual merit part of the review very seriously.

However, in most reviews, the COV noted that although progress has been
made, the broader impact criterion (criterion 2) was not adequately
addressed, or was not addressed by all reviewers. For one division, it
was found that "virtually all reviewers now address the broader impacts
of the proposed research." But one COV noted that the use of the two
criteria is still a work in progress.

A BIO response to the COV report indicated that NSF-wide FastLane and
Grant Proposal Guide language is being added to encourage
[PIs]{.underline} to address criterion 2 in proposals. Another response
noted that steps are being taken to widen the reviewer pool, and
reviewers from smaller or primarily undergraduate institutions are
likely to take a greater interest in criterion 2. A third response noted
that reviewers are being encouraged to address criterion 2.

The use of merit review criteria is an NSF-wide issue, and the National
Science Board approved resolution NSB 01-167 on October 11, 2001, that
"endorses actions to raise awareness of the importance of both merit
review criteria" . . . including "dissemination of generic examples of
activities that address the broader impacts criterion, and amendments to
policies and procedures for proposers, reviewers and NSF Program
Managers on the use of both criteria. . . "

***Implementation of Merit Review Criteria -- Program Officers***

In all but one COV report, it was noted that Program Officers are
addressing both merit review criteria. Positive feedback included the
comment that "program officers applied criterion 1 very effectively,
resulting in the support of the highest quality research" and that they
are "very aware of criterion 2 and do take it into account."

The remaining COV found mixed results and noted that more weight should
be given to criterion 2 in the instructions to the panelists. The BIO
response in this case again indicated that NSF-wide FastLane and Grant
Proposal Guide language is being added to encourage [PIs]{.underline} to
address criterion 2 in proposals.

***Customer Service - Time to Prepare Proposals***

BIO exceeded this goal; 100% of program announcements were available
within this time frame.

***Customer Service - Time to Decision***

In FY 2001, 57 percent of BIO proposals were processed within six
months. This percentage is similar to that for 2000, suggesting that
significant changes in procedures are required for BIO to meet this goal
in the future. Among changes being implemented are: DEB will change its
target dates to align with those of the other BIO divisions. This will
decrease the dwell time for DEB proposals since co-review with other BIO
programs will occur one month earlier than was previously possible. On a
monthly basis, BIO will evaluate dwell time statistics for all units in
order to identify units that could have problems meeting the 6-month
rule. When potential problems are identified, resources will be
allocated to address the problems. The BIO divisions have also been
charged to reexamine all phases of the proposal review process, to
identify aspects of the process that could be modified, streamlined, or
deleted and to identify best practices that could be implemented
BIO-wide. In addition, we are hopeful that a fully implemented and well
functioning FASTLANE will cut down on the time required to process
proposals. It should be noted, however, that the increase in
cross-directorate initiatives and other special programs is causing
proposal review coordination problems, in scheduling panels, in
scheduling site visits, in coordinating final decision-making. More
attention must be placed on devising a six-month proposal review process
for these cross agency activities.

***Award Size***

BIO exceeded this goal; the average annualized award size for research
projects in FY 2001 is \$143,140, compared to \$119,906 in FY 2000.

***Award Duration***

BIO exceeded this goal; the average award duration for FY 2001 was 3.1
years, compared to 3.0 in FY 2000.

***Maintaining Openness in the System***

BIO exceeded this goal; 33 percent of competitive research grants in FY
2001 were awarded to new investigators.

### **Broadening Participation**

COV reports in three cases reported a good balance or a lack of bias,
among the reviewers. Comments included mention of a good balance of
geographical distribution and institutional type, and that the reviewers
mirror the applicant pool.

One report did not see success in this area, but the division responded
that it is working to correct the situation and has seen improvement in
the spring 2001 panels. Another response noted that NSF does not collect
the demographic data from reviewers.

F.  **[REporting Examples for Relevant Outcome Goals]{.underline}**

**[and Areas of Emphasis]{.underline}**

## [People]{.underline}

BIO places a high priority on programs to develop a diverse,
internationally competitive workforce of scientists, engineers and
well-prepared citizens. Support for these programs seeks to broaden
participation in biology to reflect the diversity of the U.S.
population. This emphasis ensures that the next generation of scientists
is adequately prepared for a scientific future that increasingly blurs
borders between scientific disciplines, and that is increasingly
dependent on technology and on the sharing and analysis of information
from distributed resources. These efforts also aid in the development of
a scientifically and technologically literate populace.

-   ***Globally Engaged Workforce who are among the best in the world***

Ecosystem Scientists Honored by National Academy

Two ecosystem scientists were elected to the National Academy of
Sciences in 2001: Stephen R. Carpenter at the University of Wisconsin
and Christopher B. Field at the Carnegie Institute of Washington and at
Stanford. Their research programs illustrate common trends in ecosystem
studies. Both are studying aspects of carbon cycling, one in lakes and
the other in annual grassland. Both are engaged in collaborative
research projects with multiple co-investigators in diverse disciplines.
Finally, both research projects combine a strong mathematical modeling
component with field manipulation experiments to discover new insights
into ecosystem functioning.

