SAMSI collaborator Jessi Cisewski of Carnegie Mellon University, Richard Smith, SAMSI director and SAMSI postdoc Kimberly Kaufeld, in front of ASA’s poster during the Capitol Hill Exhibition of the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF). (Photo provided by Scavone Photography)

For the 21st annual Capitol Hill Exhibition of the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF), the American Statistical Association featured the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) with a booth titled “SAMSI: Fostering Research Innovations in Statistics and Mathematics for Data-Centered Science.”

Representing SAMSI were its director, Richard Smith, SAMSI postdoc Kimberly Kaufeld, and SAMSI collaborator Jessi Cisewski of Carnegie Mellon University. The poster highlighted the work of SAMSI—one of the eight NSF-funded mathematical sciences institutes—focusing on Kaufeld’s ecology work and Cisewski’s astrostatistics work. During the evening exhibition, the trio discussed their research with members of Congress or their staff members, officials of the National Science Foundation (NSF)—including its director, France Cordova, and director of the Division of Mathematical Sciences, Michael Vogelius—and other attendees of the reception.

The event is held to highlight to Congress the important research being funding by the NSF and is attended by hundreds of people, including 10–12 members of Congress. This year marked the ASA’s sixth straight year of participation.

SAMSI Director Richard Smith shakes hands with Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. (Photo provided by Kasey White of the Geological Society of America.)

SAMSI Director Richard Smith talks with NSF Director France Cordova while Jessi Cisewski of Carnegie Mellon University and SAMSI postdoc Kimberly Kaufeld discuss their poster with attendees.(Photo provided by Scavone Photography)

Prior to the exhibit, Smith, Kaufeld, and Cisewski met with staff of the North Carolina Congressional Delegation and the office of Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey to voice their support for the NSF’s budget and discuss NSF’s importance to each state. North Carolina and Pennsylvania were ranked 7th and 12th, respectively, for the states receiving the most NSF funding in fiscal year 2014 (FY14). Seven of North Carolina’s 13 representatives are in their first or second term in Congress, and Sen. Thom Tillis is newly elected. The staffers, which included the daughter of a high-school statistics teacher, also were receptive to the ASA team’s request of support for the NSF’s budget in the FY16 deliberations and appreciated the information provided for the institutions in each state receiving NSF support.

CNSF is a coalition of 130 professional societies, universities, and other stakeholders who work together to support the budget of the NSF. If you are interested in having NSF-funded research from your department/institution represent the ASA at a future CNSF event, please contact ASA Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson at spierson@amstat.org. (Note that preference is given to those in states whose federal delegation include members of the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee, the panel that determines the NSF budget.)