How broad are our broader impacts? An analysis of the National Science Foundation’s Ecosystems Studies Program and the Broader Impacts requirement

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has tried to narrow the gap between science and society with its Broader Impacts requirement. The authors analyzed the proposed broader impacts of proposals funded by NSF's Ecosystems Studies Program (i.e. the activities that provide benefice to society through teaching, broadening participation, enhancing infrastructure, and disseminating research). They obtained all of the abstracts of funded proposals from NSF's website and characterized the scope of the proposed broader impacts activities in 296 propels (2000-2010). Only 65% of abstracts included a broader impacts statement and, of those, 57 (19%) included just one of the five NSF Broader Impacts criteria. The most frequent criterion addressed was teaching and training (37%), followed by broad dissemination (22%), infrastructure enhancement (18%), benefits to society (13%), and underrepresented groups (11%). Most Principal Investigators who proposed outreach did so for audiences who're very close to academics, and most target small (61%) to medium-sized (32%) audiences. Although some progress has been made, much work remains for ecologists to participate more substantially in these activities. Interactions with social scientists may facilitate this work.