October Issue of BioScience Now Available
The October 2020 issue of BioScience is now available on the Oxford University Press website. Related StoriesLatest BioScience Talks Podcast (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 19, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Latest BioScience Talks Podcast
The latest BioScience Talks podcast has been released - In Their Own Words: Marvalee Wake. Related StoriesLatest BioScience Talks PodcastOctober Issue of BioScience Now Available (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 19, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Short Takes
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has appointed environmental researcher Dr. Geoffrey Plumlee to the agency's newly established position of Chief Scientist. Plumlee previously served as Senior Science Advisor to the USGS Director and Associate Director for Environmental Health. He has a bachelor's degree in geology from the University of New Mexico and earned his Ph.D. in geochemistry from Harvard University. "USGS has such a wide range of expertise and addresses such a broad range of complex science topics, no one individual can provide expert guidance on it all," noted a USGS spokesperson, according to E&E News. "The Chi...
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 13, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
NASEM Webinar: Research Strategy to Examine the Taxonomy of the Red Wolf
This report builds on a 2019 NASEM report that found that red wolves constituted a taxonomically species distinct from the extant gray wolves and coyotes.
A report release webinar will be held on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at 1:00 PM EDT. Dr. Joseph Travis, Past President of AIBS, Distinguished Professor of Biology at Florida State University, and Chair of the report’s panel, will present the report’s findings and conclusions.
Register at: https://nasem.zoom.us/webinar/register/WNvYjEGxFPTcCTY8sJ9pBX2w?mccid=6177c5dcd9&mc_eid=a271cda812
(Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 13, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
NSF BIO Changes Solicitations Process
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO) has announced changes to their program solicitation process, specifically the migration of BIO’s “no-deadline” solicitations from FastLane to Research.gov.
BIO will require submission of full proposals via Research.gov or Grants.gov for program solicitations that have no deadlines in the Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS), the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB), and in the Research Resources Cluster of the Division of Biological Infrastructure (D...
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 13, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Trump Administration Proposes New Student Visa Restrictions
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rulemaking on September 25, 2020 that would impose new restrictions on international student visas. The proposed changes would require international students to apply for a visa extension after fixed terms of two to four years.
Essentially, an expiration date would be placed on most student visas that previously lasted the duration of a student’s degree program. Most international student visas would expire after four years, while some students, depending on their country of origin, would have to apply for an extension after two years - specifically studen...
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 13, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Congress Passes Stopgap Measure, Relief Talks Resume
Congress has now passed and the President has signed a continuing resolution to keep the government open in the new fiscal year (FY), which started on October 1, 2020. The stopgap measure will allow federal science agencies to continue operating at FY 2020 budget levels. Decisions about FY 2021 appropriations bills have been deferred until December 11.
Pandemic relief negotiations between congressional Democrats and the White House restarted earlier this month, after the House of Representatives passed a pared-down version of the Heroes Act. The revised stimulus package trims $1.2 trillion from the initially proposed $3....
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 13, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Science Associations Urge Rigorous Assessment of Vaccine Safety, Efficacy
AIBS has joined fourteen other scientific societies in urging Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn to adhere to stringent scientific and medical standards while assessing the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
The letter responds to President Trump’s claim that a COVID-19 vaccine would probably be available before Election Day. This raised concerns about political interference in the vaccine approval process.
The scientific coalition urged FDA “to exercise the independence and scientific rigor for which the FDA is know...
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 13, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Science Groups Oppose Executive Order Banning Federal Diversity Training
AIBS has endorsed a community letter urging the Trump Administration to rescind its elimination of federal employee training programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion as specified in the September 4, 2020 Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies and the September 22 Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping.
According to the Executive Order, “Instructors and materials teaching that men and members of certain races, as well as our most venerable institutions, are inherently sexist and racist are appearing in workplace diversity trainings across the country, even in compone...
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 13, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Scientific Societies Highlight Pandemic Work, Urge NSF to Continue Support
Forty-three scientific societies, including the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), have written to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to highlight the important role scientific associations have played during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our societies engage in an array of activities, consistent with the goals laid out in the National Science Board’s Vision 2030,” the groups note. “As a key component of the science and engineering ecosystem, we are in a position to provide our expertise and efforts to reach broad segments of the scientific community in ways that other institutions can...
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 13, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Trump Administration Proposes New Student Visa Restrictions
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a proposed rulemaking on September 25, 2020 that would impose new restrictions on international student visas. The proposed changes would require international students to apply for a visa extension after fixed terms of two to four years. Related StoriesWHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation PlansMultisociety Letter Urging Rigorous Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and EfficacyLatest Public Policy Report (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 12, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Scientific Societies Highlight Pandemic Work, Urge NSF to Continue Support
Forty-three scientific societies, including the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), have written to the National Science Foundation (NSF) to highlight the important role scientific associations have played during the COVID-19 pandemic. Related StoriesMultisociety Letter Urging Rigorous Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and EfficacyWHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation PlansLatest Public Policy Report (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 12, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Science Associations Urge Rigorous Assessment of Vaccine Safety, Efficacy
AIBS has joined fourteen other scientific societies in urging Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn to adhere to stringent scientific and medical standards while assessing the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Related StoriesWHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation PlansMultisociety Letter Urging Rigorous Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and EfficacyLatest Public Policy Report (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 12, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
NSF BIO Changes Solicitations Process
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO) has announced changes to their program solicitation process, specifically the migration of BIO’s “no-deadline” solicitations from FastLane to Research.gov. Related StoriesWHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation PlansMultisociety Letter Urging Rigorous Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and EfficacyLatest Public Policy Report (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 12, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
Congress Passes Stopgap Measure, Relief Talks Resume
Congress has now passed and the President has signed a continuing resolution to keep the government open in the new fiscal year (FY), which started on October 1, 2020. The stopgap measure will allow federal science agencies to continue operating at FY 2020 budget levels. Decisions about FY 2021 appropriations bills have been deferred until December 11. Related StoriesWHO, NASEM Unveil COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation PlansMultisociety Letter Urging Rigorous Assessment of COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and EfficacyLatest Public Policy Report (Source: Public Policy Reports)
Source: Public Policy Reports - October 12, 2020 Category: Biology Authors: AIBS Source Type: news