**[Example Projects]{.underline}**

A collaborative project (DEB-9706976) to Hartshorn, involving the ALAS
(Arthropods of La Selva) research team, the Organization for Tropical
Studies (OTS), and the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio, Costa
Rica) has produced an inventory of tropical rainforest insects at the La
Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, a biodiversity laboratory and
trained a staff of parataxonomists drawn from local citizens, who
conduct research and give tours. ALAS is highly visible to the public.
The ALAS lab is a magnet for La Selva visitors, including local school
children, U.S. senators, and Latin American decision-makers. ALAS was
the subject of a New York Times (\'Science Times\') article (Yoon 1995),
a live telecast from La Selva by Turner Educational Services, and a
Nova-like segment on the Japanese Television Workshop. ALAS has been
featured in Costa Rican television programs and newspapers.

Many Doctoral Dissertation students routinely spend all or part of their
research time abroad. Typical examples are: DEB-9700876, Whitlock,
Harvard University studied the phylogenetic systematics of cacao and its
relatives doing field work in South America and Africa and collaborating
with colleagues in Germany. Prather (DEB-9972724), University of
Minnesota worked on the phylogenetic analysis of the caddisflies, an
important Neotropical insect group, visiting 10 European museums to
examine type specimens and borrow additional specimens for study.
Lastly, Lewis (DEB-9902082), Cornell University, studied the systematics
of a Palm subtribe spending time collecting in the Seychelles, Mascarene
Islands, Malaysia, Philippines and Guam.

With support from NSF and the home institution, an REU Site award at the
University of Arizona, (DBI-9912036) PI Carol Bender, offers its
participants the opportunity to conduct research in laboratories in
Western Europe, Central and South America, and parts of Asia.

In order to provide the training critical to assimilating and then
applying the most advanced statistical methodology to genomic data,
seven different NSF programs have continued their joint support of the
Summer Institute for Statistical Genetics, directed by Weir at North
Carolina State University (DEB-9900388). This highly successful and
popular set of courses is providing to a diverse array of scientists the
most modern quantitative techniques for analyzing the quickly expanding
genomic database.

EHR provided a supplemental support to a BIO REU Site at Towson State
University (DBI-0125003) Donald Forester, in order to support
pre-service and in-service teachers who will work with undergraduate
participants and as part of an REU site grant to the University of South
Alabama, (DBI-0097389).

-   ***A science and technology workforce that reflects America's
    diversity***

An research award (DEB-9815800) to Edwards, at the University of
Washington, was supplemented to enable him to provide travel funds for
16 undergraduates, most from under-represented groups, to present
posters on their research at the annual meetings of the Society for the
Study of Evolution, the American Society of Naturalists, and the Society
for Systematic Biology. The poster session was well attended and the
societies are very interested in continuing this tradition. The poster
session served as a graduate school recruitment opportunity, giving the
undergraduates the chance to speak with many graduate students,
post-doctoral associates and faculty.

Goff, University of California-Santa Cruz (DEB 9355121) helped create
the COSMOS summer science program for students of all ethnic backgrounds
in the California state system, and she traveled to Antarctica with NSF
sponsorship to conduct graduate-level courses for researchers at the
Southern Pole field stations.

Jackson (DBI-9731991), Massachusetts Bay Community College, continues to
encourage and stimulate participation of students from under-represented
groups in his REU site program. One of the participants received a Barry
M. Goldwater Scholarship to continue her study. The Goldwater
Scholarship is a congressional award given to students in science,
mathematics, or engineering whose achievements identify them to be
amongst the top students in the nation planning to pursue Ph.D. degrees.

Sinha (IBN-9983063) Regulation of Compound Leaf Development in Tomato;
involves a large number of undergraduates in her research at the
University of California, Davis, including many from underrepresented
groups. As described above, Dr. Sinha made a major breakthrough in her
research on by demonstrating that there is long distance transport of
mRNA in tomato. This achievement is more remarkable since the project
was initiated by an undergraduate student, Wynnelena Canio, who shares
first authorship on the Science paper reporting it. This underscores the
value and significance of our ongoing support of undergraduate research
opportunities and commitment of investigators to mentoring young
scientists.

Watson (IBN-9874475)as part of an investigation of behavioral and
physiological determinants of the excess of males in the small-eared
bush baby established the first primate colony at a historically black
college (Jackson State Univ.). Involved students developed research
skills, co-authored publications, and interacted with two distinguished
primatologists. Students now view a career in research as a possibility.

