California's federally funded research laboratories include some of the most significant research institutions in the country. Over the next five years, new collaborations with CCST will enable these organizations to participate on a new level in providing high-quality science and technology advice to the state.
"The [national] laboratories are an extensive resource to California and have a tremendous impact on the economy," said CCST Council Member Michael Anastasio, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "The question is how to find a way to characterize and articulate that value to the state. CCST can definitely help with this."
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The importance of these laboratories to California was highlighted in an analysis conducted as part of the 1999 California Report on the Environment for Science and Technology (CREST). In the first year of the new collaboration, CCST will produce a report updating the overview provided in the CREST report. It will also study the national laboratories' relationship with research universities and industry, and reinforce the value of the labs to California by highlighting programs and research in areas of current and potential importance to the California economy (such as nanotechnology), the extensive joint research conducted between national laboratories, professors and graduate students, and the direct interaction of the national labs with California companies through technology licenses and cooperative research and development.
To date, interactions between CCST and the national laboratories have been significant, yet based primarily on episodic issue-based critical needs. There is no doubt that the major laboratories are among the small list of key organizations that have the scientific and technical capacity to provide high-quality, evidence-based advice to the state. "In updating the CREST report to show the value of the national laboratories to California, we hope to determine how CCST can help the state be more proactive at the federal level," said CCST Council Chair Lawrence Papay. "There is a need to better leverage what the labs are doing for California."
"By joining with CCST, the national laboratories will have use of an effective forum through which they can help inform policymakers on issues that are both laboratory and non-laboratory specific."
-Michael Anastasio, Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Several key personnel from the national laboratories have worked with CCST over the years; the directors of three of the largest facilities (Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, and NASA Ames) are currently CCST Council Members, and the director of a fourth (Lawrence Berkeley) is a CCST Fellow. However, while the participation of such individuals has been a great asset to CCST, the formal collaborations entered into this year will substantially increase CCST's capacity to be responsive to time-sensitive requests from state policymakers.
"We already have technologies and expertise in place because of federal-level funding," said Anastasio. "We need to explore how to better connect with the state, and how technologies developed by the labs can be better leveraged to help the state deal with issues ranging from homeland security to water management. CCST can help make this happen."
