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Congress passes 4th COVID relief and Omnibus spending bills
December 22, 2020 09:00 am On Monday, Dec. 21, Congress passed a $900 billion 4th COVID-19 pandemic relief package. The relief package is paired with an Omnibus spending bill to finalize the FY21 budget. The relief package includes another round of direct payments to individuals; enhanced unemployment benefits, support for struggling industries and small businesses, and funding for vaccine distribution. A summary of the proposal can be found here. Funding in the relief package that affects college students and higher education institutions includes: $20 billion for higher education, with a split between institutions of higher education and students as established by the CARES Act passed in March; $4.05 billion to the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund (GEER), which is a billion more than was distributed via the CARES Act; An extension that allows states and local governments another year to spend their CARES funds but no separate allocation; $22 billion to states for more testing and tracing; Various employment/unemployment provisions; Additional funds to the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and $28 million in supplemental funding to the Institute of Education Sciences for activity related to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Of note in the Omnibus spending bill is an increase to the Pell grant by $150/year and a restoration of eligibility to those enrolled in prison education programs. As of Dec.22 at 9 a.m. PST, the bills are awaiting signature by President Trump.
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Gov. Brown to convene Legislature for the 3rd special session
December 18, 2020 12:51 pm For the third time this year, Governor Kate Brown will convene a Special Session of the Oregon Legislature. Governor Brown has asked the legislature to consider $800 million in relief to address the needs of Oregon communities stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and the state’s wildfires. In a press release announcing the special session, Governor Brown acknowledged that the current COVID-19 risk reduction measures, while working to slow the spread, have a significant impact on Oregon families, “and those most impacted are the same people who are often left behind, including rural, Black, Indigenous, Latino/Latina/Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Tribal communities.” The governor cited the lack of federal assistance as a main driver behind her decision to call the special session, which will hopefully bridge the gap until additional federal help arrives. The governor’s budget priorities for the special session include aid for tenants and landlords, funding for vaccine distribution and contact tracing, wildfire prevention and community preparedness, and support for reopening schools. Legislators will meet in Salem for the one-day special session on Monday, December 21, 2020. A structure similar to the June 2020 and August 2020 special sessions, during which lawmakers passed 26 and 11 pieces of legislation respectively. One notable difference for the upcoming special session is the climbing rate of COVID-19 cases and test positivity in Marion County, where Salem is located. With the county at “extreme” risk levels of COVID-19, legislative officials are said to be consulting with the state epidemiologist, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, to ensure appropriate precautions and safety measures are in place. The regular legislative session is scheduled to begin in less than five weeks, on January 19, 2021.
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C.R. extends funding of the federal government through Dec. 18; UO joins letter urging passage of FY21 appropriations bills
December 14, 2020 03:31 pm On Dec. 11 the U.S. Senate advanced a U.S. House-passed continuing resolution that would fund the government at current levels through Dec. 18. The President signed the bill. Congress is now in the final hours of negotiating a budget bill to meet the December 18 deadline. The University of Oregon signed on to a letter signed from a dozen other universities and hundreds of organizations representing thousands of people who work in science technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics urging U.S. Senate and House leaders to push through FY 2021 appropriations bills through Congress as quickly as possible. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association of American Universities (AAU), and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities ( APLU) also signed the letter. The letter states, “federal investments across more than two dozen defense and nondefense agencies provide the lifeblood for research, discovery, innovation and development in the United States, driving one of the most powerful engines for American prosperity and global leadership. Failing to complete work on the appropriations bills that fuel this engine in a timely manner impedes our ability to not only respond and recover from COVID-19, but also to address persistent and fundamental challenges such as chronic and infectious diseases, food and energy security, national security and natural disasters—all of which require advancements in science and technology fostered through federal investments.” News reports indicate that text of a fourth pandemic relief package and final budget for FY21 could be released as early as Tuesday. Without congressional action by December 18, the federal government must shutdown.
