The New Landscape of Science: A Geographic Portal

Abstract

G ood afternoon and thank you, Doug,' for a kind introduction. I am delighted to have been invited to join you in celebrating the centennial of the Association of American Geographers. I've entitled my talk New Landscape of Science: A Geographic Portal. This is a vibrant and diverse organization, well poised at this watershed juncture to help shape the new landscape of science. The exquisite view through the geographic portal onto scientific frontiers is above all worth celebrating. In past ages, geographic discovery meant charting new territory in a literal sense. Today, we hear old-style explorers lament that all the peaks have been conquered. How different the world looks to those with an appreciation for scientific discovery. I will speak to you today as a fellow researcher exploring the new scientific landscape. In fact, I remained an active researcher throughout my term, just ended, as director of the National Science Foundation. I intend to share a few observations from the incredibly exciting years at NSF; the sheer thrill of working across disciplines was perhaps the deepest satisfaction of the job. Geographers converse, above all, in the spatial dimension, and the geographic portal defines, encloses, and makes of space. In this context, I turn to Woody Allen for a learned observation about the dimensions of space-one you may not have heard. Interestingly, Woody said, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought-particularly for people who cannot remember where they left things. With GPS and GIS, geographers do not have that problem; of course, you are well known for dwelling on the sense of place, and Benjamin Franklin's welcome to us from this stage evokes the historic setting of Philadelphia as the place where AAG was born one hundred years ago. A greeting from Philadelphia's founding father is also fitting because of Ben's credentials as a geographer who didn't mind getting his boots wet. When appointed Postmaster General for North America, he faced a puzzling problem: Why did postal ships sailing from England to America take a week or longer compared to ships going the opposite way? Through inquiry he learned of the existence of the Gulf Stream, and eventually he had its course engraved upon the post office charts. From Ben Franklin's font of wisdom also comes this nugget: To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions. As I think about it, this could be the summation of a lesson learned from my just-concluded term as NSF director. I believe the NSF landscape has changed over the past few years in some ways that will resonate deeply with geographers. For one, the agency is now highly interdisciplinary, with our biocomplexity and information technology initiatives having spanned the disciplines at NSE These areas have also reached to other federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Geological Survey, and many others. Another key difference: education research, formerly tucked into a corner at NSF, is now infused throughout the foundation, woven into the very fabric of the research directorates. As I've traveled the country these past few years, I've met real leaders of our effort to place graduate students in the schools-the program we call GK-12 for short. It's proven to be a cost-effective way of enhancing science expertise in K-12 classrooms-and graduate students learn as well, picking up teaching and communication skills early in their careers, while imbibing the tenet that research and education are inseparable. Then there are the metrics-an increase in grant size and duration, increased graduate stipends-and a seventy percent increase in NSF's budget. I may be just a bit biased, but I cannot think of an agency that has deserved it more. 'Douglas Richardson, Executive Director of the Association of American Geographers, who introduced Rita Colwell at the AAG's Centennial Meeting.