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IlS ENVnONMEhTTAL RESEAKCH AND DEVELOPMENTT 



mate change, defbrestaiion. and populauon growth. The new foou on environ- 

 mental R&D within the Defctue Depanment would be accomplished by utilizing 

 information gathered by intelligence sources, by sharing previously inaccessible dau 

 gathered from military aircraft, ships, and submarines with environmental researchers, 

 and by providing access to DoD supercomputers for modeling and data analysis. 

 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is an important contributor to 

 environment-related research at DoD. The Gjrps is specifically responsible for rwo 

 of the rwcnty-eight technical areas slated for research under SERDP, civil engineering 

 and envirotunental quality. The Corps also houses an active wetlands study program. 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



The Smithsonian Institution is home to a wide range of research and educational 

 organizations, including founeen museums and research stations worldwide. Al- 

 though overall funding for environmental research is modest in comparison to some 

 other agencies — $)) million in 1991 — the diverse components of the Smithsonian 

 study a great many environmental topics. Seven research bureaus conduct most of 

 the environmental research programs: the National Air and Space Museum, the 

 National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, 

 the National Zoological Park, the Smithsonian Asuophysical Observatory, the Smith- 

 sonian Environmental Research Center, and the Smithsonian Iropical Research In- 

 stitute."' For example, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, on the 

 Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, focuses on landscape ecology— the envirotunental 

 interaction between ecosystems and habiuts, with a s[>ccial emphasis on wetlands— 

 and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, headquanered in Panama, studies 

 the ecology, behavior, and evolution of tropical organisms and the impact of past 

 and present human activity on tropical ecosystems. The National Museum of Nat- 

 ural History has the largest budget for envirotunental R&D, about $2.1 million in 

 1991. Its research includes extensive programs on biodiversity, systematics, paleo- 

 ecology, and the interactions between humans and nature. 



OTHER AGENCIES 



A number of other federal agencies operate small programs that are related to en- 

 virotunental R&D, including the Agency for International Development, the Ten- 

 nessee Valley Authority, and the Department of Iransponation. 



The Agency for International Development (AID) supports environment- 

 related research in agricultural and natural resource development. A large ponion 

 of this program is devoted to research on the social and economic aspects of en- 

 virotunental issues. AID'S environmental R&D program is largely applied and largely 

 extramural, totaling $4; million in 1992.. 



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