SMD Education Update

Space Grant Meeting

Dr. Yvonne PendletonNASA Science Mission Directorate

February 29, 2008Washington, DC

SMD PROGRAM SUMMARY $5.4B/YEAR BUDGET. LARGE EARTH SCIENCE, HELIOPHYSICS, PLANETARY SCIENCE, & ASTROPHYSICS PROGRAMS. 53 FLIGHT MISSIONS IN OPERATION. 41 FLIGHT MISSIONS IN DEVELOPMENT. 3000+ ACTIVE R&A GRANTS.

THESE NUMBERS EXCEED THE COMBINED EFFORTS OF ALL OTHER SPACE SCIENCE PROGRAMS WORLD WIDE.

SMD’S GOT A NEW TEAM

Chief Scientist (J. Mather)DCS for ES (Randy Friedl) DCS for SS (Andy Cheng)

Management &Policy DivisionDir. (R. Maizel)

Deputy (Vacant)

HeliophysicsDivision

Dir. (R. Fisher)Deputy (V. Elsbernd)

AstrophysicsDivision

Dir. (J. Morse)Deputy (R. Howard)

Planetary ScienceDivision

Dir. (J. Green)Dep. (J. Adams)

Associate Administrator (AA) (Alan Stern)Deputy AA (Chuck Gay)

Deputy AA for Programs(Todd May - Detailee)

Senior Advisor for R & A (Yvonne Pendleton)

Earth ScienceDivision

Dir. (M. Freilich)Deputy (M. Luther-act)

Budget (C. Tupper)

Policy & Administration (G. Williams- Act) Applied Science

(T. Fryberger)

Research (J. Kaye)

Flight (S. Volz)

Mars Program(D. McCuistion)

Senior Advisor for Science Process & Ethics

(Paul Hertz)Chief of Staff(Jens Feeley)

Chief Engineer (K. Ledbetter)

Safety & Mission Assurance(P. Martin)

Special Asst for NEOs and Exploration (Dan Durda)

AAA for Strategy, Policy & International(Marc Allen)

Blue dashed boxes denote individuals who report to other organizations, but support SMD

FY08 SMD Education Portfolio

• 296 education projects imbedded in 56 SMD missions.

• 15 competitively selected education projects. (selected in Nov 2007)

• GLOBE

• Total education project funding ~$25M (total EPO budget ~50M)

SMD Education Portfolio~$25M

Outcome 113%

Outcome 262%

Outcome 325%

SMD Education with R&A Investment

~$515 M

Outcome 166%

Outcome 224%

Outcome 310%

Recent Developments

• Selected 15 proposals for SMD EPO.Area Proposals

Higher Education 1

E & S Education 5

Informal Education 7

Outreach 2

Abstracts at http://science.hq.nasa.gov/research/sara_docs/EPOESS06_Selections.pdf

R&A / EPO: CommunicationSARA website

– One stop shopping for all R&A and EPO needs

– Has budget FAQs and Grant Stats

– Contact info for every Program Officer

– Division Corners has an explanation of each division handles R&A

– Letters from SARA every other week

– Dynamic website with new pages added each update

Check the SMD SARA site Google NASA SARA or go to:

http://science.hq.nasa.gov/research/sara.html

SARA email: 1600 since April 2007 (sara@nasa.gov)

SARA visits: Universities, Science conferences, Centers, Committees

E/PO: MOWGCharge and Challenges

• Evaluate the fiscal viability of SMD E/PO programs and support structures.

• Balance the SMD E/PO portfolio to meet the needs of NASA and the SMD directorate.

• Generate pathways to long-term SMD E/PO stability.• Establish more accessible outreach mechanisms for researchers.• Evaluate the model of the SMD Support Groups.• Outreach opportunities for scientists are more burdensome than need be.• Diverse education portfolio is vulnerable and unsustainable in the current

funding climate.• Increased professionalism of E/PO personnel across the country means

that the kinds of support infrastructure needed by SMD E/PO is shifting.

E/PO: MOWG

– Members from all four SMD science communities. – Telecons weekly; 2-day meeting in DC Mar. 6-7– Contact Emily CoBabe-Ammann with any questions (303-735-5814)

Emily CoBabe-Ammann (chair)

U. Colorado

EcoBabe@lasp.colorado.eduHigher education

Edna DeVore SETI Institute K-12 formal, Evaluation

Jennifer Grier Planetary Science Institute Scientist involvement, Forums

Mario Livio Space Telescope Science Institute Scientist outreach

Leslie Lowes JPL Forums

Mike Newchurch U. Alabama - Huntsville Higher education

Patricia Reiff Rice U. Informal

Stephanie Stockman GSFC New media, Earth sciences

R & A

R&A: MOWG

• R&A MOWG – Formed, meets by telecon weekly

– Charge: provide input on a number of topics under consideration as process improvements for the SMD's overall R&A program (process, program balance, gaps within a division or across directorate)

– Telecons so far: Feb 12 and 28

• Developing community survey questions to evaluate concerns

across the four divisions:

are they the same?

are the solutions the same?

R&A: MOWG

• Guenter Riegler, Chair (Astrophysics)• Steve Bougher, Michigan, Co-Chair (Planetary Science)• Spiro Antiochos, GSFC (Heliophysics)• Josh Grindlay, Harvard (Astrophysics)• Lynn Hillenbrand, Caltech (Astrophysics)• Everette Joseph, Howard (Earth Science)• Jim Kasting, Penn State (Earth Science)• Adam Showman, Arizona (Planetary Science)• Hal Levison, SwRI (Planetary Science)• Maggie Tolbert, Colorado (Earth Science)• Prased Gogineni, Kansas (Earth Science)

R&A: ROSES-08• ROSES 2008

– Released on February 15 • 350 pages• 66 program elements• >$150M for new awards (incomplete tally)

– Some first time program elements:• Ocean Salinity Science Team• Hurricane Science Research• Earth Science Applications Feasibility Studies• Moon and Mars Analog Mission Activities• Space Policy Research

R&A: ROSES 2008

NEW:– budget data now shown to reviewers– new program offerings– four year awards for most programs

Under consideration for amendments:-fellowship programs

-large grant opportunities (i.e., institutes)

-easier outreach mechanisms for scientists

R&A: Documenting Practices

– Document SMD's best and acceptable practices for R&A reviews;

– Provide additional guidance to program officers;– Offer additional transparency into SMD process to

community; and– Provide assurance (to SMD managers, to the community, to

auditors) that SMD program officers are following SMD policies and practices.