Benefits of NSF work

Abstract

This fall I will leave my rotatorship as Associate Director for Chemical Oceanography at the National Science Foundation. I have very much enjoyed my duty and want to outline for those who may become “rotators” some of the job's benefits, since NSF is now seeking applicants to replace me. Batiza, Rea and Rumble [Eos, 69, 801, 1988] have discussed the rotator's experience; my comments supplement their points.

The most important benefit in working at NSF is the breadth of vision you acquire. This is important for researchers, because it pulls you away from your narrowly focused subfield and forces you to review again, as you did as a graduate student, your entire field. For teachers, this benefit is equally important, because you will keep up with current research even while away from teaching your up‐to‐date balanced courses. During my stay here I have reviewed proposals to study trace metals scavenging, gas exchange, sediment traps, biochemical cycling, stable and unstable isotopes, lipid biomarkers, sediment diagenesis, anoxic redox processes, and many other exciting topics. Some research areas, such as the vent and seep studies, had not been conceived when I was a graduate student in the sixties, so my experience here has been, in fact, a real sabbatical.