National Science Foundation-sponsored Workshop Research Articles

Unified methods in collecting, preserving, and archiving coral bleaching and restoration specimens to increase sample utility and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Coral reefs are declining worldwide primarily because of bleaching and subsequent mortality resulting from thermal stress. Currently, extensive efforts to engage in more holistic research and restoration endeavors have considerably expanded the techniques applied to examine coral samples. Despite such advances, coral bleaching and restoration studies are often conducted within a specific disciplinary focus, where specimens are collected, preserved, and archived in ways that are not always conducive to further downstream analyses by specialists in other disciplines. This approach may prevent the full utilization of unexpended specimens, leading to siloed research, duplicative efforts, unnecessary loss of additional corals to research endeavors, and overall increased costs. A recent US National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop set out to consolidate our collective knowledge across the disciplines of Omics, Physiology, and Microscopy and Imaging regarding the methods used for coral sample collection, preservation, and archiving. Here, we highlight knowledge gaps and propose some simple steps for collecting, preserving, and archiving coral-bleaching specimens that can increase the impact of individual coral bleaching and restoration studies, as well as foster additional analyses and future discoveries through collaboration. Rapid freezing of samples in liquid nitrogen or placing at -80 °C to -20 °C is optimal for most Omics and Physiology studies with a few exceptions; however, freezing samples removes the potential for many Microscopy and Imaging-based analyses due to the alteration of tissue integrity during freezing. For Microscopy and Imaging, samples are best stored in aldehydes. The use of sterile gloves and receptacles during collection supports the downstream analysis of host-associated bacterial and viral communities which are particularly germane to disease and restoration efforts. Across all disciplines, the use of aseptic techniques during collection, preservation, and archiving maximizes the research potential of coral specimens and allows for the greatest number of possible downstream analyses.

Why Justice?

This special issue of Science, Technology, & Human Values assembles papers that consider relations among science, ethics, and justice. The papers are drawn from a 2011 National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop that brought together interdisciplinary scholars to consider, incorporate, and attend to the meanings, uses, and social consequences of ethical questions and justice ideals in technoscientific projects. The papers included in this special issue examine key areas that emerged from this workshop, including public participation, the production of knowledge, what counts as consent, ownership of biomaterials, and others. Together, the papers raise questions about new directions and articulations of power, justice, and inequalities in science and technology studies.

Uncertainty in Machining: Workshop Summary and Contributions

A National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop was held from Feb. 24–26, 2010 in Arlington, VA. The purpose of this “Uncertainty in machining” workshop was to address uncertainty and risk in machining and related manufacturing operations. The application of decision theory, which defines how rational decision makers should make decisions in the presence of uncertainty, was discussed. A summary of the meeting outcomes is presented. To aid in the application of decision theory to manufacturing process modeling, an example of Bayesian inference for the well-known mechanistic turning force model is provided. The discrete grid method is presented, and updating is performed using force data from the Assessment of Machining Models study completed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Technical Research Needs for Sustainable Buildings: Results from a Multidisciplinary NSF Workshop

This article describes research needs for sustainable buildings as defined in a July 2009 National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop. This workshop brought together building researchers with researchers in the areas of distributed renewable energy and multifunctional materials to engage their expertise and identify overlapping research needs and opportunities. An overview of sustainable building design provided the broad context for discussion. This overview was followed by focused presentations in building control systems, advanced building envelopes, and systems and process integration. In addition, presentations on distributed renewable energy and multi-functional materials supported the participants in outlining and generating research needs that connect the topic areas. The primary outcome from this part of the workshop was the identification of key sustainable building research needs in: transformative measurements; passive strategies; regional solutions and living labs; systems integration; storage and cascades; adoption of international advances; and implementation and market transformation. These needs, along with associated technical challenges and potential impacts, are described in this paper to guide sustainable building research.

The second Conceptual Assessment in the Biological Sciences workshop

A second National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop on Conceptual Assessment in Biology was held in January 2008. Reports prepared for the workshop revealed that research groups working in a variety of biological sciences are continuing to develop conceptual assessment instruments for use in the classroom. Discussions at this meeting largely focused on two issues: 1) the utility of the backwards design approach of Wiggins and McTighe (11), in which identification of learning outcomes (determining what to assess) lies at the beginning of course design; and 2) the utility of defining expected learning outcomes as the building of runable mental models (and designing conceptual assessments that would test the correctness of these mental models). A third meeting is being planned that will focus on the processes involved in writing and validating conceptual assessment instruments.

Frontiers in transport phenomena research and education: Energy systems, biological systems, security, information technology and nanotechnology

A US National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop entitled “Frontiers in Transport Phenomena Research and Education: Energy Systems, Biological Systems, Security, Information Technology, and Nanotechnology” was held in May of 2007 at the University of Connecticut. The workshop provided a venue for researchers, educators and policy-makers to identify frontier challenges and associated opportunities in heat and mass transfer. Approximately 300 invited participants from academia, business and government from the US and abroad attended. Based upon the final recommendations on the topical matter of the workshop, several trends become apparent. A strong interest in sustainable energy is evident. A continued need to understand the coupling between broad length (and time) scales persists, but the emerging need to better understand transport phenomena at the macro/mega scale has evolved. The need to develop new metrology techniques to collect and archive reliable property data persists. Societal sustainability received major attention in two of the reports. Matters involving innovation, entrepreneurship, and globalization of the engineering profession have emerged, and the responsibility to improve the technical literacy of the public-at-large is discussed. Integration of research thrusts and education activities is highlighted throughout. Specific recommendations, made by the panelists with input from the international heat transfer community and directed to the National Science Foundation, are included in several reports.

