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The Place of NOAA & the National Institute of Standards & Technology in the Overall Science Enterprise 4 Mar 2009
The House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science held a hearing discussing “The Place of NOAA and NIST in the Overall Science Enterprise” on 4 March 2009. In attendance were two witnesses: James Serum, President of Scitek Ventures, representing NIST, and Dr. Susan Avery, President and Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, representing NOAA.
Dr. Avery began by acknowledging her “primary message today is that NOAA is critical to our nation’s research effort to understand our planet as an integrated system in which the oceanic, atmospheric, and terrestrial environments interact in a highly complex fashion.” She referred to the 2007 Rising Above the Gathering Storm report, which recognized the important and significant contributions of science and engineering to the U.S. economy. Dr. Avery also reminded the committee that under NOAA’s umbrella is the National Weather Service, an agency that has a great stake in the US economy. “The economic bottom line is truly eye-opening: best estimates are that nearly a third of our Gross Domestic Product, or $3 trillion, is either directly or indirectly affected by weather and climate.” Dr. Avery noted that, unfortunately, NOAA does not receive the dollars it needs to fulfill its mission. Only 14 percent of its total budget is dedicated to research, which she noted is unfortunate because “research leads to understanding that refines the models that improve prediction that informs policy and therefore helps determine the ultimate economic benefit.”
Speaking along similar lines was James Serum who stressed the importance of NIST, noting that NIST’s measurement science is vital because “if you can’t measure something—you can’t control it […] and if you can’t control it—you can’t reliably manufacture it.” As such, NIST plays a large role in global trade and its standards and measurements were “integral to the successful development and adoption of virtually every one of the 20th century’s greatest engineering achievements.”
Both Dr. Avery and Serum underlined the importance of funding for NOAA and NIST as both organizations contribute considerably to the overall wellbeing of the US.