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Bonamici requests funding for Institute for Education Sciences to address COVID-related delays in research
December 14, 2020 03:22 pm On Dec. 4 Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), took the lead in authoring a letter from ten additional members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR), to the leadership of the House and U.S. Senate Appropriations Committees. The signers asked for $200 million in emergency relief for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to extend funding of current IES research that has been delayed by school closures and lack of access to data collection caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Without cost extensions, researchers lose access to research funds to sustain their scholarship. IES is the home of numerous centers that fund this research, including the National Center for Education Research and the National Center for Special Education Research. The members wrote to appropriations leadership that “the COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed ongoing research funded through the National Center for Education Research (NCER) and the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). School closures and limited access to school facilities have prevented data collection and in-person professional development on education interventions for 300 NCER and NCSER grants. IES grantees have worked to adapt their research and data collection to online settings, but without additional funding to extend research projects their results may be jeopardized. Funding to extend current research grants will also allow early career scholars and graduate students the opportunity to continue working on IES-funded projects.” The letter cites IES’ critical role in evaluating the effectiveness of the nation’s education programs, and cites the example of the development of “Operation Reverse the Loss”, which establishes a School Pulse survey that will provide data about the extent of COVID-10 on education and learning loss, ramp up technology platforms, and test effective education programs. The College of Education’s special education graduate program is third in the nation and the College of Education’s graduate school of education is fourth among publication institutions. UO’s College of Education faculty conducting this research depend on IES, NSER, and NCSER funding.
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Research awards hit record high of $152 million in 2019-20
First published in Around the O on December 10, 2020. In August 2019, a team of UO researchers in the Prevention Science Institute received a $10.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study opioid use among women. The award, which supports an interdisciplinary collaboration with researchers at Oregon Health & Science University to better understand and develop interventions for mothers who have a history of opioid use, was one of 437 grants received by UO investigators during the 2020 fiscal year. It represented one of many successes in a year in which UO researchers brought in a record $152.4 million in grants, contracts and competitive awards. “Our faculty, students and staff continued to conduct groundbreaking research and engage in vital scholarship and creative activity in 2020,” said Cassandra Moseley, interim vice president for research and innovation. “FY 2020 was an incredibly difficult year for researchers. Despite disruption from COVID-19, researchers continued to write proposals and submit them in record numbers.” UO researchers eclipsed the previous year’s mark of $126 million in total awards by more than $26 million, a 20.9 percent increase. The $152.4 million award total for 2019-20 is the UO’s highest-ever total recorded, nearly $17 million more than the previous high of $135.6 million in awards received in the 2010 fiscal year. The overall tally was even higher at $168.5 million, but that included $16 million in federal CARES Act funding for hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. The UO had three research awards with a total commitment of more than $5 million in the 2020 fiscal year, marking a continued emphasis on the pursuit of large-scale research grants. The numbers, which cover the 2020 fiscal year starting July 1, 2019, and ending June 30, were released in the 2020 sponsored projects services report published by the UO’s Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation. The continued uptick in research and innovation metrics was partly due to increases in hiring of faculty members across many different departments and colleges along with the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. All told, UO investigators submitted 1,266 proposals during the 2020 fiscal year, an increase of 207 from the previous year. Examples of new 2020 awards spanning the UO’s many departments and institutes included: A $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to College of Education research assistant professor Fatima Terrazas Arellanes, for the development of a web-based science curriculum for elementary school students Four prestigious grants totaling $339,000 to researchers in the UO’s Department of Religious Studies to pursue research projects examining issues ranging from the religious influence of the Dead Sea Scrolls to the origins of Islamic scripture. A $1.3 million grant to College of Education research associate professor Joe Nese from the Institute of Education Sciences to improve the reliability and validity of reading fluency assessments. Three grants from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, including a $1.1 million award to biology professor Kelly Sutherland to study the swimming mechanism of gelatinous marine organisms, a $2 million grant to developmental neurobiologist Judith Eisen to probe the relationship between symbiotic bacteria and neural development and a $325,000 grant to a team led by