Policy

Letter urging immediate withdraw of modifications to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program

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ASPB joins broad coalition of societies insisting that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately withdraw modifications to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program that would severely impact international students attending US universities. On behalf of the educational and scientific societies listed below, representing STEM professionals in all fields, both in the US and internationally, we … Read more

IPBES Launches External Review of its Draft Scoping Report for the Nexus Assessment and Requests Input from Technical Experts 

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The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the organization established to improve the interface between science and policy on issues of biodiversity and ecosystem services, welcomes input from technical experts on the draft scoping report of its nexus assessment.  The focus of the nexus assessment is to produce information needed to achieve the policy objectives of … Read more

USDA Relaxes Regulations for GE Crops – How Will it Affect the Plant Research Community?

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Chris Barbey, Ph.D. is a researcher at the University of Florida studying strawberry flavor and disease resistance.   Brand new USDA regulations for crop biotechnology will begin phasing in during June 2020. The new “SECURE” rules (Sustainable, Ecological, Consistent, Uniform, Responsible, Efficient) govern what is — and isn’t — required for USDA review before going … Read more

U.S. Federal Agency Responses and Research Opportunities: June 3-9, 2020

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Weekly updates on the US federal government’s response to COVID-19 and research opportunities. Federal Guidance Related to Research and Higher Education National Science Foundation (NSF) On June 5, it was noted at the NSF Environmental Research and Education (ERE) Advisory Committee that the Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) program expects to add sub-tracks related to COVID-19 … Read more

FFAR Releases Crops of the Future RFA

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On May 27, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) released a request for application (RFA) through its Crops of the Future Collaborative.  FFAR is seeking transformative research and technologies “focused on ensuring under-appreciated crops also benefit from recent advances and emerging technologies for genotype-independent regeneration of fertile plants to foster application of rapid breeding … Read more