Subject: (Copy) NSF Directions
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Date: Mon, 30 Mar 92 09:56 EST

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Title       : NSF Directions Vol.4 No. 6, March 1992
Type        : Directions
NSF Contact : OLPA
Date        : March 4, 1992

Science in Hungary:
A Quest for New Relationships
 
by William A. Blanpied

     The dramatic changes since 1989 in what was until then
referred to as the Soviet bloc are having significant impacts on
the conduct and support of science. Scientists from the Soviet
Union and its former Warsaw Pact allies in Eastern and Eastern-
Central Europe have been liberated from many of the restrictions
they faced for so many years. In particular, they are free to
travel and work abroad and to communicate openly with foreign
colleagues.
 
     Despite these and other welcome changes, the prognosis for the
next five to ten years appears to be uncertain at best, and bleak
at worst. The principal reason is that support for science must now
be justified in terms of its contributions to national objectives,
much changed from what they were as recently as three years ago.
 
     Among the former Warsaw Pact nations, the Czech and Slovak
Federated Republic (CSFR), Hungary, and Poland appear to be in the
best position to become fully functioning members of the
international scientific community in the near future. The National
Science Foundation (NSF) manages bilateral agreements in basic
research with counterpart organizations in all three countries, as
well as in Bulgaria, Romania, and the Soviet Union itself. Of
these, the oldest by far is with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
(HAS), dating from 1972. When, in the fall of 1990, officials from
HAS approached NSF about the possibility of a pair of workshops to
explore the implications--for science and our bilateral
relationship--of the rapid political and economic changes in
Hungary, the Foundation readily agreed. Because other countries in
what is now called the Eastern-Central European region share many
of the problems that confront science in Hungary, NSF officials
reasoned that what they might learn from in-depth discussions with
the Hungarians could be broadly applied elsewhere.
 
     The first of the two workshops was held in Arlington,
Virginia, in May 1991. On that occasion, 10 Hungarian scientists
and policy-level officials exchanged insights for three days with
U.S. experts from government and academia. In October, 12 of those
U.S. participants traveled to Tihany, Hungary, on the shore of Lake
Balaton to meet with Hungarian experts from government, HAS, the
universities, and the newly emergent industrial sector. Because the
U.S. participants had encountered the core Hungarian delegation
previously, discussions at Tihany were frank and open ended.
 
     A report on the two workshops, available in early 1991, should
indicate that a dominant theme at Tihany was the quest for new sets
of relationships: among scientists and their institutions; between
scientific institutions and a new democratic government; and
between science and the newly enfranchised--and vocal--public.
 
     Although most of the Hungarians at Tihany were guardedly
optimistic about the long-term future of science, considerable
short-term pessimism was also evident. This mood is the result of
dislocations associated with the country's transition to a
political democracy and a market economy, a transition that has led
to the following conditions:
 
     o  Because of overall economic stringencies, government
support for research is likely to be reduced by 20 percent or more
during the coming year. (In Poland, reductions could be as much as
30 percent.)
 
     o  Research support must now be justified primarily in terms
of short-term economic benefits. Arguments for such support are
made to governments trying to master democratic processes while
they struggle to maintain short-term economic viability. As a
result, there is justifiable concern about the future of basic
research in the country.
 
     o  The former, centralized research systems are being
disestablished, in part because they are inconsistent with the
desired market economies, in part because of their associations
with the former, discredited Communist regimes. The evolving,
decentralized system is as yet untested.
 
     o  Private-sector research investments are almost nonexistent.
Mechanisms to aid knowledge-transfer from public-sector research
institutes to industry--both public and private--are at best weak.
 
     o  A decreasing number of young people appear to be selecting
science and engineering careers. Those who do are obliged to go
abroad for postgraduate education, and the number intending to
return home remains uncertain.
 
     Obviously, the problems confronting science in Hungary and
throughout Eastern-Central Europe must be resolved by those
countries themselves. However, the Hungarians at Tihany emphasized
that the U.S. scientific community can play an essential role in
helping them maintain the viability of science in their country.
U.S. scientists can do this by aiding and expanding international
communication while the Hungarians work to resolve their current
policy dilemmas.
 
