Workshop: Optimizing NEON Science; Fall, 2016; Boulder, Colorado

Battelle Memorial Institute, Richland OH

Investigators

Abstract

The National Ecological Observatory Network was designed to address grand challenge questions on the continental scale, but has suffered from some lack of rigorous community engagement in recent years. This award will support a workshop with overarching objectives to ensure that the NEON is employing the most effective means of data acquisition and dissemination, has the broadest utility to stakeholder communities, and remains within programmatic constraints. The goals of the workshop are to: (i) assess the current dataflow designs in light of both meeting current technical advancements and the expected needs of the stakeholder communities; (ii) develop new approaches for integration of NEON data with those of stakeholder communities, including NEON site hosts and others with site presence; and (iii) provide a venue to strategically re-engage with key members of the research community, including site owners, and others (e.g., NSF networks) who are generating data that can be synergistically enhanced by collaborations with NEON. The workshop will include early-, mid-, and late-career participants and encourage future engagement opportunities with our participants. Building upon previous NSF awards to NEON, the workshop will also include participants from Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribal Serving institutions (TSIs). Workshop proceedings will be shared through web-based documents, direct mailings, and formal peer-reviewed publications NEON is designed around an open access data model to assess the seven National Academy of Sciences Grand Challenges (biodiversity, biogeochemistry, climate change, ecohydrology, infectious disease, invasive species and land use change). An outcome of this workshop will be summary reviews of the planned and representative NEON dataflows, and an assessment of the appropriateness of these in light of the current state of the science. These summary reviews will be structured (focused) to provide technical assessment, identify future improvements in methodologies, with associated time frames and investments required to effect those improvements, along with an assessment of the additional value these would provide the community. The summary reviews will also be designed to inform current and future NEON activities. Recommendations from the workshop may be placed in a queue for future planning and implementation as part of a continuous improvement process of NEON in Operations.