September 8, 2005
Dear Colleagues,
The devastating loss of life and suffering caused by Hurricane
Katrina has shocked and saddened us all. Our thoughts are with those
who have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihood.
We are writing to you as part of the DOE Office of Science
family. Many have already begun to welcome into their institutions
colleagues in the science community who have been displaced by the
effects of the Hurricane Katrina. The Office of Science would like
to help in the effort to ensure that faculty and students displaced
by the disaster may continue their research and studies at other institutions.
The Office of Science has established a temporary program
to match interested displaced students and faculty researchers - who
may be eligible regardless of current DOE funding status - with research
programs that currently receive grants from our office and that wish
to host such displaced individuals. The Office of Science has set
up a clearinghouse through DOE Oak Ridge Institute for Science and
Education (ORISE) to match displaced individuals with host grant recipients,
and will consider on a case-by-case basis modest supplemental funding
to existing programs in order to facilitate this process.
For grantees wishing to host displaced individuals and grantees
whose work has been affected by issues resulting from this disaster,
the Office of Science will consider special needs requests for supplements
to ongoing grants and field work proposals (FWPs). The fastest way
to obtain information about a specific proposed activity is to contact
the DOE Office of Science Program Manager responsible for the ongoing
grant or FWP. If there is any question about whom you should contact
at DOE Headquarters, feel free to contact Chris Yetter, who will route
your inquiry to the right person. He can be contacted by emailing
Christopher.Yetter@science.doe.gov or by calling (301) 903-4353.
Displaced students and faculty researchers from affected
universities will be able to indicate their interest in being hosted
by a current grant recipient and complete request for assistance forms
on-line at the clearinghouse website. Office of Science supported
Principal Investigators and Office of Science Program Manages will
be able to log-in online to support and view the individual requests
for assistance. All contact information for the students and faculty
will be provided on the assistance forms which will enable timely
contact with students and faculty by the potential host. We encourage
interested individuals to visit the ORISE clearinghouse website at
www.orau.gov/doeedrelief/
[note to readers: copy and paste this address]
Our colleagues in science have historically been a close-knit,
generous community. This has been one of the joys of working in this
community for so many years. I know that you will now want to reach
out to those who have suffered from Hurricane Katrina and help them
rebuild their futures.
Sincerely,
Dr. Raymond L. Orbach
Director, Office of Science
United States Department of Energy
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