biophysicist Raghuveer Parthasarathy to study zebrafish in controlled ecosystems in an examination of aquatic symbioses A $151,000 grant to UO associate professor of multimedia journalism Ed Madison from the National Science Foundation to examine how to enhance science motivation in high school students during a public health crisis, an extension of a $1.2 million, three-year grant to pursue a creative, interdisciplinary solution to the student achievement gap for underrepresented groups in STEM courses. A $50,000 grant to UO historian Julie Weise from the Whiting Foundation to develop a five-part YouTube series exploring the stories of Latinx people in the southern U.S. A $200,000 award to UO chemist Victoria DeRose from the National Science Foundation to enable 3D modeling of coronavirus RNA structures to provide potential leads for the development of therapeutic interventions against the COVID-19 pandemic. Two Maximizing Investigators’ Research Awards from the National Institutes of Health, one for $1.8 million to Provost and Senior Vice President Patrick Phillips and one for $2.9 million to UO biochemist Brad Nolen For a rundown of all of the awards received in the past year, visit the UO’s monthly award reports page. UO’s innovation metrics also rose during the 2020 fiscal year, according to the UO’s Innovation Partnership Services unit, which works with UO researchers, the public and industry to accelerate the adoption of products derived from UO research and education. Chuck Williams, director of the unit and the UO’s associate vice president for innovation, said UO researchers continued to translate new ideas into products and services, with increases in licensing revenue, patenting, trademarking and inventions from the natural sciences. UO innovation metrics from the past year included: Science-based invention disclosures jumped from 20 to 23. Patent filings increased from 13 to 20. The UO continued to be ranked No. 5 in the Association of American Universities in licensing per research dollar. The UO received a record $10.3 million in licensing income, an increase of 3 percent from the previous year. The UO spun out four companies founded by UO faculty in the 2020 fiscal year, including Perceptivo, a firm launched under UO’s new V Formation program by biology professor Terry Takahashi and research associate Avinash Bala that benefitted from the university’s Innovation Fund. The fund provides translational research grant funding to enhance the probability that research discoveries will be transformed into new products, services and companies that contribute to the Oregon economy and is supported by the UO’s University Venture Development Fund. The V Formation program actually launches the company and helped Perceptivo win an NIH SBIR award as well as a Murdock commercialization initiation grant. The UO’s roster of spinout companies also included three firms, Restor3d, OptiDicer and Penderia Technologies Inc., founded by faculty members in the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. Knight Campus professor Keat Ghee Ong and Robert Guldberg, vice president and Robert and Leona DeArmond Executive Director of the Knight Campus, co-founded Penderia to develop orthopedic sensors based on Ong’s research involving radio frequency identification technology. The sensors can be used by doctors to monitor the progress of bone regeneration in patients who have had shoulder surgeries, leading to faster and smoother recoveries. Ong and Penderia received an Innovation Fund award of $75,000 to launch the program. Williams credited the Knight Campus and a continued collaborative spirit with helping to put additional wind in the sails of UO’s growing innovation portfolio. UO’s Innovation Partnership Services unit helped fund the launch of both Restor3d and Penderia. “This was the year the impact of entrepreneurial faculty joining the Knight Campus could really be felt on the ground,” Williams said. “Moving forward, we expect to see additional growth in innovation activity and we look forward to working across the board with faculty, students, industry and other partners to translate new research discoveries into the beneficial tools and technologies of tomorrow.” —By Lewis Taylor, University Communications
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Gov. Brown, Wyden and Merkley make joint COVID relief request
December 9, 2020 11:58 am On Dec. 1 Oregon Governor Kate Brown sent a letter to U.S. House and Senate leaders urging funding for childcare for working families, elementary and secondary education, and higher education in any COVID-19 relief package. The letter emphasized the costs that have already affected childcare for working families, the additional broadband and technology needs for remote learning for elementary and secondary education, and lost revenues and higher costs affecting higher education. Negotiations on a fourth relief package are continuing in Congress as the 116th Congress nears the end of its term. The last relief legislation, the CARES Act, was signed into law in March. Many provisions are expiring or have expired. The Governor's letter notes that the pandemic has impacted students. Gov. Brown stated “the effects of the pandemic on higher education institutions has been costly. Many students had to decide on taking the next steps to further their education or take care of their families and health – creating an extra barrier for students who were seeking postsecondary degrees. The letter continues, "the financial stability of these students is of great concern, given the potential for these students to carry debt without the increased earnings power provided by a degree. The likelihood these students return to complete their postsecondary degree decreases over time." The letter from Governor Brown follows a Nov. 23 joint statement issued by the Governor and U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley urging Congress to pass additional COVID-19 aid.
