The rate of funding for new research proposals at the National Science Foundation's Division of Environmental Biology last year was 7% (from preproposal submission, to full proposal submission and funding). High school seniors apply for admission to Yale University had a 7% chance of being accepted last year. Thus, the odds of funding from DEB, in last year's funding cycle, are, essentially, out of reach for most qualified researchers. This crisis is causing damage to our nation's basic science enterprise in an area of inquiry that is critically important in the face of anthropogenic change to the environment. We risk losing our status as the world-leader in environmental biology as a result. A simple change at NSF (funding more proposals at a lower rate) would help ameliorate this crisis.
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