Important Reminders
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- Nominations for August 2011 Board Election Close July 8, 2011. For details, see the original announcement at http://goo.gl/tE39h.
- Fourth Annual NEON, Inc. Membership Meeting (Sep 16, 2011, Boulder, CO). This year's annual meeting will be in Boulder, CO. A full announcement with a draft agenda and logistics instructions is imminent. Highlights of the meeting (described in the previous update) include: tours of the new NEON facilities, events organized around continental-scale science and education, and a number of travel support for early career scientists for individuals from member institutions in good standing. Details on the travel support application process will be released together with the draft agenda very soon.
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NEWS@NEON Summer 2011 Published
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The Summer 2011 Edition of NEWS@NEON (released quarterly) is now available. This edition includes:
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| NSF Director Dr. Suresh Visits NEON, Inc. HQ | |
NEON hosted a visit from Dr. Subra Suresh, the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), on June 6, 2011.
Drs. Suresh, Tim Killeen (Assistant Director for Geosciences), Joann Roskoski (Acting Assistant Director for Biology), and Liz Blood (Program Director for NEON) viewed a short presentation on NEON's current status from Dr. Dave Schimel, NEON's Chief Science Officer. The group visited with staff from several teams, who presented posters outlining current plans for the observatory, then toured the headquarters facility, including the engineering and calibration and validation labs and the airborne operations lab. Dr. Suresh then presented brief remarks to NEON staff on how NSF-funded environmental observatories enable his vision of the "Era of Observation" and the "Era of Data and Information." In that vision, the products of scientific discovery - including high-quality data, protocols, models, and publications - are made easily accessible to accelerate scientific innovation. (See also the February 2011 edition on this topic.)
Enablement of that vision will be facilitated, in part, via NSF's proposed FY12 Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CF21/CIF21) initiative (see the NSF Dear Colleague Letter on CIF21, and also the February 2011 edition on the FY12 budget request). CIF21 will enable physical and intellectual resources to be integrated, interoperable and comprehensive, so that individual researchers, teams, and multiple communities can more easily work together, bringing collaborative data- and compute-intensive methods to bear on the complex problems under investigation. See this issue for the CIF21 inspired announcement on the "Earth Cube". Readers who relate more to informatics may be interested in a CIF21 inspired NSF solicitation "Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation" highlighted in the "Solicitations" section.
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LTER, NADP, NEON Referenced in Senate Legislation
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On June 13, 2011, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) that mentions the Long Term Ecological Network (LTER), National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP), and NEON. Senate bill S.1183, the "Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act", calls for "a comprehensive national mercury monitoring network" to quantify regional and national changes in atmospheric deposition, ecosystem contamination, and bioaccumulation of mercury in fish and wildlife (see http://goo.gl/iA2aW for the text of the bill).
The bill stipulates that the EPA should, in conjunction with the Fish and Wildlife Service, USGS, National Park Service, NOAA, and other appropriate Federal agencies, establish a program to measure and monitor mercury levels in the air and watersheds, water and soil chemistry, and in aquatic and terrestrial organisms at multiple sites across the Nation. It also calls for co-location with other long-term programs where practicable, including those associated with LTER, NADP, and NEON. S.1183 has been referred to the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for further consideration. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME, 1st District) is expected to introduce a similar bill in the US House of Representatives in the near future.
If you are interested in knowing more about the interface of science and policy, register now to participate in the 3rd Annual Biological Sciences Congressional District Visits event, highlighted in the May 2011 edition of the monthly update. This event is organized by the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS: a NEON, Inc. Founding Member Institution). For more information and to register, visit http://goo.gl/ekfQ2.
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Call for Nominations for the NEON Aquatic Working Group
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The NEON Aquatic Team will soon establish an Aquatic Technical Working Group (ATWG). This group will provide expert opinion, input, and feedback to NEON in support of design, construction, and operability of the NEON Aquatic Program. The ATWG will provide a bridge to and a conduit for input from the broader scientific and technical aquatic-science communities. ATWG members are nominated by their peers or self and are selected on the basis of their expertise and a desire to adequately represent the wide range of disciplines currently included in the NEON Aquatic Program.
More information on the ATWG can be found at http://goo.gl/SDj4x.
If you or your colleagues are interested in participating in the working group, please complete and submit the Nomination Form (http://goo.gl/QnTvJ) to Dr. Heather Powell, or contact her if you have any questions.
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Directorate for Biological Sciences Data Management Plan Guidance
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The NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences has just made available a document (http://goo.gl/511ag) that provides guidance about the required data management plan (DMP) for all NSF grant proposals. The document suggests questions that the DMP should answer taking into consideration the heterogeneous nature of biological observational and experimental data. Readers may also find it helpful to see the February 2011 email update that highlighted a document offered by James Brunt (Chief Information Officer, LTER Network Office) (http://goo.gl/j7a8h) that provides guidance on this topic.
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The "Earth Cube" - Towards a National Data Infrastructure for Earth System Science
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In a "Dear Colleague" letter, NSF outlines the need for transformative approaches and innovative technologies for heterogeneous data to be integrated, made interoperable, explored and re-purposed by researchers in disparate fields and for myriad uses across institutional, disciplinary, spatial and temporal boundaries. The vision is to integrate data and technology in an open, adaptable and sustainable framework (an "Earth-Cube") to enable transformative research and education in Earth System Science; foster common data models and data-focused methodologies; develop next generation search and data tools; and advance application software to integrate data from various sources and advance knowledge.
The NSF Geosciences Directorate (GEO) and the Office of Cyberinfrastructure (OCI) has put out a call to seek input from the community. NSF will host a series of webinars followed by a charrette meeting to rapidly facilitate the early stages of novel approaches for this system. See the letter (http://goo.gl/0n7mk) for instructions on joining the webinar.
(This item would normally be included in the "Solicitations" section, but is highlighted here to call attention to developments related to informatics, data integration, and data-intensive science.)
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Biological and Computing Shared Principles
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The Biological Sciences (BIO) and Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) Directorates invite proposals that advance research focused on principles shared between the biological and computing research communities. Potential topics could include, but are not limited to knowledge extraction; cross-scale/multi-scale information flow, processing, and analysis; representations and coding; pattern recognition and pattern generation; theoretical biology and theory of biological computation, and others. This is not a special competition or new program. See the letter (http://goo.gl/cvKqk) for more details.
(This item would normally be included in the "Solicitations" section, but is highlighted here to call attention to developments related to informatics, data integration, and data-intensive science.)
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Call for AGU Abstracts
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The following call for abstracts for the AGU meeting may be of interest to the NEON community. The list is not exhaustive. Abstracts are due August 4, 2011:
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| OBFS and NAML Workshop: Research Leaders and Participants Sought | |
The Organization of Biological Field Stations (OBFS: a NEON, Inc. member institution) and the National