Akay (0120792) organized a summer school activity to introduce students
(undergraduates through postdoctorals) to modern mathematical and
computational methods that can be applied to complex biological
phenomena. NSF funding provided support primarily for student attendees.
Forty-six students attended, including 24 women, and several Hispanic
and African American students. The 25 students supported directly with
NSF funds had diverse educational backgrounds: about half were enrolled
in biological science programs, and half in either bioengineering or
computational biology programs within computer science. All of the
students presented posters of their research projects conducted under
the guidance of the faculty mentors.

An REU Site award to the University of Wisconsin, (DBI-0097493) Carmel
Ruffolo, is designed to provide research experience in molecular biology
and bioinformatics to under-represented groups and students from
institutions with limited research opportunities of their own.

-   ***Improved mathematics, science and technology skills for US
    students at the K-12 level and for citizens of all ages***

23 of the 24 LTER sites now participate in the Schoolyard (K-12) LTER
program. Several sites have now also obtained funding from EHR for
expanded educational programs. An example is the Kellog Biological
Station LTER (DEB 9810220) site, which was recently funded for a \$1.2M
program of teacher enhancement and retention in rural southeastern
Michigan middle schools (Robertson and Klug).

In response to a critical need expressed strongly throughout various
academic settings across the country, seven programs joined in
supporting the National Conference on the Teaching of Evolution
(DEB-0080501). Both research and education programs at NSF have viewed
this activity as particularly timely and crucial to providing students
rigorous, science-based education that will prepare them for the
increasingly complex decisions they must make as citizens of a
technologically advanced world community. The Population Biology program
provided a supplement this year to this award to enable planning for
advancing the aims of the original conference over an extended period.

Benfey (IBN-0127676, "SGER: Developing Methods for Global Expression
Analysis at Cellular Resolution") has recently produced an interactive
CD for undergraduates to explore modern techniques in molecular biology.
His "Gene Discovery Lab" allows students to experience the entire
process of cloning cDNA virtually. It has been published by Brooks/Cole
as a CD-ROM, and can be used as a pre-lab activity or a lab-substitute
for biology courses that do not have a lab component. This is a valuable
contribution to undergraduate and advanced high-school science
education.

David Goldstein (IBN-9630630) has participated in "Science
Apprenticeship Program" for disadvantaged high school students; has
involved minority college students from other institutions in his lab
(STREAMS Program; NIH-funded); and is Co-PI on a UMEB award to bring
minority students into labs to work on long-term projects in
environmental biology.

-   ***A public that is provided access to the benefits of science and
    engineering research and education***

A novel approach to facilitating advanced training involved support for
a graduate student symposium (DEB-0087359) on the role of natural
history in modern ecology and evolutionary biology. The success of the
symposium, which was organized and managed entirely by students, led
several programs to support another such symposium (DEB-0120789), in
which the focus will be on communicating scientific findings to the
public. Training in this aspect of a scientific career is often
neglected; that graduate students have identified it as an important
topic for a national meeting is worthy of both praise and funding.

### **IDEAS**

The Biological Sciences Activity provides support for research to
advance understanding of the underlying principles and mechanisms
governing life. BIO\'s support for discovery across the frontier of
science spans all the biological disciplines. BIO-supported research
effectively builds the knowledge base for resolution of societal
concerns in areas as diverse as food, nutrition, agriculture, protection
of the environment, and education.

BIO continued to provide priority support within the disciplinary base
to areas of emerging importance, such as Genome Enabled Science and
Systems Biology. Genome Enabled Science encompasses three levels of
activity: 1) genome sequencing and the assembly of primary sequence
databases; 2) functional analyses, also known as \"functional
genomics;\" and 3) integrative research. Systems Biology takes advantage
of two areas of opportunity in biological sciences 1) integrative
research focused on complex biological systems and 2) enhanced
opportunities for integrating rapidly accumulating, massive amounts and
disparate kinds of data into understanding biological processes.

**Centers and Center-like Activities**

Three BIO-supported Science and Technology Centers (STC) begun in FY
1991 received final funding in FY 2001. They are the Center for
Biological Timing at the University of Virginia, the Center for
Engineering Plants for Resistance Against Pathogens at the University of
California - Davis, and the Center for Light Microscope Imaging and
Biotechnology at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2001, a new STC, the
Center for Behavioral Neuroscience at Emory University, received its
first year of support. This center is co-managed with the Social,
Behavioral and Economic Sciences Activity. The scientific goals of the
center involve understanding how neural processes regulate and are
regulated by complex social behaviors across animal species.
Collaborating institutions include Georgia State University, Georgia
Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Atlanta
University Center. Results of this research may transform the way we
think about how hormones influence behavior, how genes are regulated,
and how neural processes adapt to different environmental demands.

The Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (CEAS), established in
FY 1995, promotes integrative studies of complex ecological questions
and serves as a locus for synthesis of large data sets. The goals of the
Center are to advance the state of ecological knowledge through the
search for universal patterns and principles and to organize and
synthesize ecological information so that it will be useful in
addressing important environmental problems.

