In December 2020, CSSP had the honor of hearing from an incredible group of students from Oviedo High School in Seminole County, FL. They shared the scientific research that they were submitting, and had earned awards from scientific competitions, at the local, regional, state and national levels. As we listened to this group, who we engaged as the Next generation of leaders in science we were awed by what they were accomplishing through their research. With the guidance of their teacher, Mr. William Furiosi who developed and has grown the Experimental Science, program at the high school, we were able to confirm that these students definitely had (and many still have) the drive and skills to be the next generation of leaders in science.

Mr. Furiosi shared the most current Experimental Science Yearbook (PDF), which includes details about both current and past students and the ongoing science focus and growth they are achieving. We are proud to share that yearbook with you. How fantastic would it be to have programs like this in high schools around the country? Thank you, Mr. Furiosi, and congratulations to those students who spoke to CSSP members. Here are their names and their grades at the time.  

• Kalash Patel, Junior, Oviedo High School
• Laboni Santra, Senior, Oviedo High School
• Brian Scalf, Freshman, Oviedo High School
• Grace Thompson, Sophomore, University of South Florida

DOE's Office of Science Expands Program for Faculty Historically Underrepresented in STEM Research

Applications are currently being accepted for the Spring 2023 term of the DOE Office of Science’s Visiting Faculty Program (VFP)

• As part of Office of Science’s RENEW initiative, the program is expanding to offer extended opportunities for faculty to engage in research and build collaborations at the National Laboratories
• This opportunity will strengthen partnerships between DOE national laboratories and two-year colleges, minority-serving institutions (MSIs), and other colleges and universities nationwide
• VFP seeks to increase the research competitiveness of faculty members and their students at institutions historically underrepresented in STEM to expand the workforce vital to DOE mission areas
• As such, VFP especially attracts faculty members from MSIs, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
• Typically, about 50% of the participants are from MSIs, one-third of which are HBCUs. Selected college and university faculty members collaborate with DOE laboratory scientific research staff on research projects of mutual interest.  Each participating faculty member may invite one or two students (one of whom may be a graduate student) to join the research team during a summer term
• The program will focus on faculty only in non-summer terms
• The application deadline is October 5, 2022

Read more at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Our August CSSP Chat on Ensuring Diversity and Equity in STEM, led by Dr. Beronda Montogmery, brought to light many valuable ideas and thought processes around these issues. Introducing the idea gatekeeping or groundskeeping prompted lively discussion on ways to expand diversity through the cultivation and enactment of leadership philosophies and progressive vision rather than just looking at "skills and tactics." More information about this philosophy can be found in Dr. Montgomery's paper on "Academic Leadership: Gatekeeping or Groundskeeping?" published in the Journal of Values Based Leadership.

This timely conversation also included thoughts for ways in which to communicate how each society presents their culture to both current and future members. Included in those thoughts were:

• Evaluating your society on its three “R’s” – Representation, Reputation, Resources
• Easy to embrace definitions - Diversity: being invited to the party. Inclusion: being asked to dance.
• When considering diversity within your society, it's important to look beyond just the "numbers" and look to the practices and experiences that are lived and espoused as well.
• Consideration for the language used when talking about these issues can also have a strong impact. An article on rethinking underrepresented language helps to see the influence that the language we use has on the way we see and are seen.
• How and what to include in surveys to aid in garnering greater and more honest participation from members.

The CSSP Chats create an opportunity to talk with other leaders of science societies about the challenges and goals being faced by all, and to hear and share experiences for how they have been and are being addressed - including successes and failures. Our next Chat will be on the topic of Managing Personal Transitions: Leadership Skills and your next job and will be presented on Thursday, September 17th at 12:30 pm ET.

AAAS released a DRAFT plan to address systemic racism in the sciences as a follow-up to AAAS' participation in the STEM day shutdown that took place in June. AAAS strongly encourages comments and suggestions which can be sent to [email protected].

As scientific societies, we have a unique opportunity to lead the broader scientific community towards a stronger culture of civic science, in which societal needs and diverse perspectives shape science, and scientific discoveries inform people, decisions, and policies. To that end, we are launching and circulating a sign-on values statement that asserts our commitment to civic science and urges others to increase their support for scientists’ engagements with diverse audiences.

We encourage any scientific society or professional association who shares these values to sign on to the statement and to adhere to the commitment by assessing the ways that you currently support civic science and exploring opportunities to expand your support.

By signing onto this statement, you signal to your membership and science institutions that your organization values this work and encourages more scientist engagement.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) and Dr. Robert Cook-Deegan share some history of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), the nonpartisan science agency that used to service Congress in the 1990s; why it was eliminated and the value of bringing it back. Here are a few of their comments. The entire op-ed is available here. 

"...we’ve seen painful examples of what happens when science is sidelined. Without the OTA, unreliable and even deliberately false information fills the void."

"Or, perhaps worst of all, scientific information never makes it to Congress at all."

asbmb's RESPONSE TO THE NIH abruptly terminating funding for a years-long project

As you may be aware, the National Institutes of Health abruptly terminated funding for a years-long project studying novel coronaviruses and investigating the sources of emerging diseases. EcoHealth Alliance, the study sponsor for the project, was instructed to stop spending the remaining 2020 grant and all other grant funding has been canceled. 

Suddenly ending a grant early is a highly unusual move for the NIH. The only situations that warrant this action is when there is evidence of scientific misconduct or financial improprieties—neither of which took place in this case.  

The ASBMB invites your organization to sign onto this letter to Dr. Francis Collins calling for an explanation for why funding for this grant was rescinded, and for the independence of peer reviewed science from politically motivated interventions. Your organization can sign onto this letter by clicking here. The opportunity to sign on will remain opened until Friday, May 15, 2020.

The Board of Directors of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents has approved an updated position paper on Federal Support for STEM Education.

Read the paper.