Travel Support for US Participants in an International Workshop on the Nitrogen Cycle (SPOT-ON, Warnemuende, Germany, June-July 2005)

最近的地球化学、生物学和海洋学研究共同提供了强有力的证据，证明海洋氮循环是高度动态的，并且在我们对影响海洋氮的重要过程和通量的认识中仍然存在重大的不确定性。 新的实验方法和将实地研究扩展到以前采样不足的地区，表明氮流入和流出海洋的主要通量足以在数千年的时间尺度上翻转海洋氮。 此时，对我们目前对海洋氮循环的理解进行广泛的综合是非常及时的，也是将未来的研究工作集中在氮循环及其与其他生物地球化学循环（例如，通过向格鲁吉亚理工学院颁发这一奖项，将提供旅费，资助大约17名美国科学家参加2005年6月26日至7月1日在德国瓦尔内明德举办的国际讲习班，评估和报告我们目前对海洋氮循环的了解。 研讨会的核心资金来自德国科学基金会，但这些资金不包括美国与会者的旅费。 该基金为来自美国研究机构的受邀演讲者提供基本机票，并为研究生和处于职业生涯早期阶段的科学家提供几笔差旅赠款。更广泛的影响：通过该基金提供的资金将为希望参加在瓦尔内明德举行的SPOT-ON研讨会的美国科学家提供差旅支持。 NSF的支持对于确保不同职业阶段的美国科学家能够参加这次研讨会至关重要。

ABSTRACTOCE-0508743Recent geochemical, biological, and oceanographic work have together provided strong evidence that the marine nitrogen cycle is highly dynamic and that significant uncertainties remain in our knowledge of the important processes and fluxes that affect nitrogen in the ocean. New experimental methods and the extension of field studies to previously undersampled regions have demonstrated that the major fluxes of nitrogen into and out of the ocean are sufficiently large to turn over oceanic nitrogen on a time scale of several millennia. At this time, a broad synthesis of our current understanding of the marine nitrogen cycle is very timely and a critical step in focusing future research efforts into the nitrogen cycle and its interactions with other biogeochemical cycles (e.g., the carbon cycle).With this award to the Georgia Institute of Technology, travel funds will be provided to support the attendance of approximately seventeen U.S. scientists at an international workshop to assess and report on our current understanding of the marine nitrogen cycle that has been organized for 26 June to 1 July 2005 in Warnemunde, Germany. Core funding for the workshop has been obtained from the German Science Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG), but these funds will not cover the travel costs of US participants. This NSF award provides funds to cover basic airfare for the invited speakers from US institutions and to provide several travel grants targeted at graduate students and scientists at an early stage of their career.Broader Impacts: Funding through this award will provide travel support to US scientists who wish to take part in the SPOT-ON workshop in Warnemunde. NSF support is essential to ensuring that a diverse group of US scientists of various career stages will be able to take part in this workshop.