     Scientists in Eastern-Central Europe have little experience
with the non-governmental or quasi-governmental organizations, such
as private industry and professional associations, that are such
a key part of science policy systems in the United States. Perhaps
the most effective role the U.S. scientific community could play
would be to encourage the development of effective non-governmental
institutions. These will be essential if science is to become an
integral component of the new societies in Eastern-Central Europe.
 
William Blanpied is a Senior International Analyst in the
International Programs Division of NSF's Directorate for
Scientific, Technological, and International Affairs
 
---------------------------
Looking to the 21st Century
 
     The Directorate for Biological, Behavioral, and Social
Sciences (BBS) was established in 1976 and over the next 15 years
little change was made in its original organizational structure.
A few programs have been created or disestablished; one division
has split into two; and one division for infrastructure has been
created. Scientifically and operationally, however, our programs
and divisions have changed little.
 
     In 1989, shortly after I became the Assistant Director, I
decided that it was time to assess progress in our areas of
responsibility. And, as we were about to enter the final decade
of this century, it seemed a suitable time to reexamine the NSF
role in supporting those areas and to determine whether our
organizational structure encouraged and accommodated the rapid
changes of contemporary science.
 
     In June 1990, I established the BBS Task Force, Looking to
the 21st Century. I asked twenty scientists from our scientific
communities to serve on the group. They had been recommended as
leading scientists known for their ability to think beyond narrow
disciplinary interests to the larger issues, opportunities, and
challenges confronting us in the years ahead. I asked Dr. Pete
Magee, Dean of the College of Biological Sciences, The University
of Minnesota, to chair the group.
 
     The formal charges to the Task Force were:
 
o    to evaluate our organizational structure and determine if it
     would meet the future needs of the sciences in the
     Directorate;
 
o    to recommend options for organizational change that would
     help NSF respond to new opportunities and challenges over
     the next decade; and
 
o    to identify ways to further develop improvements in the
     scientific infrastructure, in NSF proposal review and
     program management, in the selection of scientific agenda
     and initiatives, and through other nonstructural changes.
 
     The Task Force met four times between September 1990 and
March 1991. Five working groups examined such concerns as human
resources, infrastructure, and interdisciplinary science.
 
     The heart of the Task Force's information-gathering effort,
however, was a 2-day public hearing held in November 1990. There,
representatives of 55 scientific societies and associations gave
us their views on issues facing the Task Force. Many other groups
sent written testimony for our consideration and for the record.
Initiating a dialogue in an open forum with many diverse
disciplines proved to be one of the most beneficial parts of the
entire effort for all concerned. We established contacts that I
intend to maintain and strengthen.
 
     In June 1991 the Task Force's final report was released.
Included were a number of recommendations for change in the BBS
directorate's organizational structure and practices. Those
recommendations were considered by NSF's Director, Dr. Walter
Massey, by the National Science Board at its June 1991 meeting,
and by BBS management.
 
     The most significant impact of the Task Force's
recommendations came in the reorganization of NSF announced by
Dr. Massey on October 11, 1991. BBS will now be split into the
Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE)
and the Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO). This change
reflects NSF's efforts to respond effectively to new
opportunities and challenges in the rapidly advancing fields in
these disciplines.
 
     The Task Force Report contains many recommendations that go
beyond changes in organizational structure. Many of them are
currently underway in the new BIO Directorate. These
recommendations, along with a continuing dialogue with the
scientific community, will continue to be very much a part of our
directorate's future plans. The work of this Task Force has
already made a major impact on the organization of the Foundation
and will continue to influence the style and direction of
developments in the biological, behavioral, and social sciences
for years to come.
 
