March 21-23, 2007

SNUG Members Meet with Elected Officials on Capitol Hill

Lobbying for full scientific funding in fiscal year 2008, the Synchrotron and Neutron Users’ Group (SNUG) journeyed to Washington, D.C. on March 21-23. The SNUG members, who represent five photon light sources and four high-flux neutron sources, met with 10 legislative leaders, many of whom sit on the Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee.

After thanking the committee members for increases to the FY2007 continuing resolution, the SNUG representatives stressed the need for continued support of facilities funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. The key message: a fully funded FY08 budget and continued increases in the following years is needed to remedy the financial troubles caused by consistent lean funding for the Office of Science.

The committee members were given information about DOE funding, as well as the names of industrial and general users in their states. They also gave examples of research being performed at the facilities, including: developing new methods of lithography to dramatically increase microprocessor efficiency and computer power; understanding crystal structures to improve the performance of industrial materials; learning how to prevent the plaque formation seen in Alzheimer’s disease; formulating new catalysts that improve gasoline yield from crude oil and reduce fuel emissions; reorganizing defects to improve the efficiency of solar cells; and exploring new mechanisms for hydrogen storage to use in hydrogen-powered vehicles. In turn, the committee members suggested that SNUG and other outreach groups continue to communicate the broad scope of research performed at synchrotron and neutron facilities and its usefulness to the American Competitiveness Initiative.

The SNUG representatives on the trip included Joy Andrews (California State University, East Bay for the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory), Gene Ice (Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Advanced Photon Source), Chris Jacobsen (Stony Brook University for the NSLS), Tom Koetzle (Argonne National Laboratory for the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source), Tonya Kuhl (University of California, Davis for the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center), Corie Ralston (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the Advanced Light Source), and Simon Bare (UOP, former chair of the NSLS Users’ Executive Committee). The group was assisted by Kim Duncan, Steve Pierson, and Mike Lubell of the American Physical Society.

ARTICLE BY: Kendra Snyder