Congress Passes Fourth Coronavirus Stimulus
A fourth coronavirus stimulus package, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, was passed by Congress on April 23, 2020, and signed by the President on April 24. The $484 billion relief package replenishes a small-business loan program and provides aid to hospitals and health-care providers and funds for coronavirus testing.
The measure provides $310 billion in new funding to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, which was created under the CARES Act and ran out of funding last week. The measure also includes $60 billion for small business emergency loans and grants; $75 billion to reimburse ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 27, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Scientific Societies Express Support for Congressional Resolutions Denouncing Anti-Asian Discrimination
A group of fifty professional scientific organizations, including the American Institute of Biological Sciences, expressed support for Congressional resolutions denouncing anti-Asian discrimination related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The groups noted: “Our societies have been concerned by news reports that individuals of Asian ancestry are increasingly subject to stigma, physical attack, or suspicion due to the potential origins of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. These actions are wrong and unacceptable for their racial overtones, their impact on societies and individuals, and run counter to the core values of the s...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 27, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Short Takes
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting nominations for scientific experts for appointment to the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) and four SAB standing committees, namely the Agricultural Science Committee (ASC), the Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee, the Drinking Water Committee, and the Radiation Advisory Committee. Appointments are announced by the EPA Administrator. Nominations must be submitted by May 1, 2020. For instructions on submitting nominations, visit: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-04-01/html/2020-06660.htm
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Now Online: Enabling Interdisciplinary and Team Science
Reports abound from professional societies, the Academies, government agencies, and researchers calling attention to the fact that science is increasingly an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international endeavor. In short, science has become a “team sport.”
There is a real and present need to better prepare scientists for success in this new collaborative environment. The American Institute of Biological Sciences is responding to this call with a new program for scientists, educators, and individuals who work with or participate in scientific teams.
Team science is increasingly...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Now Online: 2020 Communications Boot Camp for Scientists
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is offering a professional development program designed to enhance the communication skills of scientists, particularly those interested in communicating with decision-makers and the news media. The program is an excellent way to develop new communication skills and identify effective methods for broadening the impact of research and education programs.
The AIBS Communications Training Boot Camp for Scientists expands on AIBS’s highly successful media and science policy training workshops. The Boot Camp meets the needs of everyone from graduate students to senior ...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Increase Your Career Opportunities: 2020 Writing for Impact and Influence Online Course
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is once again offering its popular professional development program to help scientists and students hone their written communication skills to increase the power of their message.
Writing for Impact and Influence combines practical instruction and hands-on exercises to improve participants’ general writing proficiency and their ability to reach large audiences. The program will provide participants with the skills and tools needed to compose scientific press releases, blog posts, emails, and memoranda.
Learn to write for stakeholders, decision-makers, and the gen...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
USDA Soliciting Stakeholder Input on Agricultural Innovations
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is requesting written input on objectives and opportunities leading to research and product goals to facilitate “transformative breakthroughs to enable U.S. agriculture to meet the Department’s goal to increase agricultural production by 40 percent to meet the needs of the global population in 2050 while cutting the environmental footprint of U.S. agriculture in half.”
This effort is part of USDA’s Agricultural Innovation Agenda, the Department’s commitment to the “continued success of American farmers, ranchers, producers, and forester...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
BCoN Survey: COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Biodiversity Collections
Projections indicate that the COVID-19 outbreak and stay-at-home orders will have a deep and lasting impact on many aspects of our lives and work.
In order to document the effect of the crisis on biodiversity collections and those who use and care for them, the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCoN), the Natural Science Collections Alliance, and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) have created this survey: https://aibs.wufoo.com/forms/biodiversity-collections-network-survey/
Anyone associated with a U.S. biodiversity collection i...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
EPA Extends Comment Period for Supplemental to " Secret Science " Proposed Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler has announced that the agency would extend by a month the public comment period for a supplemental addition to its proposed rule, Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science, that would bar the use of scientific studies in crafting regulations unless the underlying data “are publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent validation.”
On March 3, 2020, EPA released a supplemental addition to its “secret science” proposal that would broaden restrictions on the type of scientific studies EPA can use when crafting r...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
USFWS Recommends Suspending Bat Research
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has issued an advisory to bat researchers, recommending that scientists suspend some fieldwork involving capturing or handling bats in North America as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The advisory was a result of concerns that researchers could transfer the novel coronavirus to bat populations in North America, thus creating a new reservoir for the disease. The COVID-19 causing virus, SARS-CoV-2, is thought to have originated in horseshoe bats in China. It may have then been passed to humans through an intermediate species. There h...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
OSTP Head to Serve as NSF Acting Director
Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, has been named Acting Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). He will hold the post until President Trump’s nominee for the position, Dr. Sethuraman “Panch” Panchanathan, is confirmed by the Senate.
Dr. Droegemeier has previously served two six-year terms on the National Science Board, NSF’s governing body. He also served as Vice President for Research at the University of Oklahoma. He has been serving as science adviser to the President since January 2019.
“I am honored to serve in this acting capac...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
AIBS Recommendations for Next Coronavirus Economic Stimulus
AIBS has shared ideas and recommendations related to scientific research and education for future coronavirus related stimulus packages with the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The panel requested ideas for research, development, and innovation funding and policies, including research infrastructure for any future economic measures developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Future actions and needs proposed by AIBS include:
Additional R&D funding for a “large-scale and coordinated effort to conduct a global biodiversity survey to collect specimens and associated data from around the w...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Scientific Organizations Call for $1 Billion to Support Biodiversity Research and Education
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), Natural Science Collections Alliance (NSC Alliance), and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) joined forces to remind federal science officials of the important role biodiversity-related and biodiversity-enabled research play in helping to understand current global health and environmental problems, as well as for identifying methods to monitor, model, forecast, and mitigate future problems.
The Extended Specimen Network, a community-informed research and education initiative developed by the Biodiversity Collections Network, was highlig...
Source: Public Policy Reports - April 14, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Short Takes
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has extended the comment period for its request for information on open access publishing. The deadline to submit comments is now April 6, 2020. With this solicitation, the OSTP is requesting recommendations on approaches for ensuring broad public access to the peer-reviewed scholarly publications, data, and code that result from federally funded scientific research. Details about the submission process can be found at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-03-05/html/2020-04538.htm.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM)...
Source: Public Policy Reports - March 30, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Now Online: Enabling Interdisciplinary and Team Science
Reports abound from professional societies, the Academies, government agencies, and researchers calling attention to the fact that science is increasingly an interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international endeavor. In short, science has become a “team sport.”
There is a real and present need to better prepare scientists for success in this new collaborative environment. The American Institute of Biological Sciences is responding to this call with a new program for scientists, educators, and individuals who work with or participate in scientific teams.
Team science is increasingly...
Source: Public Policy Reports - March 30, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
