Life and Earth's Environment
NSF has had a strong presence in the
life, social, and environmental sciences for many years, supporting
research and education activities that complement the mission-driven
activities of other agencies. Increasingly, NSF is focusing on
how living organisms interact with their environment, including
how humans affect their environment and vice versa. Examples include
microbial diversity and bioremediation, metabolic engineering
and bioprocessing, natural hazards mitigation, environmental geochemistry
and biogeochemistry, human dimensions of global change, and long
term ecological research sites.
Two NSF-wide efforts merit attention
in FY 1998.
- Life in Extreme Environments. The
study of life in extreme environments can provide important new
insights into how organisms formed, and about the range of adaptive
mechanisms which allow them to function. Researchers can then
examine how to utilize such mechanisms in useful ways, such as
for bioremediation and bioprocessing. A focused program was begun
in FY 1997 through the NSF Opportunity Fund. NSF will continue
to develop this emphasis in FY 1998 which, together with related
activities, is expected to result in an overall effort totaling
more than $35 million. Development of this area of emphasis will
be done in concert with activities in other agencies (such as
NASA's Origins Program).
- Urban Communities. Urban regions
worldwide are the locus of much human activity and human-environment
interaction. Many of NSF's activities have a major role in supporting
the investigation of urban-based activities, such as physical
infrastructure, hazards mitigation, political institutions, public
and private information systems, and ecological processes, to
name but a few. In FY 1998, NSF will explore ways to approach
these types of issues in a coherent, interdisciplinary mode.
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