NSF Research Day Vermont EPSCoR Annual State Meeting and Grant Writing Workshop

1. NSF Research Day Vermont EPSCoR Annual State Meeting and Grant Writing Workshop University of Vermont June 6, 2008 Dr. Joann Roskoski Executive Officer Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO)

2. Biological Sciences Directorate Vision Inspiring research and education at the frontiers of the life sciences Mission To enable the discoveries for understanding life

3. BIO Support for Basic Research Federal Support for Basic Research in Non-Medical Biological Sciences at Academic Institutions Federal Support for Basic Research in Environmental Biology at Academic Institutions NSF 67% NSF 62% Other federal spending 33% Other federal spending 38%

4. Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) Division of Environmental Biology (DEB) Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) Human Resources Ecological Biology Behavioral Systems Biomolecular Systems Research Resources Ecosystem Science Developmental Systems Cellular Systems Population and EvolutionaryProcesses Neural Systems Genes and Genome Systems Plant Genome Research Program Systematic Biology and Biodiversity Inventories Physiological and Structural Systems Emerging Frontiers (EF) Effective April, 2008

5. BIO 2008-2009 Priorities • Life in Transition – Strengthening Core Programs • Origins • Energy • Adaptation • Adaptive Systems Technology • Dynamics of Water Processes in the Environment • NEON • The Life Sciences in Transition • Multidisciplinary Programs • New Centers • Plant Science Cyberinfrastructure Collaborative • Center for Research at the Interface of the Mathematical and Biological Sciences • Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology

6. Life in Transition Biology is the narrative of life on Earth and the story of the unexpected…

7. Origins: How, where and when did life on Earth begin? Open system chemistry Self-replication DNA World RNA World • How did the biological complexity of life emerge from pre-biotic chemistry and geochemistry? • Self-contained – The Cell • Self-sustaining - Energy • Self-replicating – RNA, DNA • Evolving - Biodiversity H2 + CO2 => [ HCO ]n Self-sustaining biochemistry Basic elements

8. Eukaryotes Animals Fungi Plants LUCA? Archaea Bacteria Algae Ancestry of Life Horizontal Gene Transfer What we thought we knew: Genetic information flowed from parent to offspring, generation to generation Darwin’s tree of life rooted to a universal common ancestor… Sequencing of whole genomes revealed that genetic information has been transferred horizontally between organisms, some distantly related

9. Synthetic BiologyWhat are the indispensable requirements for life? Membrane Encapsulation New Chemical Theories Are There Alternative Routes to Life? ? Eric Smith, SFI • What are: • The physical rules for cell membrane assembly? • The minimum gene set required to sustain life? • The fundamental requirements for genome stability? • Chemical constraints? ? Genome Stability

10. Synthetic Biology Theory Computation Modeling Molecular Biology Evolution design Synthetic Chemistry testing fabrication Material Science Engineering Physics Genomics

11. How is energy obtained and used by living systems to sustain life? Au PS I Ag Applied Photosynthesis e- e- photon e- Assemble the basics e- Barry Bruce (UTN), NSF/EF -/+ Chloroplasts Understanding natural energy transduction systems will inspire the development of biology-based technologies capable of delivering sustainable, renewable, efficient energy.

12. Microbial Research to Enhance Our Understanding of Novel Energy Systems Diverse Chemical Sources of Energy for Living Systems: Arsenate (AsO43-) Iron (Fe3+) Manganese (Mn4+) Nitrate (NO3-) Selenate (SeO43-) Sulfate (SO42-) Uranyl oxide (UO22+) Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Portand State Univ. Everett Schock, Washington Univ. St. Louis

13. Adaptation Transformations and Transitions in the Story of Life What will survive, and how? Diversity Understanding life’s resilience and adaptation will reduce uncertainty about the future of life on Earth in response to global climate change: Adaptive Systems Technology Dynamics of Water Processes in the Environment NEON Changes

14. Evolving Complexity Sensing the Environment Movement Hydra vulgaris Complex Nervous System Platynereis dumerilii Eurycea lucifuga

15. Adaptive Systems Technology Closing the Loop of Theory, Observation, Experimentation, and Technology Four domains of neuroscience D. E. Koditschek, ESE Department, University of Pennsylvania

16. Adaptation: Life in a Time of Planetary Change CH4 CO2 … We are only now beginning to explore the biological drivers of climate change.

17. Dynamics of Water Processes in the Environment GOAL: Support research on the resilience that is conferred by the presence of living organisms in freshwater ecological systems.

18. NEON Biosphere, Geosphere, Atmosphere

19. Potter et al. 2003 • Dramatic inter-annual variation is not totally explained by physical factors (temperature, rainfall) • Do biological processes determine/impact this variation? • Which ones, how and how much? • Can knowing life’s impacts on the system improve predictions? Inform carbon trading scenarios?

20. Why Continental Scale Ecology? • Answering continental-scale questions: e.g. Will changing climate increase or decrease the biological carbon uptake or emission of the US and by how much? • Requires measuring the drivers (climate, biological processes, land use change) and the phenomena (CO2 uptake or emission) over multiple spatial and long time scales • As well as conducting controlled experiments to understand the mechanisms involved in observed changes • And • Existing infrastructure is neither optimally configured geographically nor operationally standardized to do this

21. Experimental Design and Deployment National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) http://neoninc.org/milestones/2007/neon-deployment-design.html

22. Life Sciences In Transition The Role of Theory in Advancing 21st-Century Biology Catalyzing Transformative Research Transdisciplinary Interdisciplinary Multi-disciplinary Disciplinary National Research Council of the National Academies 2008

23. Multidisciplianry Programs • Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (BIO, GEO, SBE and USFS) • Ecology of Infectious Disease (BIO, GEO and NIH) • Human and Social Dynamics (all NSF)

24. “Plant Biology Jets Into Cyberspace” - Science Magazine iPlant Collaborative A Look into the Future “Just as Google Earth lets you zoom in on individual buildings from space, researchers may one day be able to toggle between whole-ecosystem views of plants and the molecules that make them up with just a few clicks of the mouse.” -Elizabeth Pennisi Science Magazine (2008)

25. Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN) • Partnership between multiple NSF Directorates and EPA. • Goal: Support research on the interactions of nanomaterials with organisms, cellular constituents, metabolic networks and living tissues; understand environmental exposure and bioaccumulation and their effects on living systems; and determine the biological impacts of nanomaterials dispersed in the environment.

26. Center for Research at the Interface of the Mathematical and Biological Sciences (CIMBS) • Partnership between BIO and MPS (NSF), DHS and USDA to stimulate research at the interface of the mathematical and biological sciences • Goal: To provide mechanisms to foster synthetic, collaborative, cross-disciplinary studies; enable plant and animal infectious disease modeling; and generate knowledge for policy makers, government agencies, and society.