Dr. Mary Clutter is the Assistant Director for the Directorate
for Biological, Behavioral, and Social Sciences

------------------------
National Education Goals
 
In 1990, President Bush and the governors of the 50 states adopted
six national goals for education. Aimed at making the United States
internationally competitive, the goals declare that by the year
2000:
 
o    All children in America will start school ready to learn.
 
o    The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90
percent.
 
o    American students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having
demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including
English, mathematics, science, history, and geography; and every
school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their
minds well, so that they may be prepared for responsible
citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our
modern economy.
 
o    U.S. students will be first in the world in science and
mathematics achievement.
 
o    Every adult American will be literate and possess the
knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and
exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
 
o    Every school in America will be free of drugs and violence and
will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.

----------------------------------
Rough Ride on the Street of Dreams
 
     Throughout the past decade, school systems have been
challenged by the national outcry for improvement in science and
mathematics programs. The call for reform is based largely on
comparisons of student achievement in the United States with that
of students in other industrialized nations. These comparisons
report that U.S. students are far behind in the skills and
knowledge necessary to compete effectively in the 21st Century.
 
     Added to these challenges is National Education Goal four
which states that by the year 2000, United States students will be
first in the world in science and mathematics.
 
     In response to these challenges, many schools and school
systems have begun to redesign their science, mathematics, and
technology programs to provide more integration of subjects,
increased application of skills and concepts, and "hands-on"
activities. To implement these changes effectively, teachers are
being trained in new content, instructional techniques, and
assessment strategies.
 
     In the Prince George's County (PGC) School System, our sights
have been focused on making changes which we believe will improve
the knowledge and skills of all our students. These changes are
manifested through magnet and specialty programs which focus on
science, mathematics, and/or technology, as well as redesign of our
science curriculum to emphasize the process skills of science--
especially critical thinking and problem solving.
 
     With these improvements has come the need for more teacher
training, curriculum development, increased laboratory time and
activities, updated equipment and supplies, and opportunities to
visit industrial and research sites. But innovations and
advancements of this nature demand more funding for science
education.
 
     For the past two years, in spite of an ever increasing
commitment to improve science education, budget shortfalls have
caused us to reduce expenditures and have put a severe strain on
our ability to preserve and enhance the quality of our programs.
In such a fiscally stressed environment, school systems must
continually look for alternative approaches. Thus the PGC Public
School System has actively cultivated the mutual interest of
businesses and higher education and community groups in forming
partnerships for science education.
 
     In our school system, enhancing science, mathematics, and
technology education--both within and beyond the regular student
classroom experience--has been an important focal point for
interested business, industry, government, and higher education
groups. This focus generally has been expressed in three major
categories:  Programs, Events, and Staff Development.
 
     Programs:  The Challenger Learning Center is a unique and
highly acclaimed laboratory. It features a "mission site" that
simulates a space station and mission-control facility. The Center
was developed through the efforts of government, business, and
industry groups. It is the first such operation directly owned and
operated by a public school system.
 
     A partnership between NSF and the school system seeks to
advance our reforms. Through an NSF grant, we are working with the
Education Development Center, Inc. of Newton, Massachusetts, to
institute long-term reform activities at the elementary level.
Other NSF grants have helped with innovative program design at the
high school level. These reform efforts should have far-reaching
implications for the future of science education in PGC Public
Schools.
 
     Events:  We have been able to sponsor many exciting and
innovative science events with support from the scientific,
business, and higher education communities. For example, each year
the Regional Science Fair, gives hundreds of secondary students an
opportunity to vie for local and international awards. At the
elementary level, an annual county science fair has received
support from business and industry resources. Institutions of
higher education have helped us expand the range of experiences for
our students. For example:
 
     o  Science Trek, an all day Saturday program features seminars
for 500 elementary students and their parents. It takes place
annually with support from the Prince George's Community College,
and with contributions from business and industry.
 
     o  At that same community college, scientists and engineers
broaden the horizons of 500 high school juniors at the annual SEE
Day (Science and Engineering Education). In small groups, the
scientists and engineers meet with the students to share the nature
of their profession, what they do, and the preparation required for
success in that career.
 
     o  In an outreach program underwritten by the University of
Maryland (Baltimore County) and the Martin Marietta Corporation,
high school junior students take part annually in the Maryland
Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, where original student
research papers are presented in a statewide competition.
 
