NSF Proposal
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 22:35:18 -0400 To: msharkey@byron.ca.uky.edu, dwagner@uconnvm.uconn.edu, pswhite@unc.edu From: pick@pick.uga.edu (John Pickering) Subject: NSF Proposal -- Are we game? Cc: Karen_Ballentine@nps.gov, hbarrios@ancon.up.ac.pa, bogartg01@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us, moth@ra.msstate.edu, bcarroll@infointl.com, colwell@uconnvm.uconn.edu, Coley@biology.utah.edu, PCOLEY@bci.si.edu, gladys_cotter@usgs.gov, cvcove01@homer.louisville.edu, idg@nhm.ac.uk, mark_fornwall@usgs.gov, Phil_Francis@nps.gov, whallwac@sas.upenn.edu, wfharris@utk.edu, bphayden@nsf.gov, cgodoy@rutela.inbio.ac.cr, djanzen@sas.upenn.edu, Johnson.2@osu.edu, tkiernan@npca.org, keith_langdon@nps.gov, lockard@pick.uga.edu, longinoj@elwha.evergreen.edu, grsm_friends_of_grsm_np@nps.gov, spruance@infinet.com, jmorse@clemson.edu, becky_nichols@nps.gov, chuck_parker@nbs.gov, pulliam@ecology.uga.edu, mrose@esper.com, dsmith@sel.barc.usda.gov, dsiegel@nsf.gov, Mike_Soukup@nps.gov, Chris_Stein@nps.gov, mjwillia@tricon.net, windsord@tivoli.si.edu, WOODDM@EM.AGR.CA Folks, I just returned from two weeks on the road and have lots to do, the least of which is starting something new. However, here's a good possibility for some serious funding -- NSF's recent Special Competition Announcement for Integrated Research Challenges in Environmental Biology. For details please see <http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1999/nsf9912/nsf9912.htm>. In short, I quote "This competition is designed to meet a growing need for larger, explicitly integrated research projects that address major issues within or accross these fields of ecology and evolution. The competition especially seeks to enable the kinds of synergisms and intellectual leveraging that result from integrated and synoptic approaches to key questions from differing perspectives and scales." Maximum award of $3M over 3-5 years. In addition to the intellectual merit, review criteria include an emphasis on "Integration of Research and Education" and "Integrating Diversity [women & men, underrepresented minorities, & persons with disabilities]..." In 1999, the deadline for the full proposal is 9 February. While we might wish to consider a proposal entitled "GSMNP-ATBI," I suggest that we'll have a stronger proposal if we focus our intellectual questions. I wish to get your feedback on a focus on terrestrial plant-herbivore-parasitoid-hyperparasite interactions, addressing questions of spatial scale, community diversity, density dependence, trophic interactions, phenology, and host specificity. If we go this route, there are two possibilities: one is to stay within eastern North America, focused around the Smokies; the other is to include our tropical friends in a tropical-temperate comparison of such questions. I have spoken with Dan already. He intends to put in an independent proposal from the ACG to extend what they're doing there. He's willing to explore linking ACG's intellectual efforts to a larger temperate-tropical comparison with the Smokies. If we go the larger tropical-temperate route, I hope that Don-Lissy-BCI and Jack-Rob-ALAS would like to join us in some capacity. In writing this, it isn't my intent to discourage the Becky-Chuck-John-GSMNP-ATBI aquatic team from applying. If the aquatic biologists or other taxa/questions wish to develop a proposal, I'll help them to the best of my capacity. However, John rather than I should take the lead on an aquatic proposal. Ultimately the ATBI might even have several proposals submitted over the next several years to this competition. In terms of science, my vision is to build our temperate zone effort around Peter (plants), Wags (herbivores), and Mike (parasites) and then add the tropical folks if they show interest and we decide to go that route. Mike is game. I'm blind-siding Peter and Wags. Sorry, guys. I hope that our educational team (Chris-Eli-Glenn-Karen-Parks/School_Yards_as_Classrooms) will get involved and consider developing the protocols and technology to involve a large number of schools in caterpillar hunting, rearing, photographing, and databasing so that students learn and produce quality data towards our scientific goals. Wags has just written a great guide to help them. Regarding databasing, I trust that (Bonnie-Gladys-Mark-Norm-Rob-&-the-Invisible-Blob) will pull it all together before too long. In the meantime, I suggest that we use Biota as our means of data entery. Regarding logistics, I hope that (Charles-Frank-Mary-Meryl-Tom-&-the-Friends) can help us set up the process so that we can apply with this and future proposals to NSF through Discover Live in America/Friends of Great Smokies rather than through our respective universities. If possible, I would like one goal of our Development Team to be that of raising sufficient support from other sources such that Discover Life in America's cooperating scientists and educators do not need to request ANY indirect costs from NSF or other donors. In short, Discover Life in America's infrastructure should try to contribute all indirect support to all cooperators' proposals. This match would save anywhere from 10 to 100+ percent that is typically charged by most institutions. The logic behind my reasoning is that by charging no overhead we will (1) show a substantial contribution to NSF and other agencies from whom we seek funds, (2) make our proposals more competitive by producing more science and education for donors' dollars, and (3) force ourselves to keep our overhead costs low because they will be coming out of our hide rather than that of our potential funding agencies. In short, let's "Think Differently" and develop ground rules so that we build a lean, efficient support team and make our proposals as competitive as possible. Please send me your input and thoughts. Depending on who is game and how much they're willing to participate (and write), I'm willing to take the lead on this. Your deadline in which to respond with comments to me is 25 November. If the general response is positive, I'll send NSF the required letter of intent that is due on Monday, 30 November, discuss this during our planning meeting 14-17 December (see <www.discoverlife.org>), and spend the holidays and January making this work. For those of you whom I have not copied on this, please forgive me. I hope that the others will share this with you as they see fit. For those of you whom I owe personal responses to your emails, thanks. Please forgive me, I'm somewhat behind. Cheers, Pick John Pickering Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-2602 Office: 706-542-1115 Messages: 706-542-3379 Laboratory: 706-542-1388 FAX: 706-542-3344 e-mail: pick@pick.uga.edu Home: 706-353-7076 Web sites: <www.discoverlife.org> <http://dial.pick.uga.edu>