An example of a working group hosted by NCEAS in 2001 is one organized
by Garry Peterson, Craig Allen and Crawford Holling. They will examine
the cause and effect relationship between cross-scale organization and
resilience of ecological systems using two complimentary approaches.
First, they will develop and refine alternate methods of pattern
detection and comparison to examine empirical ecosystem data. Second,
they will synthesize existing models of cross-scale ecological
organization. These approaches will be synthesized by using analytical
methods to compare body mass patterns produced by modeled and actual
ecosystems.

In FY 2001, NSF supported 24 Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites.
The LTER sites are representative of major ecosystems. Four sites are
located in coastal ecosystems, two are in human-dominated, urban
ecosystems, and the remaining 18 sites cover a broad range of ecosystems
including the Arctic tundra of Alaska, the deserts of New Mexico, the
rainforests of Puerto Rico, and the Dry Valleys of Antarctica. BIO
provides support for 21 of these sites and for a coordinating office.
(See project examples under following IDEAS sections)

The Plant Genome Research Subactivity supports virtual centers (centers
without walls) or collaboratories where coordinated, multi-investigator
teams pursue comprehensive plant genome research programs relevant to
economically important plants or plant processes. Currently active
centers range in size and scope, some with a focus on functional
genomics and others with a focus on developing tools and resources for
plant genomics studies for the scientific community. For example, one
center\'s goal is to identify all the plant genes encoding plant
responses to drought and salinity stresses. Another center is aimed at
providing specialized plant materials and structural genome data to
identify and map maize (corn) genes. All centers have a significant
component to train a new generation of scientists well versed in plant
genomics.

-   ***A robust and growing fundamental knowledge base***

Garrett Odell, University of Washington (MCB-0090835) continued to
develop computational tools for the modeling of complex genetic
interactions that define gene networks. A major finding of the study,
published in Nature, was that any individual component of the network
could vary in most biochemical parameters (e.g. rates of transcription,
translation, stability etc) without perturbing the network. The
implication being the counterintuitive idea that the random assignment
of parameters in the network generates the actual developmental pattern,
thus supporting the notion that the gene network itself provides the
stability of the developmental program.

Major objectives in the field of cellular signaling are to understand
the molecular mechanisms of cellular perceptions and the transduction of
these events into an adaptive response. A significant discovery has
recently been made with about the role of heme-proteins in bacteria and
in the more recently recognized microbial kingdom, archaea. A novel
class of heme-containing sensors were discovered in Archaea and
bacteria. This discovery was made by Maqsudul Alam of the University of
Hawaii a CAREER award recipient (MCB-9600860). He was recently awarded
MCB-0080125 to continue investigation of cellular perception mechanisms
in archaea. These heme-containing sensors are participants in aerotaxis,
the ability of microbes to move toward higher concentrations of oxygen
in water a novel role for heme-containing proteins. This work was
published in Nature, Vol 403, pp 540 -- 543, 2000

Carl Johnson of Vanderbilt University (MCB-9874371) has demonstrated
that there is a selective advantage for being able to keep time
accurately. Working with cyanobacteria, he found that arrhythmic strains
of cyanobacteria lose in competition against rhythmic strains in
light/dark cycles, but are able to maintain themselves in competition in
constant conditions (e.g., constant light). This result indicates that
the internal clock is critical for fitness when cells are grown under
environmentally relevant conditions (cycles), but that in constant
conditions, the selective pressure is reduced.

Organelles typically attain characteristic distribution patterns within
cells. For the most part, the significance of these patterns and the
mechanisms cells use to establish them remain poorly understood. Two PIs
recently provided major new insights into how organelle movement is
regulated. Both study the movement of pigment-containing membrane
vesicles called melanosomes in the pigment cells of frog skin and fish
skin. These (and other) organisms change their skin coloration from
light to dark in response to environmental cues. Leah Haimo
(MCB-9727728) recently provided a key insight to our understanding of
how microtubule-based motors are regulated. Vladimir Gelfand
(MCB-9513388) and colleagues examined the shorter range movements of
melanosomes that occur along actin-based microfilaments and are mediated
by the motor protein called myosin-V. They found that these movements
are regulated by the engagement or disengagement of the motor from the
organelle itself, rather than from the track along which it moves.

Berger (IBN-9603803) studied the behavioral consequences of relaxation
and restoration of mammalian predation as a selection pressure and found
that moose that have not been exposed to predators for several
generations are naive, and may not respond appropriately to wolves until
the learning experience of an attack on a calf. Such naive prey could be
driven to extinction when a novel predator enters an ecosystem.

Neurons communicate via synapses, where the nerve impulse triggers
fusion of vesicles to the plasma membrane where the vesicles release
their transmitter. To maintain synaptic transmission, fused vesicles
must be "recycled". Washington University investigators (IBN-0076091)
demonstrated that the rate of this process is regulated by both the
intensity of nerve stimulation and the intracellular calcium level.
Techniques developed with this funding will now make it possible to
examine many other aspects of synaptic vesicle trafficking that
previously resisted experimental analysis in order to improve our
understanding on how synapses maintain their activity.

