Partial Support of the Board on Earth Sciences of Resources and its Activities

该奖项将在未来30个月内为地球科学与资源委员会（BESR）提供部分支持。NSF为BESR提供大约20%的核心支持总成本；能源部、内政部和国家航空航天局也要求提供额外的支持。BESR协调国家研究委员会就固体地球科学问题向联邦政府提供建议。理事会查明促进基础研究的机会，报告地球科学在减轻灾害和资源利用等领域的应用情况，并分析用于资源、环境和其他应用以及决策的地球科学信息的科学基础和可信度。理事会的行动涉及地球科学和地球科学家教育的整体健康，这对维持和提高国家明智利用地球及其资源的能力至关重要。执行局1993年的报告《固体地球科学和社会》指出，地球科学界面临的挑战是对固体地球及其资源制订一种综合办法。世界范围内生活水平的提高和人口的增加结合起来，提出了从地球物理和化学的基本问题到资源、环境和土地利用等复杂问题的新问题。审计委员会正日益强调从一个传统上以资源发现、评价和开采为重点的领域过渡到一个日益以环境问题为主的领域所产生的影响。

This award provides partial support for the Board on Earth Sciences and Resources (BESR) over the next 30 months. NSF provides approximately 20% of the total cost of core support for BESR; additional support is also requested from the Department of Energy, Department of Interior, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. BESR coordinates the National Research CouncilOs advice to the federal government on solid earth science issues. The Board identifies opportunities for advancing basic research, reports on applications of earth sciences in such areas as disaster mitigation and resource utilization, and analyzes the scientific underpinnings and credibility of earth science information for resource, environmental and other applications and policy decisions. The BoardOs actions address the overall health of the earth sciences and the education or earth scientists that is vital to maintaining and increasing the nationOs capability to make wise use of the Earth and its resources. As enunciated in the BoardOs 1993 report, OSolid-Earth Sciences and SocietyO, the challenge to the earth science community is to develop an integrate approach to the solid earth and its resources. Worldwide improved living standards and population increases combine to pose new problems extending from basic issues of the physics and chemistry of the earth to complex considerations of resources, environment, and land utilization. The Board is giving increased emphasis to the impact of transition from a field traditionally focused on resource discovery, assessment, and extraction to one increasingly dominated by environmental concerns.