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Governor Brown releases 2021-23 proposed budget
December 2, 2020 01:34 pm On Dec.1 Oregon Gov. Kate Brown released her recommended budget for the 2021-23 biennium. The Governor’s budget is based on the November 2020 revenue forecast, which continued to predict modest revenue growth and shows that state collections had largely recovered from the Covid-19 associated shutdowns that occurred during the spring of 2020. The November forecast however did not capture lost revenue associated with current Covid-19 restrictions. The proposed budget may impact the University of Oregon in the following ways: Public University Support Fund The fund that provides operating funds to Oregon’s seven public universities was held flat at $836,898,583. Because of the way the state splits biennial funding (49% in the first year, and 51% in the second) flat funding constitutes an estimated $3 million cut to UO for FY 22. State Programs The Governor maintained current funding levels for University State Programs. At the UO these programs include Engineering Technology Sustaining Funds (ETSF), the Tall Wood Design Institute, the Oregon Office of Community Dispute Resolution (OOCDR), Signature Research Centers, the Labor Education Research Center (LERC), and Clinical Legal Education. Capital Construction The Governor recommends $309.4 million in funding for university capital construction projects, including $80 million for a Capital Improvement and Renewal (CI&R) a fund that is distributed to campuses by formula. The Governor also included $58.5 million for UO’s Heritage project, a renovation of University of Villard Halls that will provide critical seismic, fire, and life safety upgrades and make the facilities accessible and compatible with modern technology and classroom learning while preserving the architectural and historic significance of the site. Student Aid Funding for Sports lottery scholarships was increased slightly to a total of $15.1M. UO receives $1,030,000 of these funds for scholarships for student athletes and graduate students. The Governor recommended increasing funding for the Oregon Opportunity Grant, Oregon’s largest state-funded, need-based grant program for college students, by $4.7 million, bringing the total amount to $114.2 million. The Governor recommended increasing funding for the Oregon Promise, which covers tuition costs at Oregon community colleges for recent high school and GED test graduates, by $1.26 million, bringing total funding for the program to $42.2 million. The Legislature will convene on January 19, 2021 and are constitutionally required to adopt a balanced budget no later than June 28, 2021.The state economists will deliver three revenue forecasts before the legislature must conclude their work this summer.
