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Dr. Nancy B. Grimm

Dear CAP Colleagues,
I am very pleased to inform all of my CAP LTER colleagues that our renewal proposal to the NSF has been recommended for funding! This is a tremendous accomplishment that is owed in large measure to all of your intellectual efforts. Recall that we began the process of conceiving the next stage of LTER research at our 2009 Annual Symposium, with working groups brainstorming ideas. Every one of you should feel some ownership in this successful renewal.

The reviews of our proposal were mostly extremely positive. I am looking forward to seeing the new projects get underway, and to the substantial inroads into synthesis and scenarios that we have proposed to make over the next six years. We were asked to provide a brief addendum that listed the questions, treatments, and domains for each of our proposed experiments; the CAP Executive Committee and I completed this task and received notification within a few days that we were to be fully funded. We have posted the addendum on the CAP web site for those who would like to review it.

In addition to news of the renewal, I also have some personal news to share. I will be taking a position at the National Science Foundation (as a rotator) for the next two years, beginning in September. The position is one that was created with the goal of bringing programs in the Biology and Geosciences Directorates closer together, but I expect there will be opportunities to try to create a greater number of interdisciplinary programs in general at the NSF (including not just BIO and GEO but also Engineering and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences). I am excited to be in a position where I can try to make such things happen, and my experience with CAP LTER has obviously shaped my view of how such initiatives can be accomplished. I have always had a desire to contribute to my field by serving as a program officer at the NSF, but until now the timing has not been good.

So what happens to CAP in my absence? My own personal research with CAP and related projects will continue, but I cannot be the lead PI of CAP while at NSF. I’ve asked Dan Childers to step in, and I am very happy to announce that he has agreed to be the lead PI for CAP for the next two years. Dan has a great deal of experience with LTER, as he was the Lead PI for the Florida Coastal Everglades LTER and was a key player in the network development of the LTER-wide ISSE initiative. As you can see, we get along and work together well. We are working on making the transition during the summer months; as of September 1 you should contact Dan for any issues that you might have discussed with me previously. Of course, you also can continue to work with Marcia Nation for any CAP-related concerns. Dan and I will be in close contact throughout my time at NSF; I will continue to meet with the Executive Committee to the extent possible, but Dan will be the ultimate authority on decisions regarding CAP research and education for the next two years (and you will hear from Dan in this space for the next two years, as well!).

So, in summary—congratulations to all on the renewal of the CAP LTER project. I am excited about the new and ongoing research we have proposed, and I am confident in the ability of our executive committee, Dan Childers, and all of you to keep this project going at the very high level we have enjoyed over the past few years.

With my best wishes,

Nancy