National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Letters From SARA Archive

April 25, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

I have delayed writing this letter until I could share with you some insight into how our new AA views R&A, and how my role within SMD might change as a result. Well, it didn’t take long to find out that Ed Weiler is a wonderful person to work for and with, and I am optimistic that NASA science will continue to benefit from the support of mission enabling and data analysis activities under his direction. I know, you are thinking I have to say stuff like that, but it is really true. Let me share with you some of the insights I have gained so far through discussions with Ed, and I promise to share more in future updates.

1. R&A is an incomplete definition, and he wants to be clear that it breaks down into two categories that define what NASA Science really needs. These are: Supporting Research and Technology (SR &T) that leads to and supports missions, and data analysis (DA) of mission data. The problem with using the term R&A is that it carries with it a connotation of including curiosity driven research in fields not related to NASA’s missions, and that belongs elsewhere.


2. The level of SR&T/DA funding was at a reasonable level prior to the drastic cuts of a few years ago. Restoring that level of funding is a high priority for SMD under Ed’s direction, but going beyond that level is not because we must maintain a good balance between research (including data analysis) and missions. In comparing the FY06 numbers to FY09, I see we are now at about the same level (~480M summed over all four divisions). Three of the four are close to the previous levels, with PSD slightly higher with the addition of the “new” money for lunar research, and ESD is slightly below (see previous SARA letters to learn more about how each Division dealt with FY09 R&A funding).


3. Ed has endorsed the functionality of the SARA position, has asked me to stay on, and I have accepted. The SARA name itself may have to change, given the incompleteness of the term R&A and the difficulty that can bring. We are negotiating a new title for my job right now, and once it is officially approved I will let you know what it is. For now, you can continue to call me SARA, and you should know that regardless of the official title, my position within the organization is not changing. I will remain in the front office reporting directly to Ed Weiler, serving as the independent science research assessor on all issues related to the health, balance and processes of SMD’s research programs.


4. Max Bernstein will continue to support the SARA position, although he will officially move to the Planetary Science Division and will help out there as well.


5. I will continue to lead the SMD effort in Education and Public Outreach.

As for the ongoing work on SR&T/DA and EPO issues, both management operations working groups (R&A MOWG and the EPO MOWG) will stay intact. They will provide important and necessary input to process improvements, health and balance among the research, education and public outreach programs.

The SARA website will continue to be updated, although I may move to a less rigid schedule for these. You have likely noticed that our stand-alone site has now been integrated into the larger SMD website. Thank you to all who have pointed out the bugs in the transition- the web folks are busy working on those.

A year in the fast lane has taught me a lot, and as we enter the second cycle of budget negotiations, exciting research discoveries and amazing missions, I can only express hope and enthusiasm for the road ahead. Tough challenges, worth every bit of effort: that’s what working at NASA headquarters is all about. You should try it.

Sincerely,
Yvonne

March 28, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

This past week held the biggest surprise so far in this past year of change. Alan Stern resigned from his appointment as Associate Administrator of the Science Mission Directorate. His announcement gave new meaning to the term “shock and awe”, and I was just as surprised as you were. I can only admire his strength of convictions. Whatever his reasons were for leaving, we can be sure of this: Alan continues to blaze a path few others are brave enough to follow. Having had the opportunity to work with him on these important issues has been an honor and a privilege; it was the experience of a lifetime. It felt a bit like Camelot, to me. The team he brought in was committed to the same noble goals and had the strong desire to right what we thought wrong. No doubt we will now sleep more, however, I hope we continue to dream.

And our work is not over, because the existing team we joined has embraced the goals Alan brought to the table and has done the hard part of implementation. We just finished the semi-annual R&A Reviews for each division and the numbers are impressive. I will have all the charts up by the next SARA launch (which will be three weeks from now, April 18). Days to selection are down, grant sizes and length of awards are up, new on-ramps for researchers are being established, and everyone who touches R&A has become more responsive.

What will happen to SARA, many have asked. Well, as for the person now in that position, I came here for only two reasons: to help fix problems in the R&A world and to work with Alan. I am so sorry the latter reason has changed, but I will carry on as long as the new administration supports the SARA position. We have made good progress, but I am sure you would agree there is much more to be done. Rest assured that Max Bernstein is also committed to staying here to help support the R&A programs. Working with Paul Hertz, the Division Directors, the Program Officers, and the financial geniuses, we will continue full speed until apprehended! Science Matters, and so do you. I hope we can continue to make NASA discoveries together.

We welcome Dr. Ed Weiler as the interim AA for SMD, and look forward to working with him.

Thank you for the incredible outpouring of support. Please see the What’s New page to see what we have added this time.

I will leave you with the lyrics from my all time favorite song, because it has motivated me through many difficult times in my own life, and because it depicts the noble-ness I saw down the hall these past 12 months. Whether you agreed with him on every issue or not, I would be surprised to find someone who did not admire Alan Stern’s courage. I am proud to call him my friend.

Sincerely,
Yvonne (aka, SARA)

To Dream the Impossible Dream (The Quest): composed by Mitch Leigh, with lyrics written by Joe Darion

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the un-right-able wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

March 17, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

As we approach the one-year mark of new leadership within SMD (April 2), it is time to reflect upon the changes already in place and the many decisions before us. I urge you to read the excellent summary Alan Stern presented before Congress last week to appreciate, in a comprehensive manner, the accomplishments thus far and the challenges facing the Science Mission Directorate. Whether you agree or disagree with any one position, please learn about the big picture so that your reasoned opinion informs the best decisions possible.

Today's update contains additions to the grant stats page, a new page for community newsletters, 2007 accomplishments on each Division Corners page, and many other items. I am gathering information for a student page that we hope to stand-up soon, so that all opportunities can be seen at once. Please send me information you think would be helpful on any of our pages, especially the new ones where we are crossing discipline lines.

New selection announcements: The final EPO Supplemental grant selections, the selection of participating scientists for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, and the grant statistics on the Terrestrial Ecology and the Land Cover/Land-Use Change programs have just been announced (see the EPO page and Grant Stats page, respectively). Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all who proposed.

