University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography researcher Dana Savidge has been selected as a temporary program director, also called a rotator, with the National Science Foundation’s Physical Oceanography Program. The program is housed in the NSF Division of Ocean Science in Washington, D.C.

Dana Savidge

Rotators shepherd proposals from researchers that request funding for oceanographic projects through the peer review system. Savidge will help identify appropriate researchers to review each proposal; assemble a panel of peer scientists to assess all proposals and their solicited reviews; and interpret the results of panel discussions and review materials.

“This is a tremendous honor for Dr. Savidge as well as Skidaway Institute,” Institute Director Clark Alexander said. “Dr. Savidge will be serving the scientific community at the national level by helping direct funding to transformational research at the forefront of physical oceanography.”

Savidge is enthusiastic about the assignment.

“This an opportunity to contribute to the peer review process upon which research funding is fundamentally dependent,” she said. “My involvement in many reviews and review panels over the years has convinced me that this is a process that really works, and I am delighted to become involved at a new level.

“Anticipating the huge amount of new science I’ll encounter from some of the best minds in the business is very exciting.”

Savidge is slated to begin as rotator in April. The assignment is funded through a grant to the university, renewable at yearly intervals for up to a maximum of three years.