Funding Smithsonian Scientific Research (2003) / Chapter Skim
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2 Description of the Smithsonian Scientific Research Centers
2 Description of the Smithsonian Scientific Research Centers
Pages 21-50
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From page 21... ...
· The interplay between the six research centers. · The research, education, and public outreach activities of the centers.
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From page 22... ...
In addition, in keeping with its charge to address whether any portions of the Smithsonian research portfolio should be exempt from priority setting through a competitive peer-reviewed grants program, the Committee considered the current role of competition in the funding of Smithsonian research. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NMNH is the largest of the Smithsonian Institution's museums and is the most visited natural history museum in the world.
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From page 23... ...
These popular exhibits typify the extensive public outreach activities carried out by the curators and other staff scientists in the department. The Department of Paleobiology houses NMNH's collections of millions of fossil plants and animals, including the popular dinosaur collections, and geologic specimens (rock and sediment cores and samples)
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From page 24... ...
Those partnerships contribute $6.5 million dollars per year, an important source of cost-sharing for NMNH (Miller, 2001~. Research Supporti and Research Output Of the $46.7 million of direct federal appropriations and transfers to NMNH for FY 2001, $15 million (32%)
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From page 25... ...
Only $400,000 of government grant and contract funds and $3.5 million of trust or gift and endowment funds were applied to salary costs. Because SI receives a direct federal appropriation, its federal employees are not eligible for NSF support as a general policy, except in special circumstances when their contributions are deemed unique.
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Unique Characteristics and Special Contribution Of the 142 million specimens and objects in SI's collections, 90% belong to NMNH, and these collections are a central focus of the research performed at the museum. They include the National Gem and Mineral Collection; the US National Meteorite Collection; the US National Herbarium Collection; 40-50 million fossils, plants, animals, and geologic specimens; and 1500 cataloged specimens of dinosaurs.
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From page 27... ...
NMNH in the very size and scope of its staff and collections uniquely provides the foundation for a sense of our place in the history and evolution of life and for our stewardship of Earth's biota. NMNH researchers draw directly from the grandest of all biological experiments the evolution of the biota on a 3.6-billion-year scale to extract insights bearing on our understanding of life patterns, processes, and history and on our application of this knowledge in ways that directly serve human and societal needs.
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From page 28... ...
· Ticks and Lyme disease: Using museum collections of ticks from the 1940s,NMNH researchers analyzed for the genetic indicators of the bacterium responsible for Lyme disease. They showed that Lyme disease has been present for at least 3 decades, and for much longer at some sites.
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From page 29... ...
Status of the National Museum of Natural History in the Museum Community NMNH's mission in research, collection care, database management, exhibition, and public education is shared by such major natural history museums as the Field Museum (Chicago) , the American Museum of Natural History (New York City)
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The contract was extended in fuly 2002 to August 2003. Research Support and Research Output As is true of the other SI units, the SAO budget includes funds from direct federal appropriations and other sources.
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. Most SAO staff are paid from trust funds rather than from direct federal appropriations (federal funds and trust funds paid for 64 and 148 full-time-equivalent staff, respectively)
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These have been enabled or facilitated by the presence of a stable core of senior science staff supported by the direct federal appropriation and by the access of SAO staff to the combination of internally peer-reviewed SI resources and externally peer-reviewed grants and contracts. Many of the SAO facilities developed over the decades have been ground-breaking, innovative, and high-risk endeavors that have substantially advanced astronomy and astrophysics.
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From page 33... ...
· The development of the infrared-optical telescope array, a three-telescope stellar interferometer that has led to many innovations, including the use of single-mode optical fibers. The suite of SAO accomplishments has been made possible by steady support from direct federal appropriations, and many would not have been possible if the programs had to depend on the 3-year funding cycles of such agencies as NASA and NSF, even if NSF funding were made available to all SAO staff.
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From page 34... ...
CRC research covers a number of disciplines, including reproductive biology, veterinary medicine, conservation biology, species recovery, genetics and genome resource banking, and GIS spatial analysis for conservation. The CRC science programs, number of staff scientists, and disciplines represented are comparable with those of other zoos of similar size and similar status in the zoo and conservation community, such as the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago (25 scientists)
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From page 35... ...