Along with the exciting science results presented last week at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, an example of great courage and extreme dedication to science was delivered in the form of a poster from a graduate student from Northern Illinois University, Brian Karpes. His advisor, Kathy Kitts, told the audience how Brian was severely injured during the recent shootings in the classroom where he was a teaching assistant, and how he managed to finish his LPSC poster anyhow! We hope Brian continues to recover quickly and we look forward to his contributions to science.

In early February, the Planetary Science community lost a highly valued scientist and a dear friend to many, Dr. Gordon McKay. At the LPSC conference last week, Mike Griffin presented to Gordon's family, a plaque to honor his contributions to NASA. Mike shared the common sentiment that Gordon will be deeply missed. Alan Stern has expressed his intention to send the message on the plaque into space aboard the Grail launch vehicle. Please see the letter from Jim Green and Alan Stern, on the Planetary Division Corner page, for information concerning Gordon's lifelong contributions to NASA.

Mike Griffin, Alan Stern and Jim Green each provided their views on science at NASA from the NASA, SMD, and Planetary Science Division levels, respectively, at the LPSC last week. Slides from the R&A Town hall I presented at that same meeting are now posted on the Events page under March 10. Before the next SARA webpage update, slides from the presentations made by Alan Stern and Jim Green will also be added to this site.

As always, the entire SMD staff is committed to furthering NASA science, and we do so with your dedicated efforts in mind.

Sincerely Yours,
Yvonne

February 29, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

Do you ever wonder, "why does NASA SMD DO that?" If so, I encourage you to send those queries to me or a member of the relevant MOWG. We are collecting data on material that needs to be better explained, and I will update the FAQ page as we go along. Meanwhile, I am continuing to collect information from each division on their plans for R&A programs based on the FY09 budget, and Astrophysics has provided an update this week. More detailed info will be available next time, and the division corners will be the place to look.

The R&A MOWG is working on a list of survey questions for the community to help me compare the concerns and issues across discipline lines. Your input will be invaluable as it will help determine priorities and directions when there are choices to be made of what needs attention first. By the way, the R&A telecons will be open to all very soon. They have only had two discussions so far and felt they needed time to get organized first. Please contact the chair, Guenter Riegler, if you know you would like to listen in, and he will put you on a list to be notified. We will also post the info on the R&A MOWG page when it is ready.

The EPO MOWG has been addressing the most immediate issues that concern the next EPOESS call, the Division Support groups, and ideas to get scientists more involved in EPO. Please see the EPO page for updates on these activities and information on how to join the telecons (listen-only mode call-in info is posted there). Once these more urgent issues have been discussed, the MOWG will turn its attention to the longer term, more philosophical issues facing SMD EPO. I need input on the short term issues to make decisions that would require amendments to ROSES (where needed) so that everyone has ample time to take advantage of any new opportunities this year.

The last call on ROSES Supplemental grants, due December 31, 2007, has already been peer reviewed and selected, thanks to the dedication of one of our program officers, Doris Daou. The panel met for two days at the end of January, and the final selections have now been made. As soon as all the PIs are notified, we will post the winning abstracts. Doris did an amazing job of getting this review through so quickly, and we want to extend our appreciation to her for her continued dedication to SMD EPO. The proposals were of very high quality, and we funded excellent work. Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all who submitted. We are building better mechanisms for you to continue to do this important work.

I would also like to publicly highlight one of our R&A program officers, David Lindstrom, from the Planetary Science Division. Dave has consistently worked hard to get all of the funding to his PIs as fast as possible, and he did and exceptionally good job in this last year. He has the kind of commitment to research and researchers that really stands out, and we want to acknowledge his fine efforts.

As always, please see the What's New page for a quick overview of what we have changed since your last look.

Sincerely,
Yvonne

February 15, 2008

Happy Birthday to Presidents past (and the SARA website which just passed its six month birthday mark). To celebrate, we give you ROSES08. A day late for Valentine's day, but here it is. We have a lot of new information all over the site this time. Please check out what's new, or just browse each page! There are so many updates this time that we have written out a short description of them on the what's new page so you can shop efficiently.

Budget highlights for R&A: The budget roll out is complete and we are sorting through the numbers to show you [in our next update] where the R&A increases are likely to go by division. Check out the FAQ page to see answers to a myriad of budget questions (not limited to R&A) that many of you have been asking.

Please see the Division Corners today to check out the latest input we have from each of them. In round numbers, though, the Space Science divisions each increased R&A at least 10% and as much as 30%. The increases are strategic, so not every program element will be increased. In Planetary, for example, look for significant repair to the Astrobiology program, and the exciting start to the lunar research line, among other changes to come. Earth Science is busy advancing the decadal survey recommendations and the many missions they are starting each have R&A components to them, so while the R&A budget stays the same for Earth, it is really getting a boost in other ways.

See the Earth Science Division Corner for more details, but here are some highlights:

Central features of the FY09 budget for Earth Science include the near-term launches of the Ocean Surface Topography Mission in June 2008 and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory in December 2008, and the initiation of a new funding wedge to accelerate the implementation of the satellite missions called for by the NRC in its first decadal survey for Earth Science ("Earth Science and Applications from Space" National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond"), which was released in January, 2007. With the FY09 budget, two new missions were announced - a soil moisture/freeze-thaw cycle measuring mission and an ice-sheet thickness and vegetation canopy measuring mission, with launches in 2012 and 2015, respectively. The budget for each mission includes funding for a competitively selected science team that will define the mission requirements, develop the retrieval algorithms, support the calibration and validation of the space-based observations, and analyze and interpret the post-launch mission data. The research conducted by the mission science teams complements that in the existing Research and Analysis program; both activities support underlying science and the integration of science using data obtained from multiple platforms.

Heliophysics has just announced the selection of long term R&A-type support from within its MMS mission. Please see the Heliophysics page for details on that, but this 10 year, 10M commitment to research can definitely be seen as both a commitment to long-term stability within their program and support of R&A work. It was a long time coming, due to the mission delays, but now that it is time, the MMS IDS (Magnetospheric MultiScale Interdisciplinary Science) team selections have been announced.