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Researchers look at glacial melting through a different lens
First published in Around the O on November 25, 2020. A Little Bit of Magic STORY BY LAURIE GALBRAITH | PHOTOS BY MARK CAREY Four Researchers Look at Glacial Melt through Different Lenses to See the Whole Picture Kristin Schild eyes the iceberg below her as the helicopter she's riding in makes a first pass, surveying the monolith from high above. Circling around for a second look, the helicopter swoops in much lower, barely skimming the surface of the ice. From this distance, Schild can check for erosion and direction of the water flow; both of these give her information about potential ice collapse or an iceberg overturning. The revolutions of the powerful propellers eliminate any other sound. Grabbing her ice axe tightly when Schild is satisfied that the iceberg is stable, she opens the door of the still-running helicopter that tries to stay in one spot. Secured by ropes and a climbing harness, she lowers herself out of the helicopter and picks around at the ice with the axe, assessing its condition to place a GPS unit. She takes a few more steps while the ropes on her harness are controlled by Casey Shoop, who sits in the helicopter. She does this again and again at various iceberg locations, depending on the data she needs. This action is only part of a larger process to collect the data. It’s called GPS deployment and it’s one of many steps Arctic ice scientists and researchers repeat countless times during data collection on the Greenland ice sheet. Schild, assistant research professor at the University of Maine and a former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oregon’s Oceans and Ice Lab, is part of a team of four professors that traveled in August 2019 to study the role of ice in climate change. Unique in its approach, the goal of the trip was to gather information through a multidisciplinary lens and a self-imposed obligation to gather data and conduct research ethically. The team leaders were comprised of three UO professors who represent three different disciplines; Mark Carey, professor of history and environmental studies and Director of the Environmental Studies Program; Dave Sutherland, professor of earth sciences and head of the Oceans and Ice Lab; and Casey Shoop, professor of literature. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of Oregon’s Williams Fund, the team’s research sought to understand the interplay between ice and society. For Sutherland, an objective was “to directly observe iceberg melt and movement in the Greenland fjords, in order to improve predictions of iceberg melt for global climate models.” According to Carey, Greenland is a research hot spot “due to its vast ice sheet, but millions of people live in the Arctic so we wanted to understand icebergs as well as people living in Greenland, how they live and interact with ice, and how histories of colonialism shape their realities and even the knowledge we have about the Arctic, the size of the ice sheet and it’s increasingly rapid melting. If the whole ice sheet melted, that would be seven meters of sea level rise.” The NSF outlines specific guidelines for those who wish to study, collect data, and conduct research across all disciplines, in and outside of the Arctic. The guidelines focus on establishing effective communication with the community where the research is conducted; respecting indigenous knowledge and cultures; and building and sustaining relationships. This research can include different perspectives that don’t always align with predominant Western media and narratives that hold the environment as most sacred—even above the livelihood of people. Carey heard some of these viewpoints from locals who felt there were benefits of melting sea ice. “Some people are happy that glaciers are melting back and there are new mineral deposits that are now accessible. We also heard people who are very concerned about seeing how it does impact hunting practices, fishing practices, and access to certain areas. It’s a double-edged sword,” says Carey. “Going in with an open mind allowed us to hear many different voices, which is essential.” While these concerns may seem head-scratching for some Western audiences, diverging perspectives aren’t new. Carey says he’s spoken with local folks who are simply fed up with questions. “I’ve talked with people who say, ‘I’m tired of foreigners coming here to ask us about climate change and ice—there are other pressing issues.’” In Greenland, icebergs are ever present, massive and towering, all in unspoiled shades of white, all in different, organic shapes. They melt, overturn, they move. Some grow curtains of icicles, other have colonies of birds resting on chunks of ice as big as buildings. Sutherland’s "hard" science background keeps him on the technical side of things. While Schild oversaw data collection, instruments, gear, and safety—he managed logistics for the ship and helicopter rides, lodging, funding, and arranging meetings with local scientists. Because Sutherland has spent so much time there, he has a routine and a group of people he typically interacts with to accomplish his research goals. He says this trip was different and special. “Having Mark and Casey along, we ended up talking to different people than I normally do. Typically, I talk to people at the shipping and helicopter ports, then I get on a boat and go. Mark and Casey really engaged with people on the ground in Nuuk (Greenland’s capital city). He and Casey didn’t have an agenda. I’m always kind of driving at research questions I want answered. They were more interested in hearing what was on people’s minds,” explains Sutherland. For the team, it was imperative to