Support for NSF STC Development: Our immediate goal for the future is to develop CeROS into a National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center. The NSF STC Program was established in 1987 to “fund important basic research and education activities and to encourage technology transfer and innovative approaches to interdisciplinary activities” (www.nsf.gov/od/oia/programs/stc). STCs are unique and prestigious centers that provide support for long-term scientific and technological research activities and encourage a strong bridge between research and education. This integrative approach to research and education provides innovative and effective ways to educate students and important mechanisms for knowledge transfer between researchers and the public sector. The next NSF Science and Technology Center (STC) competition is underway with a deadline for full proposal set for February 2004. We have already been successful in obtaining support from the NSF EPSCoR program and the Louisiana Board of Regents for our efforts to establish an NSF Science and Technology Center at Tulane. These two planning grants will support specific STC proposal activities such as: (a) securing the services of consultants that have experience with the NSF STC program, (b) facilitating contact with existing NSF STCs and (c) supporting travel for site visits to existing NSF STCs. Recently we have made site visits to SAHRA (Sustainability of semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas; University of Arizona) and CAPS (Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms; University of Oklahoma). During these visits we have learned quite clearly what is involved in the formation of a successful STC. We have also been in contact with the newest STC in the Geosciences (the National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics, NCED; University of Minnesota) whose director has also been very encouraging. NCED is enthusiastic about having CeROS as a natural companion STC, providing scientific connectivity between the upper watershed processes (a focus of NCED) and lower river/coastal processes. One possible education-based collaboration that we will pursue in concert with NCED and the University of Minnesota is development of a joint proposal to NSF’s IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) program. Finally, Louisiana is an EPSCoR state and will therefore provide a substantial match for our NSF STC proposal. A commitment letter has already been received from the Louisiana Board of Regents to support one half of the institutional match required by the NSF STC program.

CeROS Partners. The following is a list of partners that have been involved in initial discussions about a CeROS STC:

Tulane University (Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences)
The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON)
The Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR)
Xavier University (XU)
University of New Orleans (UNO)
Louisiana State University (LSU-BR)
Texas A&M University (TAMU)
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)
NASA Stennis Space Center (NASA SSC)
US Geological Survey (USGS)
The Audubon Institute (AI)