Congratulations to the selected teams:

Dr. Martin Goldman of the University of Colorado, "Simulations of Magnetic Reconnections"

Dr. Melvyn Goldstein of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, "Mission Oriented Theory and Support for MMS".

Dr. Tai-Duc Phan of the University of California at Berkeley, "Coupled Observational-Theoretical Studies of Reconnection".

Each team will be awarded $3.325M over a ten-year period to conduct independent science investigations addressing the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission objectives. The objectives of the MMS mission are to understand the microphysics of magnetic reconnection by determining the kinetic processes occurring in the electron diffusion region that are responsible for collisionless magnetic reconnection, especially how reconnection is initiated. This selection will provide a major science extension for the MMS mission and for magnetic reconnection science in general.

It is also important to look at the run out as we go forward. Some divisions are increasing up front in FY09 and holding steady (Planetary) and some are ramping up steadily. The differences are a result of what makes the most sense in each case, given the mission queue and demands we know about now. Alan has continued to infuse his philosophy that R&A MUST be protected in order to maximize the return on the taxpayer's investment, and you can feel confident that his position on this will not change.

In Astrophysics, you can see some of the steps that they have taken to restore the health of R&A in Astrophysics. The budget released by the President this year shows an increase in the Astrophysics R&A budget for this year, and steady increases for the next five years. There is a table in the Division Corner that shows the Astrophysics R&A budget, in millions of dollars, for fiscal years 2008 - 2013 as presented a year ago and this year. The bottom line shows the percentage increase for each year.

Also, selections for the Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept Studies were released this week. Congratulations to the winners (see below), and thank you to all who submitted the many fine proposals.

• Scott Sandford
• Josh Grindlay
• Gary Melnick
• Stephan Meyer
• James Adams
• Geoff Marcy
• Mark Clampin
• Olivier Guyon
• John Trauger
• Michael Shao
• Webster Cash
• David Spergel
• Kenneth Sembach
• Paul Scowen
• Thomas Murphy
• Roger Brissenden
• Marc Postman
• Jacqueline Hewitt
• Joseph Lazio

Other news: The R&A MOWG met via telecom this week for the first time. Please contact Dr. Guenter Riegler if you would like the call in number to observe (listen only mode) on future telecom dates. The next one is currently scheduled for Feb. 28th. A community survey questionnaire will be developed to poll all four science communities on the health and improvements needed for SMD's R&A programs (including processes and policies which we are evaluating). Please spread the word that by signing up to this website you will have input into the questions asked and will be the first to know what is happening as a result.

The EPO MOWG also met this week, and we now have a telecom line large enough to accommodate many more listeners. Please contact Emily Cobabe-Amman if you try and cannot get in, but we believe the line should accommodate those who wish to join. The numbers and dates of future meetings are posted on the EPO MOWG page today.

LPSC news: For those going to the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, march 10-14, the following NASA workshops and Townhalls will be held.

NASA Headquarters will host four events at the 39th LPSC that may be of interest to planetary science researchers.

Proposal Writing Workshop: Sunday, March 9, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Oasis Room. The workshop is open to all interested planetary scientists from senior graduate students to senior scientists. There will be no charge for the workshop. The morning session will focus on understanding NASA's research programs and will include information on how to write a research proposal, where to apply for funding, and what kind of feedback one can expect. Other opportunities for funding, such as participating scientist programs and education/public outreach add-on awards, will also be discussed. The afternoon session will be a Mock Peer Review for participants who are ready to apply for grants and want to understand what happens to their proposal after submission. Lunch will be provided.

Informal Planetary Research and Analysis (R&A) Reception with NASA Program Officers: Tuesday, March 11, Noon to 1:30 p.m., Harbour Club. Planetary R&A program officers, the Director of the Planetary Science Division, and the Senior Advisor for R&A will be available for informal interaction with researchers to discuss research funding efforts. Light hors d'oeuvres will be served.

NASA R&A Townhall with Yvonne Pendleton, Senior Advisor for R&A: Monday, March 12, Noon to 1:30 p.m., Marina Plaza Ballroom. Yvonne Pendleton, Senior Advisor for R&A, Science Mission Directorate, will lead a discussion focusing on NASA's strategic directions in the R&A programs within the NASA Science Mission Directorate, including process changes to facilitate research activities. This discussion is also open to questions or expressions of concern regarding the education and public outreach program within NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Light hors d'oevres will be served.

Improving NASA's Announcements of Opportunity: Community Input: Thursday, March 13, Noon to 1:30 p.m., Marina Plaza Ballroom. Alan Stern, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, has initiated an effort to simplify mission Announcements of Opportunity (such as Explorer, Discovery, Mars Scout, etc.). Any simplification must still result in NASA being able to evaluate the feasibility of proposed missions and in mission teams being prepared for Phase A if they are selected. The first step of this effort is to gather information. NASA is seeking community input in all areas including the current AO, the current two-step selection process, and suggestions for improving both. This discussion will start with a brief presentation by NASA of the goals and constraints on the mission AO process, followed by an opportunity for members of the proposing community to offer their input. Paul Hertz, Senior Advisor for Science Process and Ethics, Science Mission Directorate, will lead the discussion.

Wednesday noon: Alan: "NASA HQ Briefing by Alan Stern"

Wednesday 5:30pm: "NASA HQ SMD/ESMD Briefing featuring Jim Green" with contributions from ESMD.

Best Wishes,
Yvonne

February 1, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

What an exciting time! The Messenger Flyby brought back for me the exciting days of planetary science when I was just entering the world of science. It was so exciting to be at NASA Headquarters for the press conference this week. "This flyby allowed us to see a part of the planet never before viewed by spacecraft, and our little craft has returned a gold mine of exciting data," stated Sean Solomon, principal investigator and the director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington." Congratulations to the entire Messenger team!

Meanwhile, if you would like to about the strategic changes and directions of NASA's R&A program, especially after the budget rollout that happens next week, stay tuned to this bat channel. There will also be scientific conferences where you can learn more about the plans for the future of R&A. One of them will be at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, March 10-14. I will be giving an R&A Town hall to be held at lunchtime (food provided), probably mid-week. Look for details in the next sara update and in the PEN newsletter. Mike Griffin will address the group on Monday evening, Alan Stern and Jim Green will lead the NASA Town hall on Wednesday evening, and several workshops will be held throughout the week such as the informal R&A reception and the proposal writing workshop (POC for those is NASA's SMD program officer, Curt Niebur).