     Staff Development:  In a novel higher education program with
Loyola College, the school system shares the cost of a Master's in
Science degree program with interested elementary and middle school
science teachers. Local expenditures for this program are augmented
with funds from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Grant for Science and
Mathematics. These same grant monies are also the source of funding
for an array of staff development opportunities for hundreds of
math and science teachers.
 
     The Prince George's Community College also supports an annual
Summer Institute, which has helped upgrade the skills and knowledge
of several hundred elementary and middle school teachers of
science.
 
     At the University of Maryland, College Park, (UMCP), the
Zoology Department offers a five-week Summer Biology Institute for
high school biology teachers, who receive both graduate credit and
a stipend. Dozens of teachers have participated in this advanced
program, supported by the Maryland Higher Education Commission.
Also at UMCP, a coalition of scientists and engineers plans and
presents, in conjunction with PGC Public Schools, an annual LEOS
(Laser and Electro-Optics Society) Day. This involves 125 science
teachers (K-12) in hands-on opportunities to work with lasers and
electro-optic devices.
 
                     ----------------------
 
     To provide the very best science and math experiences for our
students in a time of severe fiscal stress, the Prince George's
County School System will continue to search for opportunities that
invite and develop collaborative efforts and meaningful
partnerships in the business community and elsewhere. When fiscal
conditions improve, our students will have the advantage of both
worlds:  a dependable flow of appropriate materials, equipment, and
facilities, as well as continued ties to the interested community
at large. There is reason for optimism.
 
     Edward M. Felegy is Superintendent of Schools, Prince George's
County, Maryland

--------------
Notes in Brief
 
Grants for Science Education Reform
 
     Two school systems in the State of Maryland are recent
recipients of NSF awards. "This collaboration between NSF and
school districts is a result of our efforts to engage schools
directly in reforming science and mathematics education," noted
Luther Williams, NSF Assistant Director for Education and Human
Resources.
 
     A grant of $195,930 to the Prince George's County Public
School (PGCPS) system provided funds for a three-day training and
technical assistance conference. Held in September 1991, this
conference was a collaboration between PGCPS staff and the
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) of Newton, Massachusetts.
Follow-up activities will take place during the 1991-1992 school
year.
 
     School participants include elementary principals, district
central office administrators, and science teachers in county
elementary schools. Local university faculty and administrators,
business and industry representatives, and EDC staff will provide
technical assistance to the county throughout the project.
 
     NSF has awarded a grant to train some 1,400 Montgomery County
Public School System elementary teachers in a new science
curriculum that emphasizes investigative and hands-on learning for
young students. The teachers will then train other elementary
science teachers on the new approaches. The grant also funds a
science materials center that will provide equipment to all
elementary science teachers. The hands-on science projects aim to
help students learn science by doing science--moving them away from
memorizing and note-taking toward active exploration, analysis, and
critical thinking. The $1.6 million grant covers a five-year
period.
 
     For more information about these grants, request press
releases NSF PR 91-76 and NSF PR 91-96 from NSF's Office of
Legislative and Public Affairs, 202-357-9498.
 
Talking About Science
 
     The Talk of the Nation--a new, NSF-funded call-in program on
National Public Radio (NPR) seeks to encourage a lively examination
of the world of science. Produced at NPR member station WNYC-AM and
FM, the show is distributed live, via satellite, on Friday
afternoons from 2 to 4 pm (ET), and is anchored by Ira Flatow,
former host of the award-winning PBS science program Newton's
Apple.
 
     NSF Director Walter Massey noted that "NPR's science call-in
show will be an opportunity for the public to ask questions about
science, and for scientists to learn about what excites, puzzles,
or generally concerns American citizens about science. We at NSF
are pleased to support NPR's efforts to open this dialogue."
 
