Action Alert: Urge Congress to Avoid a Government Shutdown
We are on the brink of another government shutdown. It is critical that Congress passes a continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily extend current-year funding and provide additional time to negotiate fiscal year (FY) 2024 spending levels.
The current political impasse poses a threat to science. If shuttered, federal research agencies will be unable to award grants or conduct critical research until they are funded again. Lawmakers must set aside political differences and pass a CR by September 30. Beyond the CR, Congress must prioritize completing their work on FY 2024 appropriations as quickly as possible. A stopgap approach creates uncertainties and stifles the government's ability to initiate new programs.
Please take a few moments to write to your members of Congress through the AIBS Legislative Action Center urging them to pass a continuing resolution before the September 30 deadline and complete work on FY 2024 appropriations bills in an expedient and bipartisan manner.
Take Action.
Agencies Brace for Potential Shutdown
Lawmakers have four legislative days left to act to avoid a government shutdown on October 1. Republican leaders in the House have so far failed to come to an agreement on a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government functional until Congress agrees on final fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding levels.
House Republicans are instead looking to ram through several FY 2024 appropriations bills across the floor this week with even deeper spending cuts than those approved by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this summer. The move is meant to appease conservative hard-liners but is further diverting attention from finding an agreement on a stopgap spending bill. Also at risk are billions in disaster aid for Florida and Hawaii and additional funding for Ukraine that Senate leaders and the White House are hoping to attach to a stopgap measure.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has set a procedural vote for tomorrow on moving forward with a CR, but a shutdown appears imminent.
Federal agencies are now preparing for a shutdown and looking to "agency contingency plans," like this one for the National Science Foundation, for guidance in the event that their funding dries up at the end of the current fiscal year.
President Biden Launches American Climate Corps
President Biden has announced that he will use executive authority to launch a new federal program to put thousands of young Americans to work in renewable energy and climate jobs.
According to White House Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi, the American Climate Corps is a "workforce training and service initiative that will ensure more young people have access to the skills-based training necessary for good paying careers in the clean energy and climate resilience economy."
Six agencies, namely the Department of Labor, Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Energy, and AmeriCorps will sign a memorandum of understanding to implement the new initiative.
Modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal program that put young people to work on improving public lands, the Climate Corps has been on Biden's climate agenda for years. He had called for a strategy to create a Civilian Climate Corps in an Executive Order he signed soon after taking office. Democrats tried to secure funding for such a program in earlier versions of their climate legislation, but the provisions did not make it through to the finalized version of the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Administration has launched a new website, where those interested in the program can sign up to receive more information. The program aims to put more than 20,000 young people to work "conserving our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, advancing environmental justice, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and tackling climate change."
Decadal Survey Urges Boost for NASA Biological and Physical Sciences Division
A new decadal survey from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine lays out the key scientific challenges facing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Division of Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) and presents a blueprint to advance the science needed in the next decade.
Continued U.S. leadership in human and robotic space exploration will require increased federal investments in and commitments to research at the frontiers of biological and physical sciences, suggests the Decadal Survey for 2023-2032. The report found that the BPS division is "severely underfunded" given the scientific questions it is being asked to address and has the least funding of all the divisions within NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The report identifies 11 key scientific questions for the division to delve into over the next 10 years, and calls for a tenfold budget increase to build a "truly robust and resilient program that can meet the space exploration science needs of the nation."
The report recommends that NASA pursue two research campaigns of high priority, namely a Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BliSS) campaign to build fully functional biological support systems to sustain exploration of deep space for long durations, and a Manufacturing mATerRIals and proCEsses for Sustainability in space (MATRICES) campaign to reduce space waste by creating more sustainable materials and devices. The report also calls on NASA to develop initiatives to explore the science of gravitational fields and space-time and investigate the combined effects of radiation and microgravity on different life forms.
NIH Update on New Foreign Subaward Reporting Requirement
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a blogpost, "Further Clarifying NIH's Foreign Subaward Agreement Policy: Addressing Community Feedback," in response to the community input it received on plans to update its Grants Policy. The update would require foreign subawardees to provide copies of their lab notebooks, all data, and all documentation that supports the research outcomes at least every six months to the primary recipients of NIH grant funding.
NIH has modified the requirement to state that foreign subrecipients will need to provide access to this information "with a frequency of no less than once per year." The agency also clarified that "by 'access to,' it is understood that such access may be entirely electronic."
The NIH Grants Policy Statement will be updated to include these clarifications by January 2, 2024. Grant recipients will need to be in compliance with this updated policy guidance by March 2, 2024. A new subaward webpage and FAQs provide additional information.
Comments Requested on Draft National One Health Framework
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a request for public comments on the draft National One Health Framework to Address Zoonotic Diseases and Advance Public Health Preparedness in the United States: A Framework for One Health Coordination and Collaboration across Federal Agencies. Input is invited from interested parties in the public health, agriculture, wildlife, environment, and other relevant sectors including authorities at the state, tribal, local, and territorial levels, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and private sector.
In particular, responses are encouraged for the following questions:
- Are there any new or proposed objectives that should be prioritized?
- What attributes and characteristics of the proposed framework will most likely lead to success?