This past week the NASA Advisory Committee Astrophysics Subcommittee met at Headquarters and I presented a talk there. Excerpts from that presentation are embedded below, and the complete slide set can be found on the Events Calendar under January 29, 2008.

Recent news: We are very pleased to announce one more member to the R&A Management Operations Working Group, Dr. Prasad Gogineni from the University of Kansas.

Here is the complete list with contact info:

Guenter Riegler, Retired NASA Senior Executive, Chair (Astrophysics)
griegler@earthlink.net
http://www.ostina.org/content/view/1194/530/

Steve Bougher, U of M, Co-Chair (Planetary Science)
bougher@umich.edu
Telephone: (734) 647-3585
http://aoss.engin.umich.edu/people/bougher

Spiro Antiochos, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Heliophysics)
antiochos@helio.gsfc.nasa.gov
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/pao/pressRelease.php?Y=2006=60-06r

Jonathan (Josh) Grindlay, Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA (Astrophysics)
josh@head.cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone: (617) 495-7204
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/ast/homepages/grindlay.html

Lynne Hillenbrand, Caltech (Astrophysics)
lah@astro.caltech.edu
Telephone: (626) 395-6587
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~lah/aboutlynne.html

Everette Joseph, Howard University (Earth Science)
ejoseph@howard.edu
Telephone: (202) 806-6256
http://www.physics1.howard.edu/people/facultyandstaff_ejoseph.html

James (Jim) Kasting, Penn State (Earth Science)
kasting@geosc.psu.edu
Telephone: (814) 865-3207
http://www.geosc.psu.edu/~kasting/PersonalPage/Kasting.htm

Adam Showman, U of A, LPL (Planetary Science)
showman@lpl.arizona.edu
Telephone: (520) 621-4021
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~showman/

Harold (Hal) Levison, SwRI (Planetary Science)
hal@boulder.swri.edu
Telephone: (303)546-9670
http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~hal/

Margaret (Maggie) Tolbert, U of CO (Earth Science)
Telephone: (303)492-3179
tolbert@cires.colorado.edu
http://cires.colorado.edu/science/groups/tolbert/

Prasad Gogineni, University of Kansas (Earth Science)
gogineni@cresis.ku.edu
Telephone: (785) 864-8800
http://www.eecs.ku.edu/people/view/faculty/24

Please note these working groups are not Federal Advisory Committees. This means the group members do not give consensus advice or recommendations, but instead each member gives his or her individual input. Any member of the science community is welcome to provide input to the discussions and may do that in a variety of ways. Please see the new R&A MOWG page for ways everyone can be involved.

Excerpts from the slides shown at the NAC Astrophysics subcommittee meeting:

Our Growing Vision for NASA's R&A Science Program

Commitment to:

Increase R&A funds
Get more science from our budget through process improvements
Support data analysis and ensure missions fund their science
Provide responsive science leadership at all levels
Increase funding stability
Increase time researchers spend making discoveries
Changes Already Made that Support R&A:
Over-budget missions in 2007 did not, will not take from R&A
Ceased redacting budgets from review panels
Authorized widespread adoption of 4-year grants
Accelerated grant win notifications from months to weeks
Created new opportunities for early career Ph.D.s in panel reviews
Eliminated a backlog of hundreds of no-cost extension requests
Resolved ~200 stalled funding issues
Process improvements for solutions to generic funding issues
Responsive SMD through SARA email and SARA website

Changes in Progress:

Define, Document, & Distribute SMD Panel Review Best Practices
Manage R&A programs to eliminate extreme win and loss ratios
Establish R&A and EPO MOWGs for idea exchange
Commitment to reinvigorate EPO
Building strong bridges with the Office of Education, OMB, and NSF to get the most out of our E/PO resources
Establish easier E/PO funding mechanisms for PIs
Clarify & strengthen current support mechanisms for research students (undergrads, grads, post-docs)
Consider creation of larger funding opportunities (PI teams, Institutes such as Lunar Science, etc. ).

As always, we welcome your input and need your ideas.

Until next time,

Yvonne

January 18, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

The R&A Management Operations Working group has just been finalized, and I thank each of the following individuals for agreeing to serve in this capacity. I will update the list next time with their contact information, but you are encouraged to be in touch with them as we go forward in the process of discussing R&A process improvements and the many new ideas we all have for ways to get more out of our R&A dollars. The MOWG will meet primarily through videoconferencing, perhaps as often as twice a month initially, and we expect to have at least one in person meeting sometime in March.

Below are the names of the individuals, their current position, and their research area of expertise.

Guenter Riegler, Retired NASA Senior Executive, Astrophysics, Chair

Steve Bougher, U of M, Heliophysics, Co-Chair

Spiro Antiochos, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, (Heliophysics)

Jonathan Grindlay, Harvard-Smithsonian, CfA (Astrophysics)

Lynne Hillenbrand, Caltech (Astrophysics)

Everette Joseph, Howard University, (Earth Science)

James (Jim) Kasting, Penn State (Earth Science)

Adam Showman, U of A (LPL) (Planetary Science)

Harold (Hal) Levison, SwRI, (Planetary Science)

Margaret (Maggie) Tolbert, U of CO (Earth Science)

In addition, Paul Hertz and I have also asked our internal science staff (the program officers and the division management within SMD) to provide input on issues related to our panel review practices. The goal is to document SMD's R&A Review Practices and communicate these clearly to the external community. Our objectives in this exercise are to:

1. Document SMD's best and acceptable practices for R&A reviews
2. Provide additional guidance to program officers
3. Offer additional transparency into SMD process to community
4. Provide assurance (to SMD managers, to the community, to auditors) that SMD program officers are following SMD policies and practices

Your input through the SARA email and through the town hall meetings has contributed to the items we will discuss in this process, and you are welcome to send me additional input at any time. We will complete our internal review and documentation process by mid-March, so that these items will be clearly articulated to all before the first ROSES panel meets for the FY08 cycle.

