Truth, challenges highlight meeting

CSSP semi-annual event informative, intense

By Gaylen Bradley, Alumni Liaison to the CSSP Executive Board

Science leaders looking for cutting-edge information, intense debates, challenges and truths were not let down by the spring CSSP meeting lineup. 

The first day was kicked off with a series of intense sessions addressing the national science agenda, global science, the challenges of leadership and pioneering research.

The next morning, committees reviewed CSSP's public policy statements and made proposals to address issues that had either had not been dealt with adequately, or had changing circumstances bring them to the forefront. Awards were presented that evening to Paul Anastas of Yale University and John Warner of the University of Massachusetts for their leadership in "green chemistry." Robert Tai, University of Virginia, was honored for his evidence-based research on science education. Three intertwined topics - energy, global issues and education - were pervasive in the presentations and the subsequent spirited discussions. The 87 participants completed the formal sessions better informed, challenged and roused to action by the intense dialog on complex science-related problems facing professional organizations, members and the nation as a whole.

CSSP Chair Peter Jumars set the stage for the Spring 2008 meeting by examining how different constituencies viewed "truth." In the political arena, "truth" is what the people believe.

Within the scientific community, the emphasis is on the search for "truth" in and the continued refinement of our predictability outcomes. Jumars, a limnologist and oceanographer, called upon his own expertise to illustrate the  difficulty in gaining public understanding of truth in the context of carbon emissions.

News media devote little time to science-related reports - about two minutes per  five hours of cable TV news - and usually focus on what they believe will catch  the public's attention. With global warming still making headlines as a consequence of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, Jumars directed attention to unambiguous consequences of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide. Half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the oceans is dissolved in the upper 10% of the ocean, decreasing the pH of this  layer.

CSSP President Martin Apple then laid out the challenges facing the nation and scientific community and proposed a focused strategic approach to address each one. He noted the public's apprehensions about globalization, especially its economic impact. Apple's challenge to the participants were to "become the master of change leadership" and "to shape what could be, not serve what is."

With this lead, MacArthur Fellow Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute and author of Plan B.3, launched into his analysis of the consequences of global  climate change - rise in sea level, flooding of coastal land, desiccation of cropland irrigated by rivers dependent upon river flow from mountain snow and ice. Brown predicted that peak oil extraction would be reached before 2020, and that peak extraction of fresh water from the aquifer had already occurred. He called for a reduction in the number of planned coal-fired power plants and an increased reliance on wind and solar power.

Nina Federoff, National Medal of Science winner and US Department of State Science and Technology adviser, focused on meeting the wold demand for food and defended  the use of genetically modified crops and the use of chemical fertilizer to increase yields.  Robert Weber, director of Strategy Kinetics, noted that not all problems had solvable outcomes and proposed a new approach, which he called scenario mapping of "wicked problems." This consists of developing parallel scenarios based upon desired future outcomes, and the developing alternative plans to move from the current situation to the desired outcome. Bill Lewis, founding director of McKinsey Global, examined the myths about economic growth and productivity. He observed that the economic disparity between rich and poor nations ultimately has a negative effect on all nations.

The CSSP committees came forward with several action items. One was directed to the governance of CSSP itself, the need to have written "standard of conduct" for members of the board. The other two resolutions address broader issues: a call to improve the exchange of ideas, information and scientists across national borders; and an endorsement of the value of federal employee participation in professional organizations.

Ken Stewart, vice president of United Technologies Corporation Power promised that fuel cell vehicles are closer than most predictions, referring to mass transportation fuel cell motor coaches rather than individual cars. Ian Hunter, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, continued the presentations on frontier technology with a description of his research on semi-sentient nano-robots. Hunter builds nanostructures using  conductive polymers that have the capacity to move when stimulated. These materials can be placed in skin, bone or muscle to sense and activate living tissue.

Michael Apple, University of Wisconsin, dissected the educational system, which tends to maintain the status quo by a sorting and selecting process. The primary  determinative of academic achievement remains economic status. Apple is concerned that the allocation of funds and the decision process is leading to privatization of education, decreasing the opportunity for members of the underclass to excel.

Dieter Ernst of the East-West Center in Honolulu spoke of what drives innovation, who innovators are and where they are being trained.

Cristine Russell of Harvard University, and president of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, returned to Jumars' opening theme, and expanded on the plight of media in promoting the public understanding of science.  Joe Brewer, Rockridge Institute in Berkeley, alerted the participants of the cognitive processes at play during decision making. Bill Prindle, vice president for ICF International, continued the theme of the framing of an issues influences the decisions made. Prindle holds that energy efficiency can be measured; it is a service allowing continuous quality improvement and is a big and profitable business. Carol Darr, George Washington University, continued the dialog on how to effect change.

National Medal of Technology and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Vinton G. Cerf, vice president of Google, gave his projection on how communication is changing and what the Internet will look like in 2035. More than 1.3 billion people have access to the Internet today and this will rise to about 6 billion by 2035.

William Brustein, president of the Association for International Education Administration, put education, international engagement and research in context by relating these activities to the self-interest of the stakeholders. Russ Whitehurst, director of the Institute of Education Sciences, stressed the importance of evidence-based decisions for education. Cora Marrett, assistant director of the National Science Foundation, spoke about NSF's role in integration of research and education. Charles Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering, spoke about the grand challenges for engineering, including development of women in the technical force, energy supply, climate change, water supply, new medicines, medical informatics, reducing vulnerability to natural and human threats, developing new tools for science inquiry and advancing human knowledge.

The final presentation in the formal program was by Francesca Grifo of the Union  of Concerned Scientists. Grifo decried the hundreds of recent cases of administrative interference in reporting and distorting studies that were bases of regulatory decisions. Grifo expressed particular concern about political and industrial influence in regulatory decisions made by the Environmental Protection Agency. Martin Apple, returned to  the podium and closed with a challenge to "plan now for the next generation."