- Are there any specific barriers or gaps to achieving success?
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Are there any critical steps or milestones necessary to successfully implement the proposed framework?
- How do state, tribal, local, and territorial partners, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, private sector partners, and other partners want to engage with federal collaborators to advance implementation of this framework?
- What additional One Health issues should be prioritized in the future?
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What information or recommendations are needed to ensure the guiding principles of health equity, sustainability, stewardship, and a multisectoral approach are adequately addressed in the framework? How can these guiding principles be elevated during follow-up development and drafting of implementation plans?
Written comments on the draft framework can be submitted until November 6, 2023. Learn more.
Deadline Extended: Emerging and Early Career Professionals Sought for the BIOFAIR Data Network Project
The Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN), in collaboration with the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) and with support from the National Science Foundation (Award No. 2303588), is organizing a community discussion series, entitled "Building an Integrated, Open, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (BIOFAIR) Data Network." Critical to this effort is engaging the next generation of biodiversity professionals. Please share this open call to recruit emerging and early career professionals to join the leadership team in facilitating these discussions.
BCoN is recruiting three (3) emerging professionals (EP; current Master's and PhD students) and three (3) early career professionals (ECP; within 2 years of completing a Master's or PhD) to join the core Steering Committee to catalyze cross-domain discussions, identify a set of shared biodiversity data needs and goals, and define the next steps, shared milestones, and a collaborative plan that will inform cross-domain integration of digital data and scientific research. All members of the Steering Committee will facilitate and participate in a series of online discussions to engage an expansive set of stakeholders with the goal of building novel, timely collaborations to synergize the development of an integrated, open, FAIR biological and environmental data network.
During the course of the two-year project, EP and ECP Steering Committee Members will gain mentored experience planning and executing interdisciplinary meetings, facilitating productive discussions, summarizing meeting outcomes, generating professional reports, and writing collaborative synthesis manuscripts. This is an opportunity for EP and ECP Steering Committee Members to receive timely training in team science and inclusivity; to serve as active participants in a collaborative network of scientists with diverse experiences and expertise; work directly with leaders from across the biodiversity sciences; and engage with diverse stakeholders to establish common ground and align approaches towards a common goal. Experience and training in such skills are increasingly valuable in an interdisciplinary and team science environment.
A modest $1,500 honorarium will be provided for the two-year commitment. We recognize that while the EP and ECP members will bring unique perspectives and contributions to the project, they may also be navigating new professional spaces. The modest honorarium is provided in recognition that emerging professionals might not otherwise have the resources or time to be engaged in such an effort.
Application deadline has been extended to September 30, 2023. Learn more about this opportunity, including eligibility requirements, responsibilities, and how to apply.
Applicants from historically excluded communities and people of all racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Last Chance to Enter the 13th Annual Faces of Biology Photo Contest
Enter the Faces of Biology Photo Contest for a chance to win $250 and to have your photo appear on the cover of the journal BioScience.
The competition recognizes scientists who use imagery to communicate aspects of biological research to the public and policymakers. Once again, this year's competition is sponsored by the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in addition to the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).
"Photography is one of many excellent tools scientists have to showcase their work to new audiences, including policymakers and the public," said Scott Glisson, CEO of AIBS. "AIBS remains committed to strengthening scientists' ability to communicate with broad audiences. An important part of that effort has been supporting this artful approach to sharing their research."
The theme of the contest is "Faces of Biology." Photographs entered into the competition must depict a person, such as a scientist, technician, or student, engaging in biological research. The depicted research may occur outside, in a lab, with a natural history collection, on a computer, in a classroom, or elsewhere.
The winning photos from the 2022 contest were featured in the April 2023 issue of BioScience.
Submissions must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time on September 30, 2023. For more information or to enter the contest, visit our website.
Short Takes
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is soliciting public comments on its Draft Scientific Integrity Policy. The draft policy articulates the procedures and processes in place at NIH that help maintain rigorous scientific integrity practices. It also proposes several new functions to further enhance scientific integrity at NIH and throughout the biomedical research enterprise. Comments will be accepted here until November 9, 2023. Learn more.
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The 2023 Black in Natural History Museums (BlackInNHMs) Week will take place Sunday, October 15 through Saturday, October 21. BlackInNHMs Week is a series of synchronous and asynchronous activities and content shared through social media and the BlackInNHMs website. During this week celebrated annually, BlackInNHMs hopes to inspire Black professionals to reimagine their relationship with the biodiversity of our planet, while highlighting career opportunities in museums and related fields. A schedule of programs, along with registration details, are now available. Follow @BlackInNHMs on Twitter/X for the latest updates.
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The National Academies is accepting formal comments on the provisional committee selected for the consensus study report, "Review of Transmission and Geographic Spread of Chronic Wasting Disease in U.S. Cervid Populations." The formal comment period ends on October 9, 2023.
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The Association of Science and Technology Centers is collecting stories about how science centers and museums have made a difference in the lives of individuals or communities--and they want to hear your story. Share your experience, including by recording a short video.
From the Federal Register
The following items appeared in the Federal Register from September 11 to 22, 2023.
Agriculture
Commerce
Environmental Protection Agency
Health and Human Services
Interior
National Science Foundation