New NSF grants for oil spill

The National Science Foundation is ramping up to fund research projects that will probe inky depths of the Gulf of Mexico to determine the biological impact of the blown out Deepwater Horizon oil well, which continues to spew petroleum into the ocean. Marine geoscientist linkurl:Bilal Haq,;http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=bhaq&org=NSF&from_org= director of NSF's Marine Geology and Geophysics program, is spearheading the agency's effort to fund researchers speeding to the Gulf to study

Written byBob Grant

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Marine geoscientist linkurl:Bilal Haq,;http://www.nsf.gov/staff/staff_bio.jsp?lan=bhaq&org=NSF&from_org= director of NSF's Marine Geology and Geophysics program, is spearheading the agency's effort to fund researchers speeding to the Gulf to study the spill's environmental effects. Haq told __The Scientist__ that the NSF is in the process of planning a program to fund long-term research into the impact of the spill, but that in the meantime the agency is reviewing grant applications submitted under a special disaster-response funding stream. The agency has received several Rapid Response Research (RAPID) proposals from researchers around the country. "There have been about 30-35 inquires," Haq said. "We're considering about 20 of those for actual funding." While he could not divulge the names of the researchers who proposed the projects likely to get funded, Haq did share brief descriptions of those projects. The list includes biogeochemical studies of the spill's impact on trace metal distribution in Gulf waters and on sandy beaches, and biological studies tracking the effect on blue crab populations, salt marshes, and benthic communities. RAPID grants, Haq noted, can provide researchers with up to $200,000 for a research project that is described in a 2-5 page linkurl:proposal;http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/papp/gpg_2.jsp#IID1 submitted to the NSF. He added that the agency will be awarding about $1.75 million to fund about 10 proposals sometime next week. And there's more funding available where that came from, according to Haq. "Whenever there's a crisis like this that requires immediate response and quick decisions from the NSF, [researchers] can apply for RAPIDs," Haq said. linkurl:Craig Carlson,;http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/eemb/faculty/carlson/ microbial ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told __The Scientist__ that several of his colleagues are gearing up to launch research projects to study the impacts of the oil spill in the Gulf, and they're looking to the NSF as a potential funder. "There's lots of different teams developing to study this," he said. Haq encouraged more scientists to log onto linkurl:www.nsf.gov;http://www.nsf.gov/ to get more information on applying for the grants. "Go to the NSF website and look up the opportunities that exist, especially in the rapid response-type proposals," he said. "We are entertaining all inquiries that come in and considering them seriously." __Editor's Note (20th May): This story has been updated from a previous version.__
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:Scientists brace for oil impact;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/57410/
[17th May 2010]*linkurl:The Future Of NSF: Four Key Issues Require Clarification;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/16018/
[22nd March 1993]

Meet the Author

Bob Grant

From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

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