GIAR Newsletter—February, 2013
In this issue, we discuss the importance of communicating "the big picture" to potential funders, catch up with grant recipient and glaciologist Allen Pope, and continue our Centennial Series focusing on GIAR recipients of the past ninety years. Finally, we close with an acknowledgement of the newly created John Lydon Grant-in-Aid of Research by the D.C. Chapter.
As always, we ask that you please share newsletter with potential grant applicants, mentors and supporters of scientific research.
Why the big picture matters
It may come as a big surprise, but the readers of your grant proposals may not be as knowledgeable and passionate about your particular system as you are. The next time you are asked about your work by friends or colleagues and happily start sharing, keep this in mind—take a quick glance at your friends' faces—do you perhaps see a slightly glazed expression forming?
While you may know that the details are essential to complete your study, you must remember that it's possible that others may not immediately share your enthusiasm. Therefore, in the first part of your proposal, we ask that you work to immediately convince us of the importance of your work. The value of science is its predictive nature, so in adequately presenting the value of your work, you must remember to inform us of how your results will inform other studies.
For instance, one of the most frustrating justifications to read is that "we must survey an area before it is destroyed." In response to this statement, I must ask you to tell me Why? Can it serve as a baseline for other damaged habitats to be compared to? Or do you happen to work with a particular taxonomic group and wish to construct a phylogenetic tree? Making the tree "because there isn't one" doesn't justify funding. What is it about your particular group that makes it so valuable—what aspect of evolution/ speciation/ adaptation can it inform us of? You wish to study the structures of a particular geologic fault—Why? What can your particular geologic fault tell us about the properties of other faults?
Now, this is easier in hypothesis driven research, after all you have been practicing hypothesis making since grade school, and the big picture helps justify your hypothesis. Exploratory research may be less practiced these days, but it is still valuable and it does still have an objective. Why are you interested? What type of hypotheses do you think your research might generate?
Think of a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of research as the equivalent of an "elevator speech". Just as in an elevator speech you should be able to present your case in two minutes, in a Sigma Xi grant proposal you should be able to present your case in 500 words. To formulate both of these, you need a focused message that you present clearly, cohesively and persuasively. A well written application convinces us of the value and necessity of completing the project, even when we might know little about it. In other words,
Emma S. Creaser
Chair, Grants-in-Aid of Research Committee
What Color is a Glacier?
 Allen Pope (GIAR 2009 and 2011) spent six field seasons in the Arctic and Antarctic discovering how complex the answer to this question is. In 2011, his Sigma Xi grant help fund travel costs and the superjeep hire necessary for reaching the research site on the Langjökull Icecap, Iceland.
Watch this video with images from Allen's 6 field seasons.
Allen's ongoing research is centered on using photoclinometry to interpolate an incomplete LiDAR survey of the Langjökull Icecap, using the resulting data set to investigate how the icecap has evolved over the last decade. Findings included a revised mass balance of the icecap, visualization of a recent surge of outlet Hagafellsjökull Eystri, and potential clues as to the future behavior of the icecap. More information on Allen and his research.
Follow Allen on Twitter
Centennial Series—Tilly Edinger
 In 1945, Sigma Xi awarded a GIAR to Ottilie "Tilly" Edinger to support her pioneering work in paleoneurology, the study of fossil brains. The grant aided Edinger in research that led to the 1948 publication of her book, The Evolution of the Horse Brain, which established her international reputation as the outstanding researcher in her field.
Six years earlier, Edinger was a Jewish refugee to England from Nazi Germany, escaping increased restrictions on her personal and academic freedom as well as the attacks of Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938).
Tilly was the youngest child of the well-known director and medical researcher, Ludwig Edinger, of the Frankfurt Neurological Institute. Her father objected to women pursuing a professional career. Nevertheless, Tilly worked as a research assistant at the Heidelberg Institute for Paleontology until 1927, when she became curator of fossil vertebrates at the Senckenberg Museum.
Edinger obtained a US visa in 1940 based on an offer from Harvard University as a researcher at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. She continued her groundbreaking research on fossil brains, publishing the 1948 book, as well as comprehensive bibliographies of her field. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship (1943–1944) and an American Association of University Women Fellowship (1950–1951). She was also president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (1963–1964).
Edinger received a second Sigma Xi grant in 1950. Her contributions to the field of paleoneurology include determining the extent to which endocasts reflect the anatomy of ancient brains, the adequacy of comparative anatomy to interpret brain evolution, the ability of brain endocasts to predict the lifestyles of extinct organisms, and if brain size has increased over geological time.
D.C. Chapter Honors Lydon and Supports the GIAR Centennial Program
 The District of Columbia Chapter recently established a new Grant-in-Aid of Research in honor of Dr. John Lydon who passed away on October 19, 2012. Lydon served as president of the D.C. Chapter from 1998–2002. He was a U.S. Air Force Veteran and botanist who served at the United State Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service (ARS) beginning in 1986. Lydon established a program for the biological control of weeds using microorganisms. He also managed the integrated pest management program and was liaison to the National Invasive Species Council.
The Lydon Grant-in-Aid of Research will be presented to a worthy applicant in the biosciences, preferably botany. Visit the Sigma Xi GIAR Centennial Page for more information on how special named funds can honor a legacy of and touch the future of science and engineering research.
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Apply Online Today
- Applications are being accepted in all fields of science and engineering
- Application Deadline is March 15, 2013
- Visit the GIAR Program page for more information
Readers Needed
The GIAR Program is seeking full Sigma Xi Members to serve as readers in Psychology and Ecology. E-mail kbowen@sigmaxi.org for more details
Student Research Presentation Opportunities
Sigma Xi will host two opportunities for students to present research in 2013. For more information on the Sigma Xi Student Conference and Virtual Student Research Showcase, visit Sigma Xi Meetings
Support Grants-in-Aid
Extend the hand of companionship to a young research scientist or engineer by visiting Support GIAR.
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Thank You!
Sigma Xi would like to thank the National Academy of Sciences for twenty-seven years of support for Grants-in-Aid of Research.
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