Speaking of ROSES08, you can find a list of the program elements on the grant stats page today. Many hours of hard work went into the development of the ROSES08 call, especially by Paul Hertz, Max Bernstein, and the program officers responsible for each element. Please thank them when you have a chance.

Other items in today's update include the presentation at the AAS meeting in Austin by Alan Stern and Jon Morse, a report on the EPO MOWG activities from the kick-off meeting January 14, and new science highlights. As always, a complete list of the updated pages can be found on the What's New page.

Best Wishes,

Yvonne

January 4, 2008

Dear Colleagues,

Happy New Year. May this be a year of new discoveries for us all!

If you have not already seen it, please go to the front page of the website today to read the New Year's message from our Associate Administrator, Alan Stern. It provides a very nice summary of some of the accomplishments so far, along with insight into our commitment to do much more as the days go by.

As for my own efforts on this website, I am continuing to develop new pages and to populate the current pages with information you need to know. Among other new updates, this issue brings you a letter from the Division Director for Planetary Science, Jim Green, explaining the effect of the NASA budget passage on the R&A funding in his division, the New York Times link to an article describing Alan Stern's leadership of the Science Mission Directorate, and a list of NASA officials who will be present at the NASA booth during the upcoming American Astronomical Society Meeting. As always, the What's new page tells you all the changes that have been made since the last update.

I will be at the AAS meeting next week, so I hope to see some of you there. The NASA Townhall meeting is Tuesday. Please do not miss it if you have the chance to attend. Jon Morse, the Division Director for Astrophysics, John Mather (SMD Chief Scientist), Alan Stern and I will all be there to answer questions. We look forward to listening to you.

Warm Wishes for a wonderful 2008,

Yvonne

December 21, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

My holiday season just got off to a great start, thanks to the generosity of several individuals who said yes when asked to serve on the Education and Public Outreach Management Operations Working Group (EPO MOWG). We have a great group who will provide input into the current and future EPO plans we are evaluating.

Each panel member came highly recommended and they represent all four divisions for the Science Mission Directorate: Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Science. The panel's membership also covers all venues of Education and Public Outreach: active scientists, Higher Education, K-12 Formal, and Informal Education. I look forward to working with this team, and I hope you will feel free to call upon any of us for more information as we move into the future.

The EPO Management operations Working Group (MOWG) will be composed of the following individuals:

I am also standing up an R&A MOWG to provide input on the improvements we are considering to a myriad of R&A issues. This MOWG will have membership from each of the four science areas represented by our Divisions (Astrophysics, Earth, Heliophysics and Planetary) so that we can take data on what is working and what is not for our various science communities. Your ideas can always come directly to me through this website or the email address saraATnasa.gov, as well as through the community members on the MOWG, and most appropriately, through the NAC and its science sub-committees. I will be making phone calls over the holiday, hoping to get you in that warm fuzzy moment of weakness when you might say yes. Thanks in advance. If we do this right, we will change history for the better. How exciting is that?!

Please find today's new additions on the What's New page. I'd like to call your attention to the slides Alan Stern presented at the American Geophysical Union Meeting last week, which are located on the Events page under the AGU meeting December 10. There you will also find a PDF file of the SARA handout we distributed, with an updated list of R&A improvements.

Happy Holidays,

Yvonne

December 5, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? That insightful thought, gleaned from one of the numerous holiday catalogs piling up on my kitchen counter, caused me to pause and reflect on this endeavor to get more science out of everything we do. Whether through Missions, R&A, or E/PO, this is our goal. Your part is to produce the best science possible, create new knowledge, and take the world places it has never been. What would you attempt to do, if you knew you could not fail? Let's assume we will succeed, and make this next trip around the Sun one to put in the textbooks!

I am encouraged by the support of the EPO community to the news that we are reviewing our directions, and I appreciate the understanding many have that this move shows that we are committed to a strong EPO program. These steps are a means to involve the community in our path forward, as NASA's SMD decides the manner in which science can be best infused in the E/PO effort we support. The membership of the EPO Management operations Working Group (EPO-MOWG) will soon be named, and with their input we will evaluate current programs and future options.

I am also standing up an R&A MOWG to provide input on the improvements we are considering to a myriad of R&A issues. This MOWG will have membership from each of the four science areas represented by our Divisions (Astrophysics, Earth, Heliophysics and Planetary) so that we can take data on what is working and what is not for our various science communities. Your ideas can always come directly to me through this website or the email address saraATnasa.gov, as well as through the community members on the MOWG, and most appropriately, through the NAC and its science sub-committees. Tell us what you think. We are listening.

Please find today's new additions on the What's New page. I would especially like to call your attention to the Advisory Committees page. Here you can find a membership list and the future meeting dates for groups like the NAC science subcommittees. There is also a new "subscribe" link to help encourage users to sign-up for these updates. The new science highlights are, as always, invigorating to me. I hope you will find this website an informative and comprehensive one-stop shop that supports science, the first word in the Science Mission Directorate. Thank you for your interest, and your hard work.

Until next time, I wish you productive science days.

Yvonne

November 21, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

As we approach one of the best holidays of the year, we likely share a feeling of thankfulness for family, friends, and many opportunities. I am especially thankful for the opportunity to serve you as SARA. Coming to NASA Headquarters has taught me a great deal...and most of it has even been useful. ;-)

Quite seriously, the past seven months have been exciting, challenging, and rewarding. I hope you will consider spending some time here yourself when and if it is right for you. There is an opportunity available in the Astrophysics Division right now.

My big news today will affect quite a few of you, but if I do it right, it will affect many more of you, in a positive manner, in the future. In addition to leading change within the ever-evolving R&A world, I am now the "front office point person" for the Education and Public Outreach Program (EPO) within the Science Mission Directorate. What does that mean?! It means Alan Stern has asked me to lead an assessment of our EPO Program and come up with a plan forward. Our goal is straightforward: develop a robust, comprehensive and meaningful EPO plan that maximizes the use of each SMD dollar of support. To do that, I need input from the community as well as a thorough assessment of our current plan. The former will be provided through an EPO Management Operations Working Group (MOWG) that I will form immediately through recommendations (formally from the Divisions and the front office within SMD, but I have had informal recommendations from various community groups as well). The update of our current EPO plan is being provided to me by our EPO leads within SMD and will be presented to the EPO MOWG as well. Stay tuned for progress reports that you can find on the brand new EPO page.

