Biological Oceanography

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Bathycryroe fosteri by (Lawrence P. Madin)

The Biological Oceanography Program supports marine ecological projects in environments ranging from estuarine and coastal systems to the deep sea, and in the Great Lakes.  The scope of research topics include ecosystem processes; community and population ecology; behavioral, reproductive and life history ecology; physiological and chemical ecology; and evolutionary ecology. In addition, interdisciplinary projects are also encouraged by the Program provided the biological component has a strong ecological focus.

Proposals that primarily focus on physiology, cell biology, biochemistry, molecular genetics, systematics, etc. – without an explicit focus on compelling ecological concerns – may be more appropriate for programs in the Directorate for Biological Sciences. Similarly, some ocean-focused, interdisciplinary studies may be more appropriately directed to one of the other programs in the Division of Ocean Sciences or programs in the Office of Polar Programs as the lead program.  Investigators are encouraged to contact a Program Officer by phone or e-mail and to browse existing award abstracts to determine the appropriate program for their proposal.

Proposals coming to the Biological Oceanography Program face rigorous competition for funding and success rates hover below 20%.  We take many factors into consideration when making award recommendations, including first and foremost, peer review advice on the intellectual merit and broader impacts of the proposed research and training.  We also make considerations for beginning investigator(s); current and ongoing funding of investigators; current and ongoing commitments of investigators; productivity on previous grants; and issues related to maintaining a portfolio of research that has a diversity of themes, people and ideas.

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS

The Biological Oceanography Program is actively involved in numerous multi-disciplinary programs that involve other NSF Programs as well as collaborative efforts with other Federal Agencies.   As Examples:

●  LTER: Long Term Ecological Research (cross-NSF)
●  GLOBEC: Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics (with NOAA and NASA)
●  RIDGE 2000: (with Marine Geology and Geophysics)
●  COHH: Centers for Oceans and Human Health (Chemical Oceanography and NIEHS)
●  En-Gen:  Environmental Genomics (cross-NSF)
●  CNH:  Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (cross-NSF)
●  HSD:  Human and Social Dynamics: Competition for FY 2007

COMMUNITY PLANNING

Cape Lookout National Seashore (Gayle Pugh)

The Division of Ocean Sciences and the Biological Oceanography Program encourage and support community planning efforts to identify opportunities and priorities for future research. The process may result in recommendations for emerging or continuing science directions across the discipline(s) and, in turn, these efforts may result in new funding opportunities.

The following documents provide context for emerging science directions and identify areas where there have been recently, or may be future, funding opportunities:

●  Ocean Sciences at the New Millennium
●  Population Connectivity
●  The EU-US Scientific Initiative on Harmful Algal Blooms

●  Biological and Ecological aspects of Changing Ocean pH
●  Long-Term Ecological Research: Sustained Observation and  Experimentation in a Strong Research Framework
●  Population Connectivity in Marine Systems
●  Ocean Ecology and the Carbon Cycle

SYNTHESIS AND TAXONOMIC PROJECTS

Synthesis Projects: Most of the current and recent synthesis science projects supported by the Division of Ocean Sciences, including the Biological Oceanography Program, are in connection with multi-disciplinary programs (e.g., as part of programs such as JGOFS and GLOBEC).  Futhermore, we encourage other synthesis projects which use existing data, information and knowledge to test innovative ideas or develop new theory relevant to ocean ecology.   Synthesis oriented projects are fully appropriate for submittal to the Biological Oceanography Program.

Taxonomic Projects:  Taxonomic expertise provides an important foundation to understanding biodiversity and ecological interactions in ocean processes.  The Biological Oceanography Program recognizes the concern that taxonomic expertise is diminishing in the ocean science community.  The Biological Oceanography Program encourages proposals to support taxonomic research efforts that are conducted in close collaboration with interdisciplinary ocean process studies.  If you are interested in submitting a proposal to for this opportunity, click on the title above to obtain specific information about proposal requirements.  

SMALL GRANT FOR EXPLORATORY RESEARCH (SGER)

SGER projects can be recommended for innovative, smaller-scale research ideas that are high-risk/high-reward, or that respond to unique and/or exciting opportunities where a rapid funding response is needed.  SGER projects are not intended for support to develop proposals and generate preliminary data, nor are they usually recommended solely because of "ship-of-opportunity" situations.  For more information on the SGER refer to the Grant Proposal Guide, Chapter II.D.1., and contact Cynthia Suchman at csuchman@nsf.gov.

SUPPLEMENT SUPPORT

Student research activities (Joseph Pawlik)

The Biological Oceanography Program provides supplemental funding for Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experience for Teachers (RET) activities.   In addition, supplement support may also be provided in unusual circumstances where additional funding is needed to ensure adequate completion of the original scope of the awarded project.  The Program generally reserves these latter supplements for what we consider unforeseeable, emergency situations.   Before submitting a supplement request, the investigator should contact Gayle Pugh (gpugh@nsf.gov).

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU): REU supplements are designed to support active research participation by undergraduates in meaningful ways.  The Biological Oceanography Program provides two opportunities for submitting REU supplements. 

(1) New Proposals:  Investigators planning to provide REU activities to one or two students should include the REU supplement as a component of a proposed new or renewal grant.  REU supplements requested as part of a proposal should be embedded in the proposal at the time it is submitted for review as directed in solicitation NSF 05-592.  

(2) Ongoing Projects:  For REU supplements to ongoing projects, we encourage investigators to develop REU Supplement requests that propose research experiences for groups of undergraduate students in highly collaborative, inter-disciplinary science, using a multi-investigator approach that includes a mix of labs, principle investigators, post-docs, graduate students and undergraduates in the setting of an academic or research institution.  The aim is to foster more interactions in the undergraduate experience than is typical for a sole investigator project.  Unlike the REU Site proposals, these activities might involve students from a single institution.  The deadline for submitting an REU Supplement to an on-going project is 1 February of each year and you are strongly encouraged to contact the Program before submission.

Research Experiences for Teachers (RET): The RET supplement activity for OCE provides PIs with the opportunity to incorporate K-12 teacher participation into a funded research project.   In general, PIs are encouraged to include outreach programs for K-12 teachers within the broader impacts of a proposal at the time of submission.  The supplement is intended to provide opportunities for novel ideas that transpire after the project is underway. 

As indicated in the "Dear Colleague" Letter NSF 05-047: RET Supplements may be requested in one of two ways: (1) Investigators with an existing NSF research award may submit a request for supplemental funding; or (2) Proposers may include an RET Supplement activity as part of a new (or renewal) research proposal to NSF. The purpose of the RET supplement is to provide teachers with experiences that can be incorporated into learning activities that will broaden the scientific development of their K-12 students. The deadline for RET supplement proposals to the Program is 1 February of each year. The request should come at a time when there is at least 12 mos. of duration before the scheduled end of the project.