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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
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Appendix B
Workshop Background

WORKSHOP STATEMENT OF TASK

The 2009 report A New Biology for the 21st Century offered a vision that enables powerful advances in the life sciences to provide solutions to major global problems. As part of the follow-on activities stemming from the report, the Board on Life Sciences plans to organize a series of workshops to provide concrete examples of how the life sciences could contribute to addressing these grand challenges.


For the first of these, an ad hoc committee will organize a public workshop on meeting the intertwined challenges of increasing food and energy resources in a context of environmental stress, in which participants will:

  • Identify a small number of concrete problems for the New Biology to solve—problems that are important and urgent (and therefore inspirational), intractable with current knowledge and technology, but perhaps solvable in a decade.

  • Identify the knowledge gaps that would need to be filled to achieve those goals.

  • Identify conceptual and technological advances essential to achieve those goals.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×

MEETING AGENDA IMPLEMENTING THE NEW BIOLOGY: DECADAL CHALLENGES LINKING FOOD, ENERGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Board on Life Sciences, National Research Council


Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

4000 Jones Bridge Road • Chevy Chase, MD 20815


WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2, 2010

6:00 p.m.

Light buffet dinner for participants who will be arriving early [Rathskeller Lounge]

THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2010

8:00 a.m.

Breakfast available until 9:30 a.m. [Small Dining Room]

10:00 a.m.

Plenary #1: Welcome to HHMI; Introduction to Workshop [Small Auditorium]

Chair: Robert Tjian, President, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley

  • Keith Yamamoto, Chair, Board on Life Sciences, National Research Council; Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Executive Vice Dean, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

  • Roger Beachy, Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture

  • Steven Koonin, Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy

10:30 a.m.

“Elevator” Talks [Small Auditorium]

  • Each participant will have three minutes to present his or her transformative idea

12:00 p.m.

Breakout #1 (in assigned small groups) during lunch [See breakout group assignment and locations]

  • Discuss elevator talks

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×

 

  • Choose top three Big Ideas from elevator talks or develop new transformative ideas by combining, refining, and building on elevator talks, or de novo

  • Place each idea on the New Biology quadrant

  • For each idea, explain the following:

    • Degree of risk or likelihood of success

    • Why it requires cross-agency effort and why it won’t happen any other way

    • Why it’s important: impact, if successful, on agriculture, energy, environment, health

2:15 p.m.

Break

2:30 p.m.

Plenary #2: Prioritization [Small Auditorium]

  • Breakout group progress reports

  • Plenary Discussion: prioritize

    • Refine and perhaps begin to cluster ideas

    • Initial brainstorming on cross-cutting knowledge areas and technologies or shared resources that might contribute to multiple “decadal challenges”

4:00 p.m.

Breakout #2 [See breakout group assignments and locations]

  • Begin to identify the “decadal-level” research problems and questions that investigators could address in order to achieve them

  • Questions include the following:

    • What is needed in terms of basic knowledge, new technologies, and infrastructure?

    • What other fields need to be involved?

    • What educational programs are needed to produce the right kinds of researchers?

  • Consideration of timing, sequence, and interactions among ideas

5:30 p.m.

Break

6:15 p.m.

Dinner (in mixed groups) [Small Dining Room]

  • Representative from each group should brief dinner companions on the day’s discussions; scribes take notes

8:00 p.m.

Continued interactions and discussion [Rathskeller Lounge] Steering committee meeting with rapporteurs

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×

FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2010

7:30 a.m.

Breakfast available until 8:30 a.m. [Small Dining Room]

8:30 a.m.

Plenary #3: Development of Decadal-Level Agenda [Small Auditorium]

  • Reports of dinner discussions

  • Development of master chart

  • Organization of Breakout #3

10:00 a.m.

Break

10:15 a.m.

Breakout #3 (as determined in plenary #3) [Rooms N-140, N-238, S-221]

11:30 a.m.

Plenary #4: Small-Group Breakout Reports [Small Auditorium]

12:30 p.m.

Lunch (Steering committee and rapporteurs meet again) [Small Dining Room]

1:30 p.m.

Breakout #4: Gap Filling (as determined over lunch) [Rooms N-140, N-238, S-221]

  • Goal is to capture all ideas: the resulting workshop report will include only ideas discussed at the workshop

2:30 p.m.

Final Plenary [Small Auditorium]

  • Identify immediate priorities: top five actions that need to happen in the next year

  • Getting the message out: brainstorming on how participants can continue to be involved in the New Biology effort

3:30 p.m.

Adjourn

Direct and in-kind support for the workshop has been provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

A New Biology for the 21st Century was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IMPLEMENTING THE NEW BIOLOGY: DECADAL CHALLENGES LINKING FOOD, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Board on Life Sciences, National Research Council


June 3-4, 2010 • Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland


Bonnie L. Bassler, Ph.D.

HHMI Investigator

Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology

Princeton University


Roger N. Beachy, Ph.D.

Director

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

U.S. Department of Agriculture


Edward S. Buckler, Ph.D.

Agricultural Research Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Adjunct Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics

Cornell University


Vicki L. Chandler, Ph.D. [planning committee]

Chief Program Officer, Science

Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation; and

Regents’ Professor, Departments of Plant Sciences and Molecular & Cellular Biology

University of Arizona


Jeffery L. Dangl, Ph.D.

John N. Couch Professor of Biology

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Edward F. DeLong, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Division of Biological Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology


Joseph R. Ecker, Ph.D.

Professor, Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory

Salk Institute for Biological Studies


Sean R. Eddy, Ph.D.

