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U.S. Department of Energy’sU.S. Department of Energy’sOffice of ScienceOffice of Science
U.S. Department of Energy’sU.S. Department of Energy’sOffice of ScienceOffice of Science
BERAC MeetingBERAC MeetingAmerican Geophysical UnionAmerican Geophysical Union
Jerry ElwoodJerry ElwoodActing Associate Director of Science Acting Associate Director of Science
for Biological and Environmental Researchfor Biological and Environmental Research
November 30, 2007November 30, 2007
State of BERState of BER
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
FY 2008 Operating Status – déjà vu all over again:FY 2008 Operating Status – déjà vu all over again:
Operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) until at least Dec. 14, 2007; year-long CR possible
CR allows continuation of ongoing activities under terms and conditions of FY 2007 appropriations; spending rate is constrained
Doesn’t allow new program starts or cancellations of existing programs
Does allow new starts of projects in existing programs
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
BER FY 2007 Appropriation, FY 2008 Request, BER FY 2007 Appropriation, FY 2008 Request, and FY 2008 House and Senate Marks:and FY 2008 House and Senate Marks: BER FY 2007 Appropriation, FY 2008 Request, BER FY 2007 Appropriation, FY 2008 Request, and FY 2008 House and Senate Marks:and FY 2008 House and Senate Marks:
B/A dollars in thousands
FY 2007 Appropriation $479,184
President’s FY 2008 Request: $531,897
House mark $581,897
Senate subcommittee mark $605,320
CR constrains funding at FY 2007 appropriation
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Staff: Associate Director position
– Search closed, applications of candidates certified as eligible in hands of selecting official
Two vacant Division Director positions – Life and Medical Sciences, Environmental Remediation Sciences
Filling Division Director positions contingent on first filling AD position
Biological and Environmental ResearchBiological and Environmental ResearchBiological and Environmental ResearchBiological and Environmental Research
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Departures: Mike Viola – moved to private sector Shirley Derflinger – retired
New Hires: Elizabeth (Libby) White – Human Subjects Protection
program Susan Gregurick – Computational Biology Patrick Glynn – manager of Bioenergy Research Centers Terry Jones – Administrative Assistant for Environmental
Remediation Sciences Division
Staff changes in BERStaff changes in BERStaff changes in BERStaff changes in BER
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Support of Scientific Focus Areas (SFAs): Portfolio of BER-funded program research at a lab that takes
advantage of unique scientific capabilities, strategic focus, flexibility, and administrative resources of National Labs
Retains use of and reliance on rigorous merit review Focus on team-based research efforts
Intent is to:1. strengthen and broaden BER-funded scientific and technical
contributions made by DOE labs2. provide greater flexibility to BER and Labs to rapidly address new
scientific and technical challenges as they arise, and3. enable BER to help Labs develop and sustain core competencies
that contribute to BER SFAs
Operational Changes in BER Program Operational Changes in BER Program Funding at DOE LabsFunding at DOE LabsOperational Changes in BER Program Operational Changes in BER Program Funding at DOE LabsFunding at DOE Labs
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Updates: 3 GTL Bioenergy Centers funded GTL solicitations completed in FY2007
New Analytical and Imaging Technologies for Lignocellulosic Material Degradation
Quantitative Microbial Biochemistry and Metabolic Engineering for Biological Hydrogen Production
New Genomic Strategies and Technologies for Studying Complex Microbial Communities and Validating Genomic Annotations
Ethical, Legal, and Societal Implications (ELSI) of Research on Alternative Bioenergy Technologies, Synthetic Genomics, or Nanotechnologies
NAS Study of State of the Science in Nuclear Medicine – recommendations relevant to DOE undergoing internal discussion
Life and Medical Sciences:Life and Medical Sciences:Life and Medical Sciences:Life and Medical Sciences:
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
FY 2008 Solicitations:
Plant feedstock genomics for bioenergy – joint solicitation between DOE and USDA-CSREES
Nanotechnology Research Investigating Fate, Transport, Transformation, and Exposure of Engineered Nanomaterials - joint research solicitation between EPA, NSF & DOE
GTL Microbial Hydrogen Production (planned)
Life and Medical Sciences:Life and Medical Sciences:- (cont.)- (cont.)Life and Medical Sciences:Life and Medical Sciences:- (cont.)- (cont.)