start the research before they even set foot on an iceberg. “Make contacts in advance and communicate beforehand: What are your concerns? How are you thinking about this issue? Also, look for and utilize available sources there–don’t force your own,” says Carey. That approach means talking to people who represent all corners of local life to get authentic perspectives. “I felt I had to become responsible, as much as possible, to the archive and ask about the Greenlandic texts and writings, what the artists are doing and how are they thinking about ice,” says Shoop. He says thinking deeply about “colonialism, western representations of the adventure of research, and damaging Anglo-European narratives” also figured into shaping his ice research. Pushing up against established tropes and highlighting diverse perspectives means centering on communication with local people and organizations; respecting the indigenous assets of culture and knowledge; and working to form and maintain relationships are part of ethical, multi-disciplinary research and data collection. This is what Carey calls, “focusing on societies.” Sutherland says the benefit of these complementary perspectives—a way of seeing scientific methods and research—opens up a whole new world. 21% OF HONORS COLLEGE STUDENTS PURSUE MORE THAN ONE MAJOR 98% OF HONORS COLLEGE STUDENTS RECEIVE NEED OR MERIT-BASED FINANCIAL AID 30% OF HONORS COLLEGE STUDENTS RECEIVE MORE THAN ONE SCHOLARSHIP
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U.S. Clean Air Act has been a lifesaver for the birds
First published in Around the O on November 30, 2020. Improved air quality and reduced ozone pollution that followed the 1970 passage of the U.S. Clean Air Act and later amendments have saved the lives of 1.5 billion birds across the continent, according to a team of researchers that includes the University of Oregon’s Eric Zou. The research, Zou said, shows that pollution regulations that are nominally designed to protect human health can provide value for other species as well. The study published online ahead of print Nov. 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Zou, now with the UO Department of Economics and National Bureau of Economic Research, worked with Cornell University colleagues as a postdoctoral researcher in the project. “Our paper takes a first stab at this possibility by looking at the effect of a pollution regulation on birds, one of the only species whose presence and abundance have been measured systematically in the past several decades,” Zou said. “We found evidence that the regulation-induced pollution reduction has provided substantial benefits to birds abundance.” Such benefits of environmental regulation have likely been underestimated, said the study’s lead author, Ivan Rudik, of Cornell’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Reducing pollution, such as ozone, can have positive impacts in unexpected places and provide an incentive for conservation efforts, he said. Ozone is a gas that can be good or bad. It occurs in nature and is also produced by power plants and cars. A layer of ozone in the upper atmosphere protects the Earth from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, but ground-level ozone is hazardous and a primary pollutant in smog. To explore connections between bird abundance and air pollution, the research team used models that combined bird observations from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird program with ground-level pollution data and existing regulations. Zou, an environmental economist, said he was asked to join the team to help in the study’s design and statistical analyses because of expertise in using economic tools to study environmental topics. The researchers tracked monthly changes in bird abundance, air quality and regulation status for 3,214 U.S. counties over a span of 15 years. They focused on the NOx Budget Trading Program, which was created in 2003 to reduce the regional transport of nitric oxide emissions from power plants and other large combustion sources in the Eastern U.S. The study’s findings suggest that ozone pollution is most detrimental to small migratory land birds such as sparrows, warblers and finches, which make up 86 percent of all North American species. Ozone pollution directly harms birds by damaging their respiratory system and indirectly affects birds by harming their food sources. Last year, a separate study published in Science by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology showed that North American bird populations declined by nearly 3 billion birds since 1970. The impacts of the Clean Air Act, as found in the new study, protected bird populations from even greater losses. Zou, who joined the UO last year as an assistant professor, was drawn to the project, he said, by its interdisciplinary approach. “Economists these days study a wide variety of topics, and there is a branch known as environmental economics that looks at the interaction between the environment and human society,” he said. “Economists care about the cost and benefits of policies, and we’ll go extra miles to study the unknowns of these policies.” The data and evidence found in the new study, he said, point to a co-benefit for other species from a policy that had been designed to benefit humans with cleaner air. Earlier this year, Zou and colleagues from Harvard University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he had earned his doctorate, confirmed that hospital visits, especially by older people with respiratory illnesses, rose on the eve of thunderstorms. That study appeared in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. —By Jim Barlow, University Communications
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