New Research Centers to Boost Economy
 
     NSF and state governments have joined with universities and
industry in a new effort to support basic and applied research,
promote technology, and encourage technology transfer. Through a
recent competition, NSF's program for State-Industry/University
Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC), will offer four years of
funding to six universities:  Case Western Reserve University, the
University of Maryland, Michigan State University, the State
University of New York at Binghampton, the University of Missouri
at Columbia, and North Carolina State University.
 
     NSF funds will support the centers' nonproprietary generic
research related to center-specific industrial applications, while
dollar-for-dollar matching funds from states and industry will
support both generic as well as directed research and development.
Results of NSF-funded research will be available to member
industries for their early use or as nonexclusive, royalty-free
patent rights.
 
     The State-IUCRC program resulted from an agreement between NSF
and the National Governors Association's Science and Technology
Council of the States; its goal is to boost local and regional
economies. States evaluated proposals from universities within
their jurisdiction, then submitted a maximum of two proposals to
NSF for merit review. For more information about State-IUCRCs
contact the program office at 202-357-7307.
 
NSF Staff and Local Outreach Activities
 
     NSF staff people have an important role in science and math
precollege education--a role that includes outreach to local
schools in our area. One of the best tools any science teacher can
have is a classroom volunteer who conveys the excitement of science
and engineering to school children.--Walter E. Massey, NSF Director
 
     In keeping with the Foundation's efforts to strengthen pre-
college science, math, and engineering education, NSF has boosted
its outreach service to science and math teachers in Washington-
area schools.
 
     During a recent recruitment campaign over 270 NSF staffers
(scientists, engineers, mathematicians, educators, and others)
signed up to promote science and technology in local schools,
including suburban Maryland and Virginia. These volunteers are
offering a wide range of activities, including demonstrations and
hands-on activities, mentoring and career information, and science
fair judging.

------------------
Sounding the Deeps
 
by Cheryl Lyn Dybas

   In September of 1988, the U.S. Navy research vessel Knorr
steamed into the picturesque inner harbor of Bergen, Norway.
Waiting to board the ship at Pier 7 were Peter Worcester and Bruce
Cornuelle, oceanographers at California's Scripps Institution of
Oceanography. The scientists had spent the previous month in Bergen
preparing for a research cruise aboard the Knorr to the Greenland
Sea, to test an advanced system of oceanographic instrumentation.
 
   At the Bergen pier, more than 80 tons of equipment were loaded
onto the ship. Says Worcester, "Every instrument had to be chained
or bolted to the deck to withstand the pitching and rolling the
vessel would encounter in the Greenland Sea's rough waters and icy
weather."
 
   After several days of hectic dockside activity, the Knorr
finally pulled away from the pier, threaded its way to the open
ocean through the fjord connecting Bergen to the sea, and headed
almost due north. Passing the Arctic Circle, the vessel continued
on into the Greenland Sea, well above the latitude of the northern
coast of Alaska. During the two days it took the oceanographers to
reach their destination, they performed final tests of their
equipment: a new system of ocean data-gathering instruments that
uses underwater sound to develop a "picture" of the ocean's
circulation.
 
    In an effort to understand more about how ocean circulation
moderates land temperatures and affects seasonal climate changes,
Worcester and Cornuelle are using a procedure similar to medical
x-ray tomography to obtain three-dimensional images of ocean
currents and temperatures. This new way of viewing the oceans is
called ocean acoustic tomography.
 
   Medical tomography involves using x-rays to make a two-
dimensional picture of a predetermined section of an object by
transmitting x-rays through it from many different directions. (By
comparison, a standard x-ray is a shadow-graph, showing the shadows
cast when x-rays are shone through an object in one direction.)
Explains Worcester, "Ocean acoustic tomography replaces x-rays with
acoustic signals and the patient with the ocean."
 
   For the past half century, physical oceanographic data have been
gathered by lowering instruments over the sides of  research ships.
Data are collected for four hours or so, then the instruments are
hauled back up and the ship steams on to the next point.
 
