EAGER: Collaborative Research: Conceptualizing sustained environmental information management in the landscape of current and emerging eco-informatics infrastructure

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

The data generated by environmental research are highly valuable, not only because of the cost of research but also because they are irreplaceable and needed for understanding change. A major challenge for all research entities is the management of this digital asset and associated information for maintaining its value. This challenge is complex in nature, covering not only the collection and storage of data, but also the creation of relevant (and sufficient) information about the data (metadata), such that they can be re-used broadly. Several environmental data repositories and data management approaches have been developed over the past few years. It is now time to seek input from researchers in the role of data authors and data re-users and data managers, to expansively explore the current operating environment, potential collaboration opportunities, efficiencies of scale, and future community needs for this challenge to be addressed effectively. An initial workshop will allow these stakeholders to share their expertise, experience and future requirements with their colleagues. The output from this initial exercise will then feed into a second session, which will result in strategic recommendations detailing the activities needed to create a collaborative and efficient data management infrastructure capable of supporting future environmental science research endeavors. Most current environmental data repositories fulfill specific needs or objectives, i.e., archiving and disseminating data from a project, network of research sites, institution, a specific funding source, or to accompany paper publications. Envisioning a sustained Scientific Data Infrastructure (SDI), and with the goal of providing high quality data to researchers, policy makers and the general public, this project concentrates on data repositories and current curation practices as an integral part of this vision. Within this scope and in the context of environmental research data management, original goals and objectives of single repositories will be re-evaluated, efficiencies of scale identified, a cost-benefit analyses for some centralized services attempted, and new, sustainable collaborations conceptualized. Specifically, data curators from a range of environmental research fields, data aggregators, tool developers, computer scientists and environmental scientists (both data providers and users) will be brought together for an informed dialog which draws on this broad collective experience. A preliminary information-gathering phase will describe the characteristics of each repository to inform the discussion at two subsequent community workshops. The first workshop will identify new collaboration and curation strategies that also cater to the currently underserved single investigators and move environmental data from "available" to "usable", in order to accelerate scientific inquiry. The second workshop will examine these strategies further, and develop one or more alternative, community-vetted roadmaps for research information management with the goal of more efficiently and sustainably utilizing NSF investments. In summary, these workshops will produce a strategic implementation plan outlining one or more options for a sustained environmental data management infrastructure capable of accelerating scientific inquiry, serve all contributing investigators (data producers) and provide the basis for education and outreach activities in a cost effective approach. Data management needs are fairly well understood. Organizational, personnel and management structures are not. Hence, the plan will focus on these challenges while also considering workforce development. A website for this project will be established at http://sedicollaborative.org.