What has been done in the last two weeks concerning EPO within SMD? We have postponed two proposal opportunities (one very small and one very large) and we have made selections on a long overdue mid-sized proposal call for which we already had panel reviews of many excellent proposals. These moves are consistent with the overarching philosophy pervasive throughout SMD today: Nothing is more valuable than your time, since it is a precious commodity none of us can buy back. We are sorry if you spent time responding to the large proposal opportunity (the CAN for Division Support Groups) we have postponed. However, stopping the effort now was the more honest and prudent action, in my opinion. The rescission of any particular call at this time does not mean we have decided not to do the type of work being solicited, only that we are carefully assessing our efforts so that we can maximize the use of NASA funds in the EPO effort. We have also suspended the ROSES Supplemental Grants program for NEW awards as of December 31, 2007, but will honor all existing awards and will make one last selection from those submitted prior to December 31. Awardees who receive letters after November 20, 2007, will not be invited to propose to the Supplemental Grants program, though, and we expect only proposals from those who were invited to do so prior to that date. This means some of the R&A award winners will not have the full 90 day response period for the Supplemental Grants, but all who were in the middle of writing a proposal will have the opportunity to submit.

The steps taken to accept proposals for the ROSES Supplemental grants until December 31, 2007, and on the immediate selections of the long delayed mid-sized projects, should further reveal our commitment to the community. These were ongoing and we are following through in as fair a manner as we could devise.

What Else is Happening?

1. Colleen Hartman is taking a 2-year IPA to work on space policy at John Logsdon's space policy center at George Washington University. Colleen's move will be effective in mid-January. In the coming weeks, Alan Stern will be naming an acting Deputy AA. Best Wishes to Colleen as she begins this new and exciting journey.


2. ROSES08 elements are being developed by the Program Officers in each division and will be reviewed by the R&A front office team in the next two weeks. A list of the elements allowing proposals for longer award periods can be found here, but with few exceptions, every ROSES element will be open to proposals for longer than 3 years starting in FY08! The exceptions are, for the most part, in programs where it does not make sense to extend the time period (one year field campaign opportunities, for example). We have high hopes that this change will create greater research stability for many in the science community as we go forward. We also realize that other changes need to accompany this to offset the difficulty of 'breaking into' a field if many of the grants awarded go to longer time periods, so we are simultaneously working on the "on ramps" for each division.

Please visit the What's New page to see which pages have been updated this time, and please continue to tell others to subscribe via the contact page. Our distribution list is growing, and with time I hope most of the R&A community finds this a helpful forum for communication.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Yvonne

November 9, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

This past two week period Max and I solved a lot of individual problems for many of you even as we are working on the more strategic issues for the future. We are happy to do this, so if you are not getting the help you need through the normal resource channels, let us know either through this web page or through the regular saraATnasa.gov address.

Lately I have focused on the ROSES elements for FY08 (getting input from the Divisions as to whether they will offer new programs or not), program elements that will go to 4 year eligibility status in FY08 (look for an updated list in my next letter). I will tell you what I can of how these discussions turn out as soon as we have come to a conclusion.

Please keep those volunteer letters coming in if you would like to be considered to serve on a review panel. Several Program Officers have told me they see a good match with their needs from the several dozen post doctoral fellows that have now come to our attention. Feel free to send pre-prints of your papers as well. If you are a mid-level researcher and feel you have somehow slipped through the system, but are willing to be considered to serve, let me know that as well.

I see no damage from creating an additional database of qualified individuals that the Program Officers can consider. As with the post doctoral fellows, we will need your CV, publication list, and areas of expertise. Volunteering does not mean you will be called, but if you have slipped through the cracks somehow (perhaps you said no to panel review requests for awhile while you were dealing with a family issue, and now you have fallen off the "to be considered" list?), then let me know. One sure way to speed up the decisions on our proposals is to support the Program Officers as they put these panels together. They will not compromise on quality, which is good, but that means it takes time to find a good panel when the community is so overworked already. Please consider how you might help.

Today's webpage updates can be found in the What's New page, but new highlights, a new accomplishment, and updated program officer information (more bios and photos) are the main attractions today.

My enthusiasm for this job waxes and wanes, and today I am not as gung-ho as usual. I appreciate the feedback some of you send that let me know we are making a difference. The job is overwhelming at times, and it helps to hear from you.

Thanks very much,
Yvonne

October 26, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

As the wildfires burn in California, the rain pounds down in DC. From NASA Headquarters, the gray skies look bleak outside my window, and it is hard not to think of the large-scale suffering in my former home state. Several researchers wrote to us to say they could not submit their proposals on time because of the fires. As a result, we will delay due dates in the following programs and consider all others with near term due dates as well:

• Earth Surface and Interiors - delayed to Nov 26
• Outer Planet Research - delayed to Nov 16
• Ocean Surface Topography Science Team - decision next week on whether or not to delay

All program officers with near term due dates are conferring with Notice of Intent (NOI) submitters in southern California to determine whether a delay is needed. Delaying the due date may have the unwanted consequence of delaying the overall selection, but we know the rest of the community will understand the need here.

On a happier note, I have news that will please many of you. Proposal budgets will no longer be hidden from reviewers starting in ROSES 2008. There were a few in favor of the redacted policy we tried over the past two years, so we will reverse this policy on a trial basis in 2008. If it does not benefit the process and the community, we can always change again. Thank you for the feedback on this and many other issues. We hear you.

We have added three new pages today, and several new highlights. There is a discussion about longer grant awards you will want to see, and the grant stats continue to be updated as data become available. Alan's presentations to the DPS and the NAC subcommittees are now available as well. See the What's New page to find out more on these and all the other new website additions in this update.