   A major expedition with the latest equipment can gather about
100 of these "vertical profiles" of the ocean in the course of a
month. With such data, oceanographers try to derive a picture of
ocean dynamics: the interplay of currents and eddies that
constitutes the underwater "weather" system driving both climate
and terrestrial weather--and hence life on Earth.
 
   These instruments, however, are much less dynamic than the
oceans they're designed to study. Dependent on the point-to-point
plodding of ships, they often fail to catch phenomena that occur
in a short time or on very small or very large scales. The use of
fixed, or moored, arrays of instruments in conjunction with those
used on moving ships helps in obtaining information, but as
Worcester points out, "What we've really needed is a system that
can provide essentially instantaneous maps of ocean properties over
large areas, much the way meteorologists generate weather maps."
 
   With the help of the NSF-funded supercomputer at the nearby San
Diego Supercomputer Center, Worcester and Cornuelle may have found
the answer in ocean acoustic tomography.
 
   The scientists' method works by exploiting the way sound travels
underwater. "The speed of sound in water is five times what it is
in air," explains Cornuelle. "That basic concept allowed us to
develop the relatively simple idea of ocean acoustic tomography."
The system uses the travel time of sound along a path in the ocean
between a source and a receiver to derive data. By transmitting
sound in opposite directions along a path, scientists can construct
detailed "pictures" of circulation in the sea.
 
   The simple physics meets up with some complicated mathematics,
however, when it comes to unraveling the acoustic signals.
"Applying tomography to the reconstruction of currents and eddies
is much more complicated than applying tomography to the human body
in its more well-known medical use," says Worcester. "The data are
incomplete and often inconsistent--and the 'patient' won't lie
still. Not to mention that the sheer amount of data generated over
miles and miles of ocean is unbelievably large."
 
   That's where the NSF-funded supercomputer comes in. "For a full
analysis of the data gathered, we get to supercomputer country very
quickly," laughs Cornuelle. He and Worcester used the San Diego
center's CRAY supercomputer to design an array of tomographic
instruments for a test-run in the Greenland Sea.
 
   Because its waters are so uniformly cold, this northern sea is
among the few areas of the ocean where surface waters mix to great
depths. Worcester and Cornuelle chose the Greenland Sea for their
test-run because ocean acoustic tomography would allow them to
produce the first three-dimensional maps of the area where this
deep mixing occurs.
 
     Explains Cornuelle, "We made a synthetic map of about 40,000
square kilometers of the Greenland Sea, then compared how well
different acoustic instrument arrays worked with synthetic data in
reconstructing the original map."
 
   Months later in the icy waters of the Greenland Sea, a three-
kilometer-long series of anchors, floats, and instruments was
released from the Knorr's fantail. First out was a red float,
followed by a collection of yellow glass floats, in the midst of
which--housed in a cagelike structure--sat the acoustic tomography
transceiver. The ship steamed slowly toward a prearranged point,
where the anchor was dropped, pulling the tomography instruments
below the surface of the ocean. It took more than six hours to
complete each "sounding" of the Greenland Sea's depths.
 
   One phenomenon the ocean acoustic tomography data later
revealed, thanks to the supercomputer's assistance in analyzing
data from the research cruise, is a relatively unusual occurrence
called a "chimney"--a parcel of surface water so cold and dense
that it extends in a whirl right to the bottom. Found mostly in the
colder seas of the world because their waters are so dense, this
almost complete mixing or overturning of an area of the ocean
appears to occur only in sudden and rare events.
 
   "These few places of direct exchange from the atmosphere to deep
water, although intermittent and turbulent, may be of real
importance in climatology," concludes Worcester. "We hope that
ocean acoustic tomography will aid us in studying this and other
similarly exceptional phenomena."
 
     Cheryl Lyn Dybas is a Science Writer in NSF's Office of
Legislative and Public Affairs.