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
GTL Strategic Plan — first draft release planned for February 2008:
Updating of the GTL Roadmap released July 2005, to include:
Science & Technology Objectives, Science Hallmarks
Program Integration of Research Centers, Scientific User Facilities, National Laboratory SFAs, university grants and awards
Coordination with other BER divisional programs (CCRD & ERSD), Inter/Intra-Agency programs
Alignment of GTL Program Goals Against DOE Missions and Long Term Measures
Opportunities for New Elements and Topics with Increasing Emphasis
Grand Challenges
Life and Medical Sciences:Life and Medical Sciences:- (cont.)- (cont.)Life and Medical Sciences:Life and Medical Sciences:- (cont.)- (cont.)
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
DOE Joint Genome Institute
Prokaryotes
White Rot Fungus
Poplar
Current output:40 Gb/year
Termite Hind Gut
Some bioenergy-related genomescompleted in 2007
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii(photosynthetic alga)
Pichia stipitis(ethanol fermentation)
Sorghum bicolor(biomass feedstock)
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Climate Change Research:Climate Change Research:
Updates:Strategic Planning: Draft plan to be revisited and modified as
needed, depending on outcomes of BERAC workshop on Scientific Grand Challenges in Climate Change Research
Key commitments: Completed two of the three CCSP Synthesis
and Assessment Reports (SAP 2.1 and 4.5) for which DOE is responsible; SAP 3.1 nearly complete
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Climate Change Research: - contClimate Change Research: - cont
FY 2007 Solicitations Completed: ARM Science Atmospheric Science
Pending Solicitations: Abrupt climate change modeling Integrated assessment research
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Climate Change Science Program StatusClimate Change Science Program Status
Center for Biological Diversity, et al case against CCSP for failure to comply with Global Change Research Act (GCRA) provisions
Executive Branch decided not comply with court’s decision rather than appeal
Court retains jurisdiction over CCSP until provisions are satisfied
Case involves CCSP failure to submit a revised Strategic Plan to Congress every three years, and to satisfy global change assessment provisions of Section 106 of the GCRA
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Court case against CCSP:Court case against CCSP:Court case against CCSP:Court case against CCSP:
Court ordered CCSP to…
Publish a revised summary of proposed CCSP Strategic Research Plan in Federal register for public comment by March 1, 2008 and submit revised summary to Congress no later than 90 days thereafter.
Produce a scientific assessment that satisifies Section 106 of the GCRA by May 31, 2008
CCSP agencies have responsibility to satisfying the court order
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Environmental Remediation Sciences Division (ERSD):Environmental Remediation Sciences Division (ERSD):
Solicitations 117 proposals submitted to Notice 07-18. Awards subject to
budget availability.Scientific Focus Area (SFA) Development at the Labs: Lab SFA plans progressing. Four Labs already operating under
the new funding format. SFA Plans due to ERSD on January 30, 2008. Program plans to
be peer-reviewed and revised in FY2008. Implemented in FY2009.
ERSD-EM-20 Collaboration ERSD working collaboratively with EM-22 to coordinate the
research program with long-term basic science needs of the EM cleanup program.
BERAC COV ERSD COV Chaired by Mike Hochella, January, 2008
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Environmental Remediation Sciences Division (ERSD): - cont.
Environmental Remediation Sciences Division (ERSD): - cont.
EMSL 10th anniversary this year. EMSL Research featured on 7 journal covers in FY 2007 EMSL scientist, Alice Dohnalkova receives 2007
Diatome Award for work done on EMSL’s Membrane Biology Grand Challenge.
EMSL user Julia Laskin receives a PECASE award.EMSL Supercomputer New $24M supercomputer to be fully operational in
September 2008. HP is the vendor. >4,500 quad core processors, >160 teraflops peak
performance. Optimized for molecular-level computation in support of DOE’s missions.
EMSL Capital Equipment Acquisition $4.5M Field emission TEM in FY2008 President’s
request to be a major capability for studying chemical transformations under real temperature and pressure conditions.
Major acquisition effort planned for FY2009-2013.
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