If you have not already done so, please subscribe through the SARA contact page to receive notices automatically when we update this site. We still have only 200 subscribers, so I am sending these updates to a variety of personal friends and inside lists each time just to broaden the distribution. Also, please tell others who receive R&A funds through NASA to check out this site. We will continue to build and grow a site that provides the information you need.

Also, the request for volunteers to be considered as panel reviewers has taken off like...shall I say it? No. You get the analogy. Thank you to all who responded so far. The increased pool of qualified applicants will no doubt help our program officers in their quest for well balanced panels even as we train new reviewers. Keep the requests for consideration (RFC's!) coming.

Best Wishes,
Yvonne

P.S. I just made that RFC stuff up.

October 12, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing this on the plane on the way home from the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting where I have spent the past few days learning a lot, both from the science sessions and through conversations with members of the Planetary Science community. I will put the powerpoint slide show we used in the NASA Night presentation in the library later next week, but it could not be made 508 compliant in time for today's upload (gotta love the Government; and if you don't know what 508 compliant means, someone must be letting you concentrate on science and I will not ruin that here). What I can show you, though, is the handout summarizing key R&A points that we made at the DPS NASA night. Alan Stern (AA), Jim Green (PSD Director), Andy Cheng (OCS Deputy for Space Science) and I spoke at this event, and folks seemed to like what we had to say. One member of the Planetary Society even wrote it up in her blog (http://planetary.org/blog/). In it, Emily Lakdawalla called us the Fantastic Four! Thanks! There are a lot more where those four came from.

This past week I also had the opportunity to visit with the NAC Planetary Science Subcommittee (in Orlando) and the Heliophysics Science Subcommittee (by phone while they met in DC), and the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (in DC). Some of you may want to know when and where these meetings take place so that you can join in the fun. In that case, please go to the Library on our webpage to see the dates and locations, which we will try hard to keep current. Please let me know of others that should be added.

As always, there are a number of additions to this web update. Please see the What's New page for details.

The rest of this letter will be dedicated to two issues: one that comes up repeatedly in Q & A sessions and one that is a news item of a new opportunity for post doctoral fellows.

1. Alan Stern has made it clear that controlling mission cost overruns is among his highest priorities, if not the highest. Requiring experienced PI's for the SMEX missions is a part (but just one part) of that plan. He has also made it clear that when cost overruns occur, R&A is "off the table" as a means to fix the problem. He has promised that R&A will not be cut under his administration. An interesting comparison that underscores the magnitude of the cost overrun problem and the need for Alan's steadfast resolve not to solve overruns with an "open checkbook" can be found in the following history lesson. The highly visible and substantial cuts to the Science budget from NASA in FY 06-10 of about $3.1B were significantly smaller than the cost overruns SMD paid out to missions over the past three years (4.1B)! In the 6 months that Alan has been on the job, requests for additional funding for missions has shown that trend would continue if left unchecked. Having a tight hold on the reins has resulted in a commitment to control costs across the board, and the formerly vulnerable R&A program now has protection even if overruns occur. Science does not occur until the data have been analyzed and the discoveries communicated, and NASA's SMD leadership is committed to maximizing that outcome! Science is the first word in the Science Mission Directorate for a reason.


2. One of the most time consuming tasks for our program officers is that of putting qualified panels together for a review. Given the increasing pressure on our community, it is getting harder to find qualified individuals who can say yes at the right time. Conflicts of interest and time rule out many of you in each round. Consequently, it can take many weeks to find a panel, and those are weeks that delay your selection. It would help everyone if we could speed up this process, but we cannot sacrifice quality to do so. The first order solution is to encourage you to please say yes when called upon, but beyond that, I am assessing various mechanisms to increase the selection pool (without sacrificing the high quality of the panel selections).

Program Officers sometimes seek new researchers (including post doctoral fellows) to round out a panel. They do this to provide fresh insight from people close to the most current research, and this works well as long as the panels are balanced by more seasoned reviewers. To increase the pool of new researchers for possible selection, I hereby invite post docs who would like to be considered for panel review selection to send their CV, publication list, three references and a brief description of their area(s) of expertise to sara@nasa.gov. The information will be carefully reviewed and will be passed on to the proper Program Officer who may or may not chose to tap that person for participation. If selected, they will most likely be asked to serve first as an external peer reviewer or as a Panel Observer. Please do not be offended if you are not called. The make-up of the panel will decide how many new researchers can be added, and in no case will this be a large number. It is a significant responsibility and honor to be asked to serve on these panels, so this is a win-win situation if you do get selected. The opportunity provides the reviewer an excellent means of improving their own proposal writing skills, and reveals the inner workings of the peer review system upon which our work depends. Most researchers would agree that serving on a proposal review panel is an important step in any new researcher's career, so it is my hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to volunteer if you feel you are ready for the challenge.

Thanks very much,
Yvonne

September 28, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

The SARA Website just had its one month birthday! Our computer technology problems with the Contact page seem to be corrected (but I have gotten wary of saying they are actually fixed!), and about 200 of you have successfully subscribed. If you continue to find this a useful site, please tell others. This will not be a stagnant site. As you will see from the additions below, we are listening to your comments and adding pages and information whenever possible.

One of those changes comes in the following form: from here on out you can check the What's New page rather than read this letter to discover the changes made to this site since the last update. The letter will be the place where ideas you have brought up will be discussed.

I will include the current changes in today's letter, but look for them in the future on the Menu Bar.

Right now we have not included E/PO information or Mission specific information in this site, and some of you have asked me about the rationale behind that choice. While both are intertwined with R&A, the plan was to concentrate on R&A specifically for now. The new and greatly improved website for the Science Mission Directorate is about to be launched in the next few weeks, and that will contain a lot of areas peripheral to R&A (plus this site, of course). E/PO might be added soon, though, as I seem to be getting involved in a lot of the discussions in that arena and I might have information you would like to see here.

Here's what's new since the last letter.

1. What's New page: you can now go directly to this location on the website at any time and find out what has been added since the last update. We will list the big ticket items here. Find What's New in the menu bar, in Italics, next to the Acronym page.


2. Introducing SARA page: slight modification to the definition of R&A to include theory (sorry for that initial oversight) and a picture of Max Bernstein on the front page (see Max's helpful NSPIRES hints on the How To Page as well). This job is very much a team effort, and although he prefers to stay in the background, we are bringing Max into the light.


