|
Welcome to our premiere issue of The Science Leader, the new digital newsletter of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents.
Its role is to strengthen our collegial networking, broaden our
knowledge sharing on emerging issues and enhance interactive idea
analysis among our unique peer groups of science leaders.
In this issue
you'll find compelling articles on CSSP news and current events in
science. We're pleased to include society-based articles which
facilitate better understanding among colleague organizations within
CSSP. Each issue will also contain member and alumni profiles, so you
may better know one another as the truly fascinating individuals you
are.
Please
note that this is an interactive newsletter. We hope to rely on you,
our members, alumni and friends, to submit articles of interest and
participate in developing future issues.
In the meantime, please raise a beaker and help me toast our latest CSSP endeavor!
Thank you for all you have done, and continue to do, to lead us to a better tomorrow.
Dr. Martin A. Apple
CSSP President
|
|
CSSP Board has 'good chemistry'
From recycling to fire protection, Carroll is the go-to guy
 What CSSP member holds two patents and has more than 45 publications in the fields of organic electrochemistry, polymer chemistry, combustion chemistry and physics, incineration, plastics recycling and chlorine issues? Meet CSSP board member Dr. William F. "Bill" Carroll, Jr.
Carroll holds a B.A. in Chemistry and Physics from DePauw University, an M.S. from Tulane University and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Indiana University. Carroll started his career in 1978 and after a year with Rohm and Haas Company moved to what is now Occidental Chemical Corporation. He is currently vice president, chlorovinyl issues for OxyChem and works on public policy issues and communications related to chlorine and PVC. He is also adjunct professor of polymer chemistry at Indiana University.
Carroll is a past president of the American Chemical Society, and has chaired several committees. He
is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a fellow and member of
the US National Committee for the International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry and a member of the National Academy's Chemical
Sciences Roundtable. He is chair of the Science Advisory
Board for DePauw University and a member of the Visiting Committee for
the Chemistry and Geochemistry Departments at Colorado School of Mines.
He has chaired numerous committees for a variety of chemistry, plastics, fire protection and recycling organizations. He
has served on expert groups commissioned by the United Nations
Environmental Program, the US Environmental Protection Agency and two
states. He received the Vinyl Institute's Roy T. Gottesman Leadership Award for lifetime achievement in 2000.
|
|
Searching for public science support
By Martin A. Apple, CSSP president
The American economy has built a century of remarkable record of growth based on the creation and incorporation of new knowledge into new products and new industries. As the federal government faces the 21st Century with a tsunami of rising demand for federal entitlements from a huge wave of retirees, and thus a more constrained set of options for new federal investment, it is important to be able to evaluate resource allocation priorities more effectively.
Federal investment in fundamental research, often misperceived as an expense, is greatly underappreciated for its high return on investment when followed over periods of a decade or longer. Recent meta-analyses of multiple studies of the return on investment or rate of return from long term investment have been posted showing a remarkable, virtuous circle that follows federal investment in fundamental research.
One
such study on a physical science, joining data and methods from the
Council for Chemical Research and the Los Alamos National Lab reported
that for every $1 billion of federal investment in chemical research
there was a corresponding $5 billion in additional and follow-up
private R&D investment and that the combination led to $10 billion
in chemical industry operating profit and an increase in the gross
national product of $40 billion. The outcome of this investment was
creation of 600,000 jobs. From this cascade, approximately $8 billion
in taxes were then paid back to the federal government for the
investment.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Where in the world is clear water?
Scientific study may surprise you
By Heidi Sosik, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Where is the clearest water in the world?
Here's an answer that you cannot yet correctly Google. A presumption that seemed logical until this year was that the clearest water in the world was prepared by careful purification in the laboratory, but it ain't so.
Turns out, the clearest water, that is the water that attenuates the least amount of ultraviolet (UV) light per foot in the world is in nature - in the South Pacific, near Easter Island. Incredibly, recent measurements there (Morel et al. 2007) reveal attenuation coefficients below those currently listed for pure H2O. The previously known, clearest natural waters came from an ice-covered lake in Antarctica (Vincent et al. 1998), but in that location contaminating compounds from sediments are nearer than in the newly explored marine waters.
Rather than simply being a Guinness Book of World Records curiosity, this result has considerable implications for both biology and chemistry in aquatic environments. In particular, these new measurements show that high-energy ultraviolet light capable of causing photochemical transformation and damage to DNA and other biomolecules penetrates pure water much more effectively than previously thought. Time to update the standard references.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
 NCTM celebrates Pre K-8 initiative anniversary
Curriculum Focal Points sweeping the nation!
Last year at the National Press Club in Washington, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) President Francis (Skip) Fennell announced the release Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten through Grade 8 Mathematics: A Quest for Coherence, marking NCTM's most significant initiative since 2000.
To date, 20 states and numerous school districts have engaged NCTM in using the Curriculum Focal Points in their development or revision of their state standards or frameworks. More than 825,000 copies of the Points have been downloaded from the NCTM Web site. In addition, more than 10,000 hard copies have been sold.
"Our
belief is that the Curriculum Focal Points provides an example for the
next generation of curricula and related assessments," said Fennell,
who is also a board member of CSSP.
Feedback has been outstanding. In a survey of state
supervisors of mathematics the respondents indicate, overwhelmingly,
that they will use the focal points to assist them in the next revision
of their state standards.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Supporting new science teachers
NSTA focuses on reducing early career attrition rate
By Linda Froschauer, National Science Teachers Association
 A critically high turnover rate in the science teaching profession is leaving many classrooms across the country without qualified science instructors.
According to Richard Ingersoll, professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, the rate of turnover for all teachers, especially those new to the profession, is higher than in many other occupations. After 3 years, nearly 30 percent of all beginning teachers leave the profession, and this number jumps to nearly 40 percent after 5 years.
A National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) informal survey found that the overriding cause of this crisis is widespread job dissatisfaction among teachers. Principal reasons cited by departing teachers included lack of adequate support and professional development options. These new science teachers need effective and efficient professional development and mentoring support to help them during the difficult early years of their classroom careers. Without a focused effort to address the problems that plague the teaching force, the country will face an escalating shortage that will thwart any efforts to raise student performance in science.
NTSA is working to address this predicament. The NSTA New Science Teacher Academy is focused on encouraging and supporting early-career science educators and designed specifically to help reduce the high attrition rate in the science teaching profession. Introduced in May, this professional development initiative was created to help strengthen quality science teaching, enhance teacher confidence and classroom excellence, and improve teacher content knowledge.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
See you there!
Don't forget the next CSSP semi-annual meeting is scheduled to start this weekend and will run December 1-4 in Washington D.C.
Plan to meet face-to-face with high impact, nationally renowned leaders. Two Nobel Laureates as well as three Pulitzer Prize winners are on board to lead discussions of science, leadership and the future. Enjoy peer networking. Learn about current events in science from the experts leading those areas, including two winners of the National Medal of Science, three foundation top officers and several book authors. Chairs of several Congressional committees will provide special briefings.
For more information, please contact the CSSP office at (202) 872-6230.
|
|
Got news?
We want to hear it!
The Science Leader was developed to help us communicated better with our members, alumni, supporters and member organizations. In addition to keeping you abreast of CSSP events and science news, we want to share news from our members and member organizations, but we can't do that without your help.
Please send submissions, story ideas and suggestions to Science Leader Editor Amber Allen at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call (304) 755-7214.
We look forward to hearing from you!
|
|
|