Conceptual Assessment in the Biological Sciences: a National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop

Twenty-one biology teachers from a variety of disciplines (genetics, ecology, physiology, biochemistry, etc.) met at the University of Colorado to begin discussions about approaches to assessing students' conceptual understanding of biology. We considered what is meant by a "concept" in biology, what the important biological concepts might be, and how to go about developing assessment items about these concepts. We also began the task of creating a community of biologists interested in facilitating meaningful learning in biology. Input from the physiology education community is essential in the process of developing conceptual assessments for physiology.

Biomanufacturing: A US-China National Science Foundation-Sponsored Workshop

Biomanufacturing: A US-China National Science Foundation-Sponsored Workshop

Creativity Support Tools: Report From a U.S. National Science Foundation Sponsored Workshop

Creativity support tools is a research topic with high risk but potentially very high payoff. The goal is to develop improved software and user interfaces that empower users to be not only more productive but also more innovative. Potential users include software and other engineers, diverse scientists, product and graphic designers, architects, educators, students, and many others. Enhanced interfaces could enable more effective searching of intellectual resources, improved collaboration among teams, and more rapid discovery processes. These advanced interfaces should also provide potent support in hypothesis formation, speedier evaluation of alternatives, improved understanding through visualization, and better dissemination of results. For creative endeavors that require composition of novel artifacts (e.g., computer programs, scientific papers, engineering diagrams, symphonies, artwork), enhanced interfaces could facilitate exploration of alternatives, prevent unproductive choices, and enable easy backtracking. This U.S. National Science Foundation sponsored workshop brought together 25 research leaders and graduate students to share experiences, identify opportunities, and formulate research challenges. Two key outcomes emerged: (a) encouragement to evaluate creativity support tools through multidimensional in-depth longitudinal case studies and (b) formulation of 12 principles for design of creativity support tools.

Biomanufacturing: A US-China National Science Foundation–Sponsored Workshop

A recent US-China National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop on biomanufacturing reviewed the state-of-the-art of an array of new technologies for producing scaffolds for tissue engineering, providing precision multi-scale control of material, architecture, and cells. One broad category of such techniques has been termed solid freeform fabrication. The techniques in this category include: stereolithography, selected laser sintering, single- and multiple-nozzle deposition and fused deposition modeling, and three-dimensional printing. The precise and repetitive placement of material and cells in a three-dimensional construct at the micrometer length scale demands computer control. These novel computer-controlled scaffold production techniques, when coupled with computer-based imaging and structural modeling methods for the production of the templates for the scaffolds, define an emerging field of computer-aided tissue engineering. In formulating the questions that remain to be answered and discussing the knowledge required to further advance the field, the Workshop provided a basis for recommendations for future work.

Toward sequencing the sorghum genome. A U.S. National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop report.

Members of the worldwide sorghum (Sorghum spp.) community, including private sector and international scientists as well as community representatives from closely related crops such as sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) and maize (Zea mays), met in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 9, 2004, to lay the groundwork for future advances in sorghum genomics and, in particular, to coordinate plans for sequencing of the sorghum genome. Key developments that made this workshop timely included advances in knowledge of the sorghum genome that provide for the development of a genetically anchored physical map to guide sequence assembly and annotation, the growing role of the sorghum genome as a nucleation point for comparative genomics of diverse tropical grasses including many leading crops, and the need for dramatically increased sorghum production to sustain human populations in many regions where its inherent abiotic stress tolerance makes it an essential staple. This report reviews current knowledge of the sorghum genome, a community-endorsed schema for integrating this knowledge into a finished sequence, and early plans for translating the sequence into sustained advances to benefit a worldwide group of stakeholders.

National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop report. Draft plan for soybean genomics.

Recent efforts to coordinate and define a research strategy for soybean (Glycine max) genomics began with the establishment of a Soybean Genetics Executive Committee, which will serve as a communication focal point between the soybean research community and granting agencies. Secondly, a workshop was held to define a strategy to incorporate existing tools into a framework for advancing soybean genomics research. This workshop identified and ranked research priorities essential to making more informed decisions as to how to proceed with large scale sequencing and other genomics efforts. Most critical among these was the need to finalize a physical map and to obtain a better understanding of genome microstructure. Addressing these research needs will require pilot work on new technologies to demonstrate an ability to discriminate between recently duplicated regions in the soybean genome and pilot projects to analyze an adequate amount of random genome sequence to identify and catalog common repeats. The development of additional markers, reverse genetics tools, and bioinformatics is also necessary. Successful implementation of these goals will require close coordination among various working groups.

National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop report. Maize genome sequencing project.

In response to a mandate from the maize ( Zea mays ) genetics community, a National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop was held in St. Louis on July 2, 2001, to discuss technical approaches for a Maize Genome Sequencing Project. This workshop included academic, governmental, and industrial

National Science Foundation-Sponsored Workshop Report: "The 2010 Project" functional genomics and the virtual plant. A blueprint for understanding how plants are built and how to improve them.

Although future developments in a rapidly emerging field can be difficult to predict, some projections and evaluations are helpful in planning for the development of community resources and other initiatives that may facilitate progress. To make these projections and evaluations, a group of