Tracey Shors (IBN-9996210) has discovered neurobiological mechanisms
that underlie the facilitation of learning by stress. While
investigating the possible role of the hippocampus in learning, she made
the remarkable discovery that the growth of new nerve cells in the
hippocampus of the adult rat is necessary for one particular kind of
classical conditioning. Stopping production of new hippocampal neurons
selectively impairs this type of classical conditioning; when cell
production begins again, it recovers. This intriguing discovery was
among the first to show that production of new neurons is critical for
certain kinds of learning.

A recent study published in SCIENCE 291: 481-484 by Knapp and Smith
utilized data on aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) from 11
LTER sites, with datasets ranging from 6 to 23 years in length. The
results showed that rainfall patterns and species primarily determined
the ANPP across this continental range of systems that included forests,
tundra, deserts and grasslands. Grasslands exhibited the greatest
year-to-year variability, while forests were the least variable. This
pioneering study demonstrated the value of long-term datasets on
important ecological processes, as well as the difficulties in
conducting such large cross-site synthesis studies (DEB-9632851).

In a parallel study, model simulations of long-term surface hydrology
similarly show that the central U.S., dominated by grasslands, exhibits
the largest regional water balance variations in the country.
(DEB-9632853, Carpenter)

Synthesis continues to be a central focus of the LTER network. The third
volume Niwot Ridge, CO, (DEB-9810218) in the Oxford University Press's
LTER synthesis series was published. This book joins previous releases
of the Konza Prairie (DEB-9632851) synthesis, a multi-authored book on
soil analytical methodologies for long-term studies, and two separately
published syntheses from the McMurdo Sound/Dry Valleys (OPP-9813061) and
Palmer Station (OPP-9614938) Antarctic LTER sites.

Campbell and colleagues (DEB-9705277) collected amphibians and reptiles,
and their parasites from every major physiographic region of Guatemala.
An incredible forty-one species new to science were discovered,
representing over 10% of the total for Guatemala. In addition, over 3800
tissue samples (muscle and liver) from 300+ species of amphibians and
reptiles were collected and are available to systematists and other
researchers. Preliminary investigations suggest that practically all of
the protozoan parasites recovered from Guatemalan hosts are new. These
results will help biodiversity conservation efforts.

Queller (IBN-9975351) studied cooperation with and without genetic
relatedness. He discovered a form of altruism among wasps, based on the
possibility of non-related individuals inheriting the nest. A single
queen retains control over reproduction, assisted by unrelated females.
A queen\'s offspring rarely succeed in taking over the nest. These
results provide insights about the development and mechanisms of
sociality.

Sidney Pierce (9505416) studied the mechanism(s) used by the cells of
the marine slug, *Elysia chlorotica*, to capture chloroplasts from the
marine alga, *Vaucheria litorea*, and then keep the plastids
photosynthetically active within the animal's cells for periods as long
as 8 months after capture. This PI identified a virus present near the
end of the mollusc life cycle, and discovered that the virus may be the
means for inserting algal nuclear genes into the molluscan genome.

Alexander Sorkin (MCB-9904802) provided cell biologists with a powerful
new tool that permits them to determine when and where particular
proteins come into close contact with each other within cells. Changes
in protein distributions and binding properties are widely appreciated
to initiate changes in cell growth, differentiation, and physiological
status. Sorkin has adapted a physical-chemical method known as
fluorescence resonance energy transfer, or FRET, that permits
time-dependent measurement of the distribution and interaction of two
different proteins in living cells.

A risky project undertaken by Brenda Casper (DEB-9708165) examined the
patterns of nutrient uptake by plant roots. Using a semi-permeable
membrane (GORE-TEX®) that prevented nutrient absorption by roots while
allowing root hyphae to grow through the membrane, Casper located tracer
nutrients at various points and distances around a plant in order to
test whether the plant was able to locate and/or take up these nutrients
in a directed way. The method was successful and convincingly
demonstrated that plants could both seek out nutrients and assimilate
them from considerable distances. This method will allow ecologists to
better study the movement of nutrients and plant population dynamics

## *Partnerships connecting discovery to innovation and societal advancement*

An important focus in plant biotechnology is understanding how plants
regulate water loss. This is essential to engineering plants that will
be able to withstand drought conditions. Significant progress toward
understanding how plant hormones, G-proteins, and environmental stimuli
regulate water loss through the aperture of the stomatal pores has been
made by Sarah Assmann, Pennsylvania State University,
(MCB-9416039;-9973540;-9874438; and-0086315) and Julian Schroeder, UC,
San Diego, (MCB-9506191;-0077791).