Group Leader

Janelia Farm Research Campus

Howard Hughes Medical Institute


Richard Flavell, Ph.D., FRS, CBE

Chief Scientific Officer

Ceres, Inc.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×

Jeffrey I. Gordon [planning committee]

Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor

Director, Center for Genome Sciences

School of Medicine

Washington University in St. Louis


Steve A. Kay, Ph.D.

Dean, Division of Biological Sciences

Richard C. Atkinson Chair in the Biological Sciences

Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology

University of California, San Diego


Steven E. Koonin, Ph.D.

Under Secretary for Science

U.S. Department of Energy


Stephen P. Long, Ph.D.

Robert Emerson Professor

Departments of Plant Biology and Crop Sciences

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and

Deputy Director

Energy Biosciences Institute


James A. MacMahon, Ph.D.

Dean, College of Science

Trustee Professor, Department of Biology

Director, Ecology Center

Utah State University; and

Chair, Board of Directors

National Ecological Observatory Network, Inc.


Rebecca J. Nelson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Departments of Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology and Plant Breeding & Genetics

Cornell University; and

Scientific Director, McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program


Donald R. Ort, Ph.D.

Professor of Plant Biology

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Photosynthesis Research Unit

Agricultural Research Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture


Ann H. Reid

Director

American Academy of Microbiology

American Society for Microbiology


Charles W. Rice, Ph.D.

University Distinguished Professor, Soil Microbiology

Department of Agronomy

Kansas State University; and President-Elect, Soil Science Society of America


Martha Schlicher, Ph.D.

Bioenergy Lead

Monsanto Company

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×

Christopher R. Somerville, Ph.D. [planning committee]

Director

Energy Biosciences Institute; and

Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology

University of California, Berkeley; and

Visiting Scientist

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory


Gary Stacey, Ph.D.

Missouri Soybean Biotechnology Professor in Functional Genomics and Integrated Advanced Technologies

Professor of Plant Sciences and Joint Professor of Biochemistry

Director, Center for Sustainable Energy

University of Missouri; and Associate Director, National Center for Soybean Biotechnology


Gregory Stephanopoulos, Ph.D.

Professor of Chemical Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology


Julie A. Theriot, Ph.D.

HHMI Investigator

Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Microbiology & Immunology

Stanford University


Robert Tjian, Ph.D.

President

Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

University of California, Berkeley


Keith Yamamoto, Ph.D. [planning committee]

Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology

Executive Vice Dean, School of Medicine

University of California, San Francisco

AGENCY OBSERVERS

Roland F. Hirsh, Ph.D.

Program Manager, Climate & Environmental Sciences Division

Office of Biological & Environmental Research

U.S. Department of Energy


Lynn Hudson, Ph.D.

Director

Office of Science Policy Analysis

Office of Science Policy

Office of the Director

National Institutes of Health


Tom Kalil

Deputy Director for Policy

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Executive Office of the President

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×

Mary E. Maxon, Ph.D.

Deputy Executive Director

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)


Philip S. Perlman, Ph.D.

Senior Scientific Officer

Director, Research Facilities

Howard Hughes Medical Institute


Carl D. Rhodes, Ph.D.

Senior Scientific Officer

Howard Hughes Medical Institute


Zeev Rosenzweig, Ph.D.

Program Officer

Division of Chemistry

Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences

National Science Foundation


Joann P. Roskoski, Ph.D.

Acting Assistant Director for Biological Sciences

National Science Foundation


Sharlene C. Weatherwax, Ph.D.

Director, Biological Systems Science Division

Office of Biological & Environmental Research

U.S. Department of Energy

NATIONAL ACADEMIES STAFF

Lida Anestidou, D.V.M., Ph.D. (LAnestidou@nas.edu)

Senior Program Officer

Institute for Laboratory Animal Research

National Research Council


Adam P. Fagen, Ph.D. (AFagen@nas.edu)

Senior Program Officer

Board on Life Sciences

National Research Council


India Hook-Barnard, Ph.D. (IHook@nas.edu)

Program Officer

Board on Life Sciences

National Research Council


Jo L. Husbands, Ph.D. (JHusbands@nas.edu)

Scholar, Senior Project Director

Board on Life Sciences

National Research Council


Robin Schoen (RSchoen@nas.edu)

Director

Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources

National Research Council


Frances E. Sharples, Ph.D. (FSharples@nas.edu)

Senior Director

Board on Life Sciences

National Research Council


Paula Tarnapol Whitacre (ptw@fullcircle.org)

Consultant Science Writer; and

Principal

Full Circle Communications, LLC

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×
Page 35
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×
Page 36
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×
Page 37
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×
Page 38
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×
Page 39
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×
Page 40
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×
Page 41
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Workshop Background." National Research Council. 2010. Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment: Summary of a Workshop, June 3-4, 2010. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13018.
×
Page 42
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As the second decade of the 21st century begins, the challenge of how to feed a growing world population and provide sustainable, affordable energy to fulfill daily needs, while also improving human health and protecting the environment, is clear and urgent. Increasing demand for food and energy is projected at the same time as the supply of land and other resources decrease. Increasing levels of greenhouse gasses alter climate, which, in turn, has life-changing implications for a broad range of plant and animal species.

But promising developments are on the horizon--scientific discoveries and technologies that have the potential to contribute practical solutions to these seemingly intractable problems. As described in the 2009 National Research Council book, A New Biology for the 21st Century, biological research has experienced extraordinary scientific and technological advances in recent years that have allowed biologists to collect and make sense of ever more detailed observations at ever smaller time intervals. With these advances have come increasingly fruitful collaborations of biologists with scientists and engineers from other disciplines.

A New Biology for the 21st Century called for a series of workshops to provide concrete examples of what New Biology research programs could look like. The present volume summarizes the first of those workshops, Implementing the New Biology: Decadal Challenges Linking Food, Energy, and the Environment.

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