R&A MOWG
Updated as of Feb. 15, 2008
Our growing vision to NASA's Research and Data Analysis Programs
Commitment to:
- Increase R&A funds
- Get more science from our budget through process improvements
- Support data analysis and ensure missions fund their science
- Provide responsive science leadership at all levels
- Increase funding stability
- Increase time researchers spend making discoveries
The Research and Analysis Management Operations Working group listed below will provide input on a number of topics under consideration as process improvements for the SMD's overall R&A program. This is not a Federal Advisory Committee and as such does not follow FACA guidelines. This means the group members do not give consensus advice or recommendations, but instead each member gives his or her individual input. Community members can convey their opinions through the MOWG or directly to SARA as well, and we encourage an open line of communication. The individuals on the MOWG were selected from nominations from the four science divisions and the front office staff, with an eye towards representation from each science area, large and small institutions, private and public institutions, and a NASA center. The meetings will be held primarily via telecon or videocon, beginning in mid-to-late February. Any member of the science community is welcome to provide input to the discussions and may do that in a variety of ways. Each meeting will be open and contact info can be obtained by sending a request through this website. Simply put your request for R&A telecon call in numbers in the box for feedback and we will send you the information when we have it. Please subscribe to the sara site if you have not already done so, because this email distribution list will become very important in the coming weeks. We may use this list to distribute a community survey questionnaire in the near future, and it will be your prime opportunity to provide input to the R&A questions under discussion (see below).
Result of the first telecon February 12, 2008:
Guenter Riegler, chair, spent February 11 and 12th at NASA Headquarters meeting with many SMD people involved with the R&A programs. These included Alan Stern, Yvonne Pendleton, the four Science Division Directors, and several program officers. The first R&A MOWG telecon was held on February 12th. During the first telecon, the value of a community survey, as conducted in the Planetary Science community in 2005, was discussed. The older surveys and results will be posted on this website soon, and the next telecon will include a discussion of how a new survey, applicable to R&A issues across all the SMD science disciplines, might be developed by this MOWG.
Some topics the MOWG may consider in future discussions include:
- Ideas to get more out of the R&A budget (process improvement issues),
- The demand driven balance of funds distribution within disciplines,
- An assessment of research gaps between disciplines or within a discipline,
- Effectiveness and evaluation of proposal selection processes and a comparison of best practices among government agencies (such as NSF and NASA)
- How to support and continue to build open communication lines between the community and NASA SMD.
If you have input on these or other issues you think the MOWG should discuss, please contact one of the MOWG members listed below.
Guenter Riegler, Retired NASA Senior Executive, Chair (Astrophysics)
griegler@earthlink.net
http://www.ostina.org/content/view/1194/530/
Steve Bougher, U of M, Co-Chair (Planetary Science)
bougher@umich.edu
Telephone: (734) 647-3585
http://aoss.engin.umich.edu/people/bougher
Spiro Antiochos, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Heliophysics)
antiochos@helio.gsfc.nasa.gov
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/pao/pressRelease.php?Y=2006=60-06r
Jonathan (Josh) Grindlay, Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA (Astrophysics)
josh@head.cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone: (617) 495-7204
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/ast/homepages/grindlay.html
Lynne Hillenbrand, Caltech (Astrophysics)
lah@astro.caltech.edu
Telephone: (626) 395-6587
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~lah/aboutlynne.html
Everette Joseph, Howard University (Earth Science)
ejoseph@howard.edu
Telephone: (202) 806-6256
http://www.physics1.howard.edu/people/facultyandstaff_ejoseph.html
James (Jim) Kasting, Penn State (Earth Science)
kasting@geosc.psu.edu
Telephone: (814) 865-3207
http://www.geosc.psu.edu/~kasting/PersonalPage/Kasting.htm
Adam Showman, U of A, LPL (Planetary Science)
showman@lpl.arizona.edu
Telephone: (520) 621-4021
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~showman/
Harold (Hal) Levison, SwRI (Planetary Science)
hal@boulder.swri.edu
Telephone: (303)546-9670
http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~hal/
Margaret (Maggie) Tolbert, U of CO (Earth Science)
Telephone: (303)492-3179
tolbert@cires.colorado.edu
http://cires.colorado.edu/science/groups/tolbert/
Prasad Gogineni, University of Kansas (Earth Science)
gogineni@cresis.ku.edu
Telephone: (785) 864-8800
http://www.eecs.ku.edu/people/view/faculty/24