National Academy of Sciences Reports Progress in NIJ's Role in Forensic Science

The National Academy of Sciences has published Support for Forensic Science Research: Improving the Scientific Role of the National Institute of Justice, an independent and rigorous review of NIJ's contribution to forensic science research and development. NIJ commissioned the report to help monitor the Institute's progress in addressing the challenges outlined in the 2009 report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, and the 2010 report, Strengthening the National Institute of Justice. In her most recent Director's Corner message, available at http://nij.gov/about/director/Pages/rodriguez-support-for-forensic-research.aspx, NIJ Director Nancy Rodriguez thanks NAS for its efforts and notes she is pleased that NIJ has made progress toward meeting the challenges outlined in the two earlier reports. You can download the report at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/21772/support-for-forensic-science-research-improving-the-scientific-role-of.

U.S. Antarctic Program's Blue Ribbon Panel Releases Report Findings on Logistical Improvements to Support the Advancement of Science

Blue Ribbon Panel discusses report recommendations after reviewing Antarctic science support operations

The U.S. Antarctic Program's Blue Ribbon Panel, established by the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation, hosts a press conference to discuss the results of their report titled, "More and Better Science in Antarctica through Increased Logistical Effectiveness." The report reviews U.S. science support operations in Antarctica and discusses recommendations for increased logistical effectiveness to support this important science research.

What: News briefing to announce the release of the U.S. Antarctic Program's Blue Ribbon Panel report that reviews science-support operations on the continent of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

Who (In Speaking Order):

Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences

John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Subra Suresh, Director of U.S. National Science Foundation

Norm Augustine, Chair, U.S. Antarctic Program Blue Ribbon Panel

Where: National Academy of Sciences

Lecture Room

2101 Constitution Ave., NW

Washington, DC

OR--Via webcast: To listen to the live webcast news briefing in a "listen-only" mode, go to: http://live.science360.gov/antarctica/

When: Monday, July 23, 2012

2 p.m. EDT (Please arrive by 1:30 p.m. onsite for press check-in.)

RSVP: Please submit your name and press credentials to Debbie Wing and to receive an EMBARGOED copy of the Executive Summary of the U.S. Antarctic Program's Blue Ribbon Panel Report. The Executive Summary and Full Report are embargoed until 2:00 p.m. EDT, July 23, 2012.

-NSF-

Thieving Rodents: Did They Save Tropical Trees?

Rodents may have taken over seed-dispersal role of now-extinct mammals

Big seeds produced by tropical trees such as black palms were probably once ingested and then left whole by huge mammals called gomphotheres.

Gomphotheres weighed more than a ton and dispersed the seeds over large distances.

But these Neotropical creatures disappeared more than 10,000 years ago. So why aren't large-seeded plants also extinct?

A paper published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggests that rodents may have taken over the seed-dispersal role of gomphotheres.

"The question has been: how did a tree like the black palm manage to survive for 10,000 years, if its seed-dispersers are extinct?" asks Roland Kays, co-author of the paper and a zoologist at North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

"This research solves a long standing puzzle in ecology," says Alan Tessier, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research.

"How did plant species that seem to be dependent on Pleistocene megafauna for seed-dispersal survive the extinction of that megafauna?"

Now, says Kays, scientists may have an answer.

By attaching tiny radio transmitters to more than 400 seeds, Patrick Jansen, a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and Wageningen University and colleagues found that 85 percent of the seeds were buried in caches by agoutis, common rodents in tropical lowlands.

Agoutis carry seeds around in their mouths and bury them for times when food is scarce.

Radio-tracking revealed a surprising finding: when the rodents dig up the seeds, they usually don't eat them, but instead move them to a new site and bury them, often many times.

One seed in the study was moved 36 times.

Researchers used remote cameras to catch the animals digging up cached seeds. They discovered that frequent seed movement primarily was caused by animals stealing seeds from one another.

Ultimately, 35 percent of the seeds ended up more than 100 meters from their origin. "Agoutis moved seeds at a scale that none of us had ever imagined," says Jansen.

"We had observed seeds being moved and buried up to five times, but in this system it seems that re-caching behavior is 'on steroids,'" says Ben Hirsch of STRI and Ohio State University.

"By radio-tagging the seeds, we were able to track them as they were moved by agoutis, find out if they were taken up into trees by squirrels, then discover the seeds inside spiny rat burrows.

"That allowed us to gain a much better understanding of how each rodent species affects seed dispersal and survival."

By taking over the role of Pleistocene mammals in dispersing large seeds, thieving, scatter-hoarding agoutis may have saved several species of trees from extinction.

Other co-authors of the paper are Willem-Jan Emsens of Wageningen University and the University of Antwerp; Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez of Wageningen University and the University of Cambridge; and Martin Wikelski of STRI and the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, as well as the University of Konstanz.

 -NSF-

USAID-NSF PEER Program Announces First Round of Awardees

PEER-funded developing country researchers will use science and engineering to address global development challenges

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced the first round of awards under a joint National Science Foundation (NSF)-USAID program launched last summer. Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) capitalizes on competitively-awarded investments to build scientific and technical capacity in the developing world.

"I am very pleased that nearly 500 scientists in developing countries submitted PEER proposals linked to awards from every NSF research directorate, demonstrating robust international interest and unmet potential at the interface of science and development," said DeAndra Beck, NSF program director for PEER.

"Through PEER, collaboration will occur between scientists in developing countries and a variety of NSF awardees, including small businesses, CAREER awardees, large NSF centers and international consortia, as well as with single investigators. Each of these collaborations will bridge a shared goal of advancing development with science."

The USAID-funded PEER program, administered by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in coordination with USAID and NSF, convened review panels of topical experts and evaluated nearly 500 applications from 63 developing countries. Based on scientific merit, projected development impact within country and the strength of collaboration between developing country scientists and their American counterparts, 41 projects from 25 countries were selected for funding.

In the following examples, newly PEER-funded proposals address important capacity needs by:

•Developing translation software to convert spoken Arabic to Moroccan Sign Language in partnership with an NSF-funded small business;

•Assessing ecological strategies to assist with bird conservation in Kenya with NSF-funded students engaged in international research collaboration;

•Monitoring air quality over the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator with an NSF-funded postdoctoral scientist;

•Studying marine biodiversity in Indonesia and the Philippines in collaboration with an NSF-funded international research and education consortium;

•Assessing landslide risk in Lebanon with an NSF-funded engineer;

•Analyzing climate change impacts in Colombia and Ecuador with NSF-funded climate researchers; and

•Incorporating Bali's Subak heritage into primary and secondary education curriculum with an NSF-funded anthropologist.

-NSF-