*Bacillus thurnigiensis* is a bacterium that produces toxins with
insecticidal activities. One of the early success stories of genetic
engineering of plants, was the introduction of the gene encoding the
toxin into agriculturally important crops, such as cotton. These plants
produced their own pesticide thereby reducing the need for chemical
pesticides. Unfortunately, insects can "learn" (evolve mechanisms) to
escape this clever trap, and develop resistance to the toxin but the
molecular basis for resistance was unknown. In 2001, two independent
groups focusing on the molecular mechanism of Bt toxin resistance in two
plant pests produced important results which were reported in
back-to-back papers that appeared in Science, August 2001 and were
highlighted by a news and views report.

Gahan and Henkel (MCB-9816056), Clemson University, found the location
of the gene responsible for resistance and the genes encoding proteins
known to bind to the toxin and thus are implicated in the mechanism of
the toxin's action. In resistant pest strains the protein gene was
inactive, but in sensitive insect strains the gene was intact. These
findings may ultimately be used to test field isolates of insects to
identify potential outbreaks of resistance. The PIs have filed a patent
that describes this potential. In the second study (MCB-9983013),
Aroian, University of California San Diego, and co-workers found that
carbohydrate addition to receptors in the gut is an important step in
the recognition of the toxin by its receptor and may explain how a
single toxin can bind to two different receptors that are completely
unrelated in sequence -- that is -- by binding to a common carbohydrate.

Dr. Linda Hanley-Bowdoin (MCB-9809953) studied how geminiviruses
reprogram mature plant cells, which have stopped dividing, to divide
again. Her experiments, which will combine *Arabidopsis* genomic and
gene profiling technologies, are likely to identify genes associated
with cell division, development and disease in plants. These studies,
which will increase our basic understanding of the mechanisms that
control plant growth and mediate plant/microbe interactions, also have
important agricultural implications. Dr. Hanley-Bowdoin has already
submitted two patent applications aimed at viral disease resistance that
grew out of her basic research on geminivirus replication and host
interactions.

The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) LTER (DEB-9714835) obtained
surprising new insights into the functioning of urban ecosystems. In one
case, an inventory found that toxic release sites are locally associated
mainly with white working-class neighborhoods, with race, income and
education the three most significantly related population attributes.
This association is explained by the long history of residential and
occupational segregation in the city. This is a particularly unique
socio-economic example of a "legacy" effect in an ecosystem, analogous
to the overwhelming effects of agricultural clearing 200 years ago on
the current structure and dynamics of the hardwood forests of the
northeastern U.S

"Arctic Flora and Fauna: Status and Conservation," a 272-page book, that
covers the major Arctic ecosystems (forest tundra, tundra & polar
desert, freshwater, and marine), and examines the ecological, human, and
conservation issues of the Arctic was produced by J. P. Huntington
(DEB-9908449). The project stimulated efforts by the Arctic Council\'s
working group on Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna to develop a
biodiversity-monitoring network. Several non-governmental organizations
(including the World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and the
Circumpolar Conservation Union) have begun to use data in the book to
support their conservation activities.

The project of Jen Sheen (DBI-0077692) has identified the first complete
plant signaling cascade, including the specific receptor kinase,
transcription factor, and target genes that mediate a signaling pathway
important for plant defense responses to pathogens. This project is the
first to make a major effort in developing plant cell systems for the
study of gene regulation and signal transduction. This approach is
essential for plant-specific signaling pathways to be elucidated.

## *Research and education processes that are synergistic*

Christopher Field is lead PI on a recently completed collaborative
proposal between the Carnegie Institute of Washington (DEB-9727059) and
Stanford University (DEB-9727060) examining the combined effects of
changes in levels of atmospheric CO2, temperature, nitrogen deposition,
and precipitation. The experiment was an effective focal point for
education. It was widely visited by Stanford classes as well as adult
groups and classes from primary and secondary schools. Newspaper and
radio pieces featuring the project effectively communicated the meaning
and importance of global change.

PEET (Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy) awards continue
to combine research on lesser studied organisms with training of the
next generation of systematists. For example, Petersen and Hughes's
(DEB-9521526) fungal project trained two graduate students and one
postdoctoral associate who subsequently secured faculty positions; Ph D
students working on Irwin (DEB-9521925) and colleagues Yeates and
Weigmann, "stiletto flies" project secured postdoctoral fellowships
following their work; Yeates helped design the software program "LUCID,"
for the construction and use of interactive species identification keys.
Both Yeates and Wiegmann host students from Irwin's laboratory, in an
intense training program combining modern molecular, morphological, and
database methods.

Dr. David Liu (MCB-0094128) at Harvard University has ambitious plans to
expand the scope of our understanding of molecular evolution as well as
to generate useful proteins and nucleic acids. As part of the education
component of this CAREER project, a course for graduate students and
advanced undergraduates has been constructed from more than 800 recent
papers covering many of the most important and cutting-edge topics in
chemical biology, including genomics, proteomics, combinatorial
chemistry, chemical genetics, protein design and engineering, and
molecular evolution.

