[mou] Fwd: Preliminary news about the President's budget request for research

[Jim Williams]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ellen Paul <ellen.paul@verizon.net>
Executive Director
The Ornithological Council
Ornithological Council Website:  http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET
"Providing Scientific Information about Birds"

Date: February 7, 2006 8:45:33 AM CST
Subject: Preliminary news about the President's budget request for 
research

The President's budget request for Fiscal Year 2007 was released today. 
For funding agencies of interest to ornithologists, the President has 
requested that Congress appropriate the following amounts (NSF reported 
here; others to follow in separate e-mails).  These are better numbers 
than those of the FY2006 request. Note the large increase for Emerging 
Frontiers, underscoring NSF's commitment to cutting-edge science. 
Readers are reminded that the request is just that. What comes out of 
Congress in September (or later, if the Congress again fails to pass a 
budget by the end of the current fiscal year) could look very 
different.

National Science Foundation
Research and Related Activities
$4.666 billion (including $7 million carryover from FY2006)
(Increase of $327 million over FY2006)

Biology Directorate (part of Research and Related Activities):
$607.85 million
(Increase of $31.16 million or 5.4% over FY2006)

Subdirectorates:
Molecular and Cellular Bio:
$111.22 million
(Increase of $2.95 million or 2.7% over FY2006)

Integrative Organismal Bio:
$100.47 million
(Increase of $0.35 million or $0.3% over FY2006)

Environmental Bio:
$109.61 million
(Increase of $2.90 milllion or 2.7% over FY2006)

Biological Infrastructure
$85.90 million
(Increase of $4.10 million or 5.0% over FY2006)

Emerging Frontiers
$99.16 million
(Increase of $18.26 million or 22.7% over FY2006)

Plant Genome
$101.22 million
(Increase of $2.50 million or 2.5% over FY2006)

NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network)
Increase of $6 million for research and development efforts in sensor 
development

Ornithologists take note! The formal NSF BIO budget request document 
spotlighted two NSF-funded ornithology projects as Research Highlights:


ORNIS: Five Million Birds in Your Computer With over 70 million amateur 
and professional ornithologists, bird watching remains one of the most 
popular outdoor activities in the United States. ORNIS (ORNithological 
Information System), an NSFsponsored information network developed at 
the University of Kansas, links together 33 ornithology collections 
from the U.S., Canada and Mexico into one "virtual" museum that allows 
users to extract information on nearly five million bird specimens. The 
information identifies places where living birds are found and habitats 
that might be suited for recolonization. ORNIS linked to similar 
information networks for other animal groups will create a biodiversity 
knowledge resource for tracking climate change and emerging diseases, 
like West Nile Virus.

Hummingbird aerodynamics: Scientists Reveal Aerodynamics of Tiny Bird's 
Flight
Hummingbirds are unique among birds for their ability to hover for long 
periods of time. Using a sophisticated digital imaging technique, 
researchers from Oregon State University, University of Portland and 
George Fox University have determined the aerodynamics of hummingbird 
flight. The team found that hummingbirds support 75 percent of their 
weight during the wing's down stroke and 25 percent on the up stroke. 
This contrasts with other birds, which use the down stroke to support 
100 percent of their weight during slow flight and short-term hovering. 
The finding provides new insight into evolutionary trends that led to 
sustained hovering in birds and may provide engineers with a new model 
for future miniature autonomous flying vehicles.

http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=104263


forward by Jim Williams, Wayzata, Minnesota