The situation is comparable to that in other major zoological institutions and universities in which direct support of some kind is used to create the basic research framework, which is then leveraged to generate extramural support for the actual research endeavors. In 1995-2000, CRC staff scientists generated 643 publications in a broad array of journals, including Science, Nature, Conservation Biology, the journal of Reproduction and Fertility, Veterinary Pathology, and the journal of Zoology.
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From page 36... ...
The scientific disciplines represented at NZP and CRC (such as reproductive physiology, conservation biology, and animal health) and the scope of research conducted reflect the close relationship between the animal collection, research activities, and mission of the institution.
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For example, NZP is engaged in conservation of animals in their native habitats an important element of the Zoo's special contribution to international efforts in conservation biology, including the hosting of onsite training for conservation specialists from developing nations. These are important elements of NZP's uniqueness and special contributions: · The proximity of the animal collections to NZP's and CRC's animal health, pathology, and reproductive physiology researchers, which facilitates rapid response to urgent collection needs.
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From page 38... ...
Long-term studies and tropical research projects are being conducted throughout the isthmus at terrestrial and marine field stations equipped with modern laboratories and dormitory facilities. Research programs are in tropical biology, archeology, behavioral ecology, sociocultural anthropology, environmental monitoring, tropical forest ecology, paleoecology, molecular evolution, plant physiology, and tropical marine ecology.
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Of the federal appropriation for research, 74% was spent on salaries and benefits. An equivalent of 27 of the 35 senior scientists' salaries4 is paid by federal appropriations.
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Unique Characteristics and Special Contributions STRIis internationally recognized for its outstanding and diverse research on the New World tropics, including the fields of tropical biodiversity and systematics, plant-animal interactions, archeology, behavioral ecology, cultural anthropology, environmental monitoring, tropical forest ecology, paleoecology, molecular evolution, plant physiology, and tropical marine ecology. STRIis one of the few tropical research stations that takes an integrated approach to studying plant and animal ecological interactions.
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From page 41... ...
· The study of flower and seed production in 625 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas at weekly intervals for 16 years in order to understand the life histories of these species in intact tropical forests. · The quantification of larval settlement on coral reefs at monthly intervals for 20 years and monitoring of populations of sea urchins for 15 years to understand the processes that control marine biodiversity.
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From page 42... ...
Other Activities STRI engages in a variety of educational and training activities. A1though STRI is not a degree-granting institution, it hosts undergraduate and graduate students from US and Latin American universities who engage in field work in collaboration with STRI staff scientists.
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All staff scientists at SCMRE are paid by federal appropriations. Until the 1980s, SCMRE staff were discouraged from applying for extramural funding.
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In 1996-2002, SCMRE performed 4470 analyses for various Smithsonian museums, including NMNH, the National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum, the Freer Gallery of Art, the Arthur M Sackler Gallery, the Hirshhorn Mu
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In partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, SCMRE produces high-precision analytical chemistry data for compositional characterization in studies of archeological, historical, and art history research projects using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA)
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SMITHSONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER SERC occupies 2700 acres adjoining the Chesapeake Bay in Edgewater, Maryland, about 25 miles from the Smithsonian complex on the Mall in Washington, DC. Employing 14 principal PhD scientists, SERC is one of three Smithsonian research centers (along with SAO and STRI)
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From page 47... ...
Research Support and Research Output Research at SERC is supported by a combination of direct federal appropriations and funding from a variety of other sources, including federal, state, and local grants and contracts received by the principal investigators. In FY 2001, $1.2 million (36%)
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From page 48... ...
Unique Characteristics and Special Contributions One of seven major estuarine research facilities surrounding Chesapeake Bay, SERC is distinguished by its focus on the entire watershed of the bay, with a balanced program of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial studies. SERC scientists conduct research on wetland and forest plants, estuarine microorganisms, ecosystem responses to rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations and ultraviolet radiation, mangrove forests, primary production by phytoplankton, fish and invertebrate population dynamics, nutrient transport and eutrophication, migratory and wetland birds, carbon storage, and invasive species.
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From page 49... ...
. · Recognition as the national center for research on biological invasions in marine ecosystems, including establishment of the National Ballast Water Information Clearinghouse, a key information source for the US Congress.
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Like that of STRI, SERC's contribution to science education therefore rivals or surpasses fellowship support provided by many educational institutions of comparable size. SERC also has an extensive K-12 education program, which brings 10,000 elementary school students and their teachers to the campus each year for an environmental education program.
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