-----------------------------------------
Sunshine Bass:
Futuristic Technology Produces "New" Fish
 
by Cheryl Lyn Dybas
 
     How many scientists can say that they've invented a fish? Jack
Van Olst and Jim Carlberg of Aquatic Systems, Inc. in San Diego,
California, are two who can. Their patented claim to fame, the
hybrid "Golden Sunshine Striped Bass," is rapidly becoming a
popular menu item on both coasts, thanks to aquaculture technology
developed through an NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
grant. Since 1977, the SBIR program has provided more than $110
million to small high-technology businesses for research that has
led to a variety of commercial products.
 
     Aquatic Systems annually produces more than 350,000 pounds of
Golden Sunshine Striped Bass, most of which finds its way to
restaurateurs. "This 'new' fish sells extremely well because of its
mild taste and flaky texture," says Nick Nicholas, owner of Nick's
Fishmarket in Chicago. "Sunshine Bass is one of the freshest and
best tasting fish we have ever served."
 
     Van Olst and Carlberg's striped bass research is at the
forefront of a relatively new field called thermal aquaculture, the
method that led to Aquatic Systems' success with Sunshine Bass.
This futuristic technology employs heated water--either residual
water from power plants and water treatment facilities or naturally
occurring geothermal hot springs--to stimulate rapid growth in
fish.
 
     After conducting successful experiments on the use of warm
water in fish culture, the two biologists recognized the need for
a fish species particularly suited to a geothermally-driven
aquaculture system. With SBIR funding for feasibility studies and
full-scale research projects, they "invented" the fast-growing
hybrid fish. Explains Carlberg, "This fish, a cross between the
white bass (Morone Chrysops) and the striped bass (Morone
Saxatilis) is full of what geneticists call 'hybrid vigor'--the
best traits of both parents, magnified. The Sunshine Bass has a
large size, and is disease-resistant and fast-growing."
 
     Aquatic Systems gets its "starter" brood fish from the
Sacramento River Delta in California or from the Coos River in
Oregon. The fish are trucked to the company's small tanks in San
Diego during spawning season--April to June--and the eggs are
removed and fertilized, explains Steve Mitchell, a fishery
biologist at Aquatic Systems. The young bass larvae are nurtured
in these small tanks, then flown to a facility two hours away near
the town of Mecca in California's Coachella Valley.
 
     There, up to 400,000 bass at a time are grown in 48 round
concrete tanks heated with 80-degree water from geothermal wells.
The facility resembles the moonscape-like location of a James Bond
movie, and in fact, industrial espionage has occurred at this
desert site, say Carlberg and Van Olst.
 
     Says Van Olst, "We've had situations where our competitors'
planes have flown over the facility at night, loaded with infrared
camera equipment, in attempts to find out how we do what we do!"
 
     The answer to that question lies in the super-heated waters
of nearby subterranean hot springs, thanks to which a fingerling
bass--through an accelerated growth process--becomes a two-pound
adult in less than a year.
 
     Historically, striped bass was a favorite of fish lovers
because of its mild taste. According to Van Olst, America's
earliest settlers were quick to make "striper" part of their diet.
Jamestown's Captain John Smith wrote of the fish, "They are more
than large enough to give a good eater a handsome dinner."
 
     Van Olst points out that Smith also claims to have seen rivers
so full of striped bass that "at the turning of the tyde...one
might go over their backs dryshod." In more recent times, however,
biologists cite fishing pressure as the reason the striped bass
fishery has all but closed. While state-run stocking programs have
put striped bass and white bass into Western and Southern waters
(including Oregon's Five Mile Reservoir, which now holds the
Sunshine hybrid), such introductions are usually only enough to
keep sport fishermen supplied.
 
     But, says Joan Mitchell, ocean sciences program manager at
NSF, "As a result of Aquatic Systems' successful domestication of
striped bass brood stock, and its development of an intensive
fingerling culture technique, the supply of striped bass should
soon greatly increase." And thanks to the company's marketing
efforts, Sunshine Bass may be on the menu later this year at
restaurants throughout the United States.
 
     Cheryl Lyn Dybas is a Science Writer in NSF's Office of
Legislative and Public Affairs.

..expires July 31, 1992
 
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