Summer 2004
Delivering Scientific Progress
When the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Va., denies a request for research funding, the disappointed petitioner occasionally unleashes tirades of frustration in the direction of senior science advisor Thomas Baerwald (M.A '75, Ph.D. '78, geography). "Long ago, I realized it was my job to stand and take it," says an unperturbed Baerwald. Once the dust settles, he often helps the researcher find ways to make the project a stronger candidate for funding.
A self-described "midwife" for scientific research, Baerwald is a director of the NSF's Geography and Regional Science Program, the coordinator of its Environmental Social and Behavioral Science activities, and overseer of several other projects. He is charged with stewarding taxpayer dollars, helping direct the flow of government-funded grants to projects he views as vital to advancing science. He keeps tabs on critical research endeavors in an array of fields, seeding new projects and redirecting established ones.
Climate change and biodiversity are just two of the hot research areas into which Baerwald has channeled dollars. But he doesn't just control purse strings, he says. His job is to encourage researchers to push the frontiers of science. "They deserve all the credit" for scientific achievements, he says. "But in the end, I have often played a very positive role in improving what was already a really good project."
A Fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science and recipient of a Distinguished Service Honors from the Association of American Geographers, Baerwald encourages researchers to work collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams. Environmental science has benefited immensely from such multifaceted approaches, he says. Global climate change, for example, cannot just be measured with a thermometer. It takes coordinated work by climatologists, geologists, biologists, chemists, and many other kinds of researchers to put global warming and its impact in appropriate context and to devise remedies.
Increasingly, Baerwald says, social scientists are being added to this list of experts. Citing the "human dimensions of climate change," he notes that human societies not only often cause environmental problems but also must deal with the consequences. An annual NSF competition on the "Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems" (which he directs) awards grants for projects that look beyond basic physical and biological science research to assess these human dimensions.
Mapping life's geography
Baerwald's interest in landscape dates to a childhood trip to the Grand Canyon. "My parents had to literally pick me up and force me back into the car so we could leave," the Indiana native says. "I was fascinated by the forces that had created this amazing thing"—and, he adds, by the impact of human-made forces and events.
Later, at Valparaiso University, he double-majored in history and geography. "Geographers can study anything," he says. "It's the questions that we ask that give us a distinctive identity as geographers. And the initial question is always, ‘Where?' Where does that happen, what's its geographic distribution on the map? If you can map it, it's geography."
In the 1970s, Baerwald and his wife migrated to Minnesota—she to enter the U of M Law School, he to enroll in what he calls "the best geography department in the country." He has continued to support the work and continuing preeminence of the department, giving generously to the Ralph H. Brown Fund for geography research.
Research for a better world
Baerwald initially planned to remain in the academy. But when his wife took a job in the Twin Cities, he declined an offer from Ohio State and eventually signed on with the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul, founding its geography department and overseeing the development of an exhibit on Minnesota's natural history. "The Mississippi River exhibit that's on display today is roughly the third or fourth generation of what we built," he notes with pride.
After a while, Baerwald was itching to return to the world of full-time research. So when a position at the National Science Foundation opened up, a friend urged, ‘What better place to put your finger on the pulse of active geographical research?"
Indeed, working at NSF gives Baerwald a bird's-eye view across a spectrum of fields—and the opportunity to advance the most important projects. "It's extremely fulfilling to see not only the advancement of knowledge, but also practical application of science," he says.
Baerwald is quick to point out that the basic research the NSF supports may yield applications only down the road. But when environmentalists, public policy experts, and industry harvest NSF data to devise solutions for a better world, Baerwald knows that he has played a part.
"Our research is done in a way that allows people to go back and review it—see what assumptions you've made, how you've gathered and interpreted the data," says Baerwald. Public officials and others may then use the basic research data "as they see fit" for solving problems and advancing causes.
"If the research that we're funding gets into controversial areas, we like to think that it can be used as a baseline by both sides," he notes. "Hopefully, it may even become a basis for coming together and figuring out strategies that allow all parties to achieve their goals in a rational manner."