Many NSF staff members, too numerous to mention individually, assisted the task force in its activities. The contributions of Dr. Robert Webber, Office of Information and Resource Management; Ms. Anne Tenney, Office of the Director; Dr. Marta Cehelsky and Ms. Jean Pomeroy, National Science Board Office; deserve special note, as do those of Dr. Margaret Cavanaugh, Program Director for Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry; Dr. David Campbell, Program Director for Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education; and Dr. Robert Eisenstein, Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

We also wish to thank Dr. James Edwards, Executive Officer, Directorate for Biological Sciences; Ms. Keelin Kuipers, Presidential Management Intern, Directorate for Biological Sciences; Dr. Thomas Spence, Senior Associate for Science Programs and Coordination, Directorate for Geosciences; Mr. Joseph Kull, NSF Chief Financial Officer; and Ms. Diane Weisz, Staff Associate, Office of Budget, Finance, and Award Management, who were most helpful in developing NSF-focused materials used by the task force.

Formation of the final recommendations of this report benefited greatly from comments received from representatives of U.S. Federal agencies; nongovernmental organizations—including in particular the Committee for the National Institute for the Environment; various professional science, engineering, and educational organizations; academic institu-tions; and members of the public.

The National Science Board is grateful to the many people who provided testimony at the hearings and symposia held by the task force, as well as those who assisted in making arrangements for these activities. The Board also thanks the diverse group of individuals who provided written comments to the task force via the web site and other mechanisms.