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FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 22: February 12, 2003

FY 2004 NSF Request: Geosciences

The Bush Administration is requesting a decrease in the FY 2004
Geosciences Activity budget of 0.5%, or $3.12 million, as compared to
the FY 2003 request.  The $687.9 million request is12.9% higher than
the activity's FY 2002 budget.  As previously explained, the FY 2003
appropriations bill for the National Science Foundation has not been
enacted.

The Geosciences Activity, as a directorate, has many programs.
Readers wishing to review a particular component of the
Administration's request should read the budget document presented to
Congress that is available at
http//:www.nsf.gov/bfa/bud/fy2004/toc.htm .  The Geosciences section
can be found on pages 247-266.

There are three subactivities within the Geosciences Activity:

Atmospheric Sciences: The FY 2004 request of $229.9 million is 5.0%,
or $11.0 million, over the FY 2003 request.  This is an increase of
13.7%, or $27.8 million, over the FY 2002 budget.

Earth Sciences:  The FY 2004 request of $144.3 million is 5.8%, or
$8.9 million, below the FY 2003 request.  This is an increase of
14.2%, or $18.0 million, over the FY 2002 budget.

Ocean Sciences:  The FY 2004 request of $313.7 million is 1.7%, or
$5.3 million, below the FY 2003 request.  This is an increase of
14.2%, or $32.6 million, over the FY 2002 budget.

In looking across the Geosciences Activity, as well as other programs
within the foundation, NSF  uses the categories of People, Idea and
Tools.  Selections from each category follow:

PEOPLE:

"$2.41 million, an increase of $800,000 over the FY 2003 Request level 
of $1.61 million, to maintain the network of coordinated centers to 
facilitate collaborations and communications between ocean science 
researchers and educators initiated in FY 2002. These Centers for 
Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE) will foster the integration 
of ocean research into high quality educational materials, allow ocean 
researchers to gain a better understanding of educational 
organizations and pedagogy, provide educators with an enhanced 
capacity to understand and deliver high-quality educational programs 
in the ocean sciences, and provide material to the public that will 
promote a deeper understanding of the ocean and its influence on each 
person's quality of life and our national prosperity;

"$3.42 million, an increase of $620,000 over the FY 2003 Request level 
of $2.80 million, to support the Integrative Graduate Education and 
Research Training (IGERT) program, which reflects an emphasis on
multidisciplinary training in all areas of NSF-supported research;

"$2.81 million, unchanged from FY 2003, to support the Foundation-
wide ADVANCE program to increase the representation and advancement of 
women in academic science and engineering careers; and

"$4.0 million, unchanged from FY 2003, to support the Opportunities to 
Enhance Diversity in the Geosciences (OEDG) program, which seeks to 
increase the participation in geosciences education and  research by 
students from groups historically underrepresented in the geosciences. 
A secondary goal of the program is to strengthen the understanding of 
the geosciences and their contribution to modern society by a broad 
and diverse segment of the population."

IDEAS

"Support for ideas, spanning the geosciences and encompassing a wide
range of topics, totals $395.10 million in FY 2004, a decrease of
$18.21 million, or 4.4 percent, from the FY 2003 Request of
$413.31million. Projects in the Atmospheric Sciences Subactivity
improve the understanding and prediction of climate, weather, space
weather, and the global environmental system. Earth Sciences
Subactivity research advances knowledge of the structure, composition, 
and history of the solid Earth and of the geological and hydrological 
processes that modify Earth. Projects in the Ocean Sciences 
Subactivity improve knowledge of the global climate system, coastal 
environments, the character of the ocean floor, as well as processes 
that control the chemical composition, motion, and biological 
production of ocean waters.

"GEO will continue to participate in the Climate Change Research
Initiative, with a FY 2004 investment of $20.0 million, that doubles
investments proposed in 2003 totaling $10.0 million. Emphasis in FY
2004 will be placed on understanding the Earth's carbon cycle and
advancing our ability to model dynamic multivariate systems.  In FY
2004, GEO will emphasize research on the key physical, chemical and
geologic cycles within the Earth system, the characteristics and
dynamics of which are of paramount importance to science and society.
These activities will be complementary to, and well coordinated with,
the biologically oriented studies of Earth cycles that will be carried 
out within the context of the Foundation-wide Biocomplexity in the 
Environment priority area."

TOOLS

The budget document describes how the requested 5.8%, or $13.57
million, increase over the FY 2003 request of $248.3 million will be
allocated among Academic Research Fleet/Ship Operations (+4.8%),
EarthScope Operation (N/A), Incorporated Research Institutions for
Seismology (+7.6%), National Center for Atmospheric Research (+7.1%),
Ocean Drilling Program Operations (-77.0%), Digital Library (+44.8%),
Research Resources (unchanged) and other Facilities (+73.1%)

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Richard M. Jones
Media and Government Relations Division
The American Institute of Physics
fyi{at}aip.org
(301) 209-3094
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