Raber

PHOTO BY LINDA RABER

In a Sept. 20 letter to President George W. Bush, the presidents of the academies suggested the "involvement of the U.S. scientific and technology community in assessing threats, developing countermeasures, and designing responses to terrorist incidents." And at its Oct. 5 meeting, BCST explored ways the chemical sciences community could offer its expertise to meet the immediate and longer term needs of a government challenged by the expanding dimensions of terrorism.

At that meeting, BCST decided to expand the scope of its study "Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century" by adding a sixth workshop on national security and homeland defense. The workshop, scheduled for Jan. 14–16, 2002, in Irvine, Calif., will serve two purposes, explains BCST Director Douglas J. Raber. First, he says, it will "engage the chemical sciences R&D community in responding to the crisis." And it will "help federal agencies in their near-term decisions on how to invest long-term federal R&D dollars."

As a follow-on to this workshop, the ACS Committee on Science is planning a session on national security and homeland defense at the ACS spring national meeting in Orlando, Fla.

The January workshop will happen, although additional funding for it is being sought. But two projects suggested at an Oct. 23 BCST planning meeting of experts from industry, universities, and federal agencies still need NRC approval and funding.

One study would develop standard operating procedures for first responders to chemical, biological, or explosive materials emergencies--sort of a guidebook on how to respond under crisis conditions. A second study would assess the current status and future needs for rapid-reporting chemical, biological, and explosive detection systems. Evaluating marketplace-ready instrumentation could be done quickly. But more in-depth analyses could "be carried out to establish longer term R&D needs for detection and to develop the basis for a road map for meeting them," Raber says.

Finally, at the request of the leadership of the National Academies, BCST will hold an emergency closed-door session in December to discuss other ways in which the academies can frame projects that would help the U.S. respond to new threats. From these discussions, Raber says, "BCST will plan appropriate follow-on activities."

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