3. Accomplishments page: a link from the four year grant discussion to an html page with info on what is now or soon will be in this category. We have also added direct links from this page to those programs where longer award periods are currently standard practice.


4. How To page: Max's helpful NSPIRES tips with screen shots of what to do and not do will save you time and energy. There have been reports of proposals that were released by the PI but somehow not submitted, which is a tragedy we want to avoid. Therefore, we have added an NSPIRES tips page with screen captures showing what the PI and the institutional official should see, and how you know your proposal has been submitted.
   
   Also, please note that a big change is coming to the 'element check' on NSPIRES, please see the NSPIRES Improvements page for a description.


5. Grant Stats page: New data has been added to the downloadable excel spreadsheet at the Grant Stats page, with a table of recently announced selections.


6. Highlights page: Five new highlights have been added and we changed the numbering system so you do not have to scroll through items you have previously read to find the most recent additions.

Thanks for your helpful notes and suggestions. The feedback and interchanges I had with several of you at the Astrophysics in the Next Decade conference this week (a great conference, by the way!), was quite helpful, and I look forward to more conversations at the Division for Planetary Sciences meeting in October. NASA night will be Tuesday, October 9, and those present will hear from Alan Stern, Jim Green Andy Cheng and myself. A number of SMD program officers will also be present, and a special R&A program has been arranged by Dr. Phil Crane (from NASA HQ) for Monday evening. There will be many opportunities to exchange ideas.

Happy Discovering,
Yvonne

September 14, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you so much for the warm response to this website. Many of you wrote to me directly, but I know I missed notes others said they sent through the contact link (which now works). Please send your original comments again if you did go through the link (which seems to have been a wormhole to another part of the Galaxy, because we cannot retrieve the messages). The same holds for anyone who tried to subscribe over the past two weeks, unless you sent a note directly to the SARA (at) NASA.GOV address. Newsflash: we had some bugs to work out of our process! How appropriate and ironic for this site.

Here's what's new to these pages since the last letter.

1. Accomplishments page (check out improvements in annual progress reports #11 and on the How To page under same title plus the improvements on the No-Cost extension issue).
2. Highlights Page (A few Science Highlights are here now, more to come soon. You can help by sending yours or those of your shy colleagues).
3. Program Officer list (improvements in readability, slight corrections, a few photos added, some bios added, more to come).
4. Grant Stats page (updated larger spreadsheet)
5. Various touch-ups throughout

Those are the tangible improvements, but perhaps far more significant are the intangible, hard-to-quantify changes taking place all around me. The various financial groups are working together and with SMD to get the boulders out of the way (i.e., see items 11 and 12 under Accomplishments, but just the positive attitude alone is helpful!), creative problem solving discussions occur more frequently than dead-end talk about why something canít be accomplished, and there is an energy here at SMD Headquarters that can only help in the days ahead.

If you have not spent much time at HQ, you might be unaware of just how dedicated the program officers are to the business of maximizing the science return on the dollar, but it is impressive. I am so proud to be part of this group. They are the front line in the battle to do things better, and they work long and hard to put highly qualified panels together and to fund every worthy proposal they can. Please send your program officer a note of thanks sometime. They did something to deserve it that very day.

In a nutshell, I see a team willing to work together to plot strategies in a collaborative way. We all want to find innovative ways to solve problems, and we are questioning the status quo more frequently. To be effective and to stay on track, we need to gather more data from you, the stakeholders external to SMD. I am considering sending out a community survey to do just that.

Please send me input (through the now working contact page!) that will help shape the survey and reveal areas within the R&A programs you think need to be revamped, improved, or eliminated. There are obvious improvements we could make with more money. The harder question to answer is what can we do better with the budget we have?

Until the next update in two weeks, when I will be writing you from the "Astrophysics in the Next Decade" Meeting, think well.

Thanks,
Yvonne

August 31, 2007

Dear Colleagues,

We have much in common, and I feel I know those of you reading this that I have never even met. We share a love of science and the desire to pursue it in an unobstructed fashion. We relish competition when it leads to the rise of the best science possible and when such competitions are fairly won. Many of us have wanted to do little else but science our entire lives. For those individuals, a career in science is an honor and we work very hard to give it our all. So it is understandable that processes, procedures, and seemingly ill informed decisions that frustrate scientific progress also frustrate us. I am here to help, and I am not alone.

After 25 years in the world of observational astrophysics at NASA's Ames Research Center, I accepted a position in science leadership at Ames as the Division Chief for Space Science and Astrobiology (2005-2007). I felt compelled to advocate for science and scientists, despite the serious reservations I had putting my own science career on hold (and I have to believe it really IS just "on hold"). I bet no one was more surprised than I to find out that I actually liked the work.

Some of you are smiling as you read this, and some of you are thinking my management career will be quite short if I continue to speak this honestly. If that is the case, so be it. I was invited to join the Science Mission Directorate team under the leadership of Alan Stern, and we are all here to improve the way NASA does science. I intend to do that without sacrificing honest communication. The current administration expects no less, and I am honored to be part of the team leading the way forward.

The Science Mission Directorate recognizes that NASA in particular, and Science in general, will benefit if we concentrate on one thing: maximizing the science return on NASA's investments. To do that we need to streamline processes, eliminate unnecessary requirements, and make well informed financial decisions. It is our sincere hope that by specifically addressing these issues within the Research and Data Analysis programs, the science community will see rapid progress. Through our actions we intend to increase the time scientists spend doing science by minimizing the time they now spend doing non-science (nonsense?) work. We will solicit and evaluate input from the community to achieve these goals.

The pages you see now are preliminary, and the content will evolve as we make progress. Please send comments, and encourage others to visit our website.

I will update this column every other Friday, or more frequently if needed. If you subscribe to the update list on the Contact page you will be informed when an update has occurred. Don't worry about being bombarded with update notices- only seriously important issues will cause us to deviate from the every other Friday update.

Thanks for your support, your patience, and your insight as we go forward.

Sincerely,

Yvonne Pendleton (aka, SARA)