### **TOOLS**

In FY 2001, BIO maintained support for research resources that include
databases, multi-user instrumentation, development of instrumentation
and new techniques, living stock centers, marine laboratories, and
terrestrial field stations. Support for infrastructure ranging from
databases and the informatics tools and techniques needed to manage them
to instrumentation development is essential to areas of research
including the priority areas of BE and ITR, as well as across biology
where functional genomics is becoming a significant component of many
research portfolios. Examples of the various types of research tools
supported by BIO are listed below each indicator.

##### *Shared use facilities, databases, etc. that enable discovery and enhance productivity/ effectiveness of S&E workforce*

**Shared Use Facilities**

BIO supported the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS)
(DMR-9713424), Gulf Coast Protein Crystallography Beamline
(DBI-9871464), Living Stock Collections, and Field Stations and Marine
Labs.

**Shared Use Resources**

The project led by Hans Bohnert (DBI-9813360) has sequenced a total of
44,000 stress ESTs from more than 50 *Arabidopsis*, ice plant, rice,
maize, barley and tobacco cDNA libraries at the University of Arizona
and the University of Nevada. An ice plant gene index based on data from
this project has now been mounted in collaboration with The Institute
for Genome Research.

The project led by Virginia Walbot (DBI-9872657) has made spectacular
progress in sequencing ESTs and depositing sequences into dbEST. As of
the 8/10/01 report, dbEST contains 101,277 maize ESTs, almost all of
which came from this project.

The project led by Cal Qualset (DBI-9975989) has made more than 30 wheat
cDNA libraries from a variety of tissues, developmental stages, growth,
and stress conditions. Most were produced from Chinese Spring, the
reference genome for wheat research. From these libraries, they have
sequenced almost 63,000 clones which comprise the bulk of the 70,000
wheat ESTs in GenBank.

The project led by Ron Phillips (DBI-9872650) has successfully developed
oat-corn chromosome addition lines for all 10 corn chromosomes; 8 of
these have also been converted to fertile disomic addition lines. These
lines are being used to develop new mapping tools in maize. The
biological material generated from this project has been widely
disseminated and used both by other Plant Genome Research Program
projects and by industry.

David Schwartz (DBI-9975606) was funded in FY99 to take the optical
mapping methods developed for small bacterial chromosomes and extend
them to rice chromosomes. The project has successfully adapted the
technology to larger genomes and has already produced a 4x coverage SwaI
optical map. Now that the International Rice Genome Sequencing project
will produce a genome sequence that contains regions of draft sequence,
this resource will be very important in contig assembly, particularly in
highly repetitive regions.

The project led by Kan Wang (DBI-0110023) entitled "Establishment of
Robust Maize Transformation Systems" will develop these tools, as well
as provide training and a transformation service to the community. This
is an area identified to be of critical need by the maize research
community through the Maize Executive Committee.

## Databases

As an example of the type of research tool generated by all PEET
awardees, Petersen and Hughes's (DEB-9521526) databasing of fungal
herbarium specimens now encompasses 15,000 records (in a Microsoft
Access platform) along with records for 5,000 living-culture
collections, critical to the study of mating-type loci among species;
work continues to make these databases Internet-accessible and
'queryable'. The web site also hosts a tutorial in botanical
nomenclature, as well as a brief laboratory manual for fungal DNA
studies.

Following the first all-PEET workshop at University of Kansas in 1996,
Ashe hosted a website to link all PEET awardees and their "products"
(publications, databases, personnel, field trips). The PEET website has
facilitated linkage to the Federal interagency ITIS (Integrated
Taxonomic Information System) and also helped promote interest in the
PEET concept in Europe.

The team of Nalini Nadkarni and Judy Cushing (DBI-9975510), at the
University of Arizona, has developed a web-based database for reference
material for canopy researchers and a source table for field data
documentation, including tools to manipulate data sets.

A number of databases and research tools have been developed through
awards made in the Plant Genome Program. For example, the *Arabidopsis*
Information Resource (TAIR), (DBI-9978564) PI Christopher Sommerville
and coPI Sue Rhee, is a community resource for information about
*Arabidopsis* *thaliana*, located at Carnegie Institution of Washington
at Stanford. The project led by Mary Lou Guerinot (DBI-0077378) is
loading experimental data into the PlantsT database set up by co-PI
Michael Gribskov. The project led by Ron Sederoff (DBI-9975806) is using
a protein family database (MetaFam) and analysis tools developed as part
of the project.

## Models

For a modern city, which can meet all the requirements for sustaining
human life from external sources, there might exist no strong internal
ecological feedback. The Central Arizona -- Phoenix (CAP) LTER site
(DEB-9714833, Nancy Grimm) developed the "urban funnel model" to
conceptualize the integration of humans into their ecological context.
The model captures resource appropriation and waste generation by urban
ecosystems at various spatial scales. The model is used together with
ecological analyses, which improves its accuracy. By comparing the
results of the model for food and water, it is possible to identify
potentially limiting ecological factors for cities. This model
represents a major move toward conceptual and analytical urban models
that incorporate the appropriation of external resources.

Sejnowski (IBN-9985964) continues development and use of \"Mcell\", for
general Monte Carlo computer simulation of subcellular biochemical
signaling. Sejnowski and collaborators from UCSD and Cornell, the team
are adding sophistication to implement molecule-molecule interactions
(such as at synaptic binding sites), to make MCell directly applicable
to most diffusion/reaction problems for biological systems. Educational
outreach is a major component of this projects, including yearly or more
frequent tutorials for new students and new investigators.

-   ***Networking/Connectivity that makes full use of the Internet to
    bring science, mathematics and technology to everyone***

Laura Landweber (DBI-9875184), Princeton University, received a CAREER
award to investigate nucleic acid based computing. DNA was the first
computational nucleic acid.

The projects led by Douglas Cook; DBI-9872664 and DBI-0110206) have
facilitated coalescence of an international group that has elevated
Medicago to the status of the model for legume research.

Collaboratories and group projects supported by BIO include the National
Nanotechnology Users Network (NNUN) (ECS-9731294), (DBI-0097019) Scott
Gardner, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, "WormWeb:
Geo-referencing Computerized Data and Linking Databases in the Manter
Laboratory of Parasitology"; and (DBI-9905760) James Beach, the
University of Kansas, "Formulated and Specify: Using Visual Programming
to Enable Web-based Biodiversity Analysis".

A Collaboratory on the Population Biology of Invasive Species sponsored
a symposium at the Society for Conservation Biology\'s (SCB) annual
meeting in Hilo, Hawaii. The symposium included talks on genetic and
demographic dimensions of invasive species, as well on interdisciplinary
approaches that linked population biology with ecology and ecosystem
research. The speakers included international researchers as well as
researchers from other government agencies.

**Workshops**

A workshop (DEB-0120472), co-funded by 15 programs, considered the need
for a national Evolutionary Synthesis Center (ESC). Workshop
participants supported the formation a center similar to the National
Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, but with a broader, more
evolutionary perspective. The group felt that an ESC should include
working groups focused on synthesis topics and host post-doctoral
students. The workshop concluded that evolutionary synthesis would only
be possible if an ESC had substantial capacity to conduct research and
maintain infrastructure in evolutionary informatics, statistics, and
modeling.

The Third LTER All Scientists Meeting, Waide (9634135), Univ. of New
Mexico, attracted over 700 scientists and students. Over 200
international scientists attended. The meeting was organized around a
series of voluntary workshops stressing synthesis. 15 follow-up
mini-workshops were planned.

A workshop funded by the Plant Genome Research Program was held at The
Institute for Genome Research, Rockville, MD, September 10-11, 2001 to
discuss the status of plant genomics databases and informatics and
future needs. One clear conclusion from the meeting is the critical need
for development of common data standards and comprehensive,
cross-species databases with the capacity to handle multiple data types
and formats. Hand in hand with this need are the associated training
needs. These efforts are anticipated to require increased support in the
coming years.

-   ***Information and policy analyses that contribute to the effective
    use of S&E resources***

The LTER/LTREB COV noted that "the investments by NSF in long-term
ecological research have been fruitful in a number of ways. In
particular, LTER and LTREB projects have led not only to groundbreaking
science, but also to fundamental changes in environmental policy and
management. For example, long-term data from the Hubbard Brook LTER
study guided Clean Air legislation. Long--term research on disease
ecology at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies (Lyme's Disease) and the
Sevilleta LTER (Hanta virus) have had important applications for the
public health policy."

**[High-Risk Projects]{.underline}**: (also see [People]{.smallcaps} and
[Ideas]{.smallcaps} sections)

PRESAGE is a community database for structural genomics that contains
experimental structure data as its being collected (experimental
annotations) and structural predictions and models (prediction
annotations). Steven Brenner (DBI-0002623), at the University of
California at Berkeley, was awarded an SGER to attempt to completely
re-engineer the PRESAGE database to aid in coordination among groups in
structural genomics.

Brandon Gaut (DBI-0113498) was funded to develop computational and
statistical methods to evaluate comparative genetic map data. Patrick
Schnable (DBI-0121417) was funded to test a novel expression vector
system developed to directly rescue open reading frames (ORFs) from
genomic DNA.

The Floral Genome Project led by Claude dePamphilis (DBI-0115684)
represents the first of a new kind of Virtual Center funded in FY01. Its
focus is "evolutionary genomics". This project will collect large
amounts of expressed sequence information for floral structures across
the angiosperms and gymnosperms, and use the information to determine
which genes are required for floral organ development.

A 2000 workshop held to develop an "operations manual" for the
management of field stations, (DBI-0084148) Susan Lohr, Rocky Mountain
Biological Laboratory led in 2001 to and an online version published on
the homepage of the Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS).
The manual provides advice on a wide range of relevant topics, including
the important role of strategic planning in station management. It
includes information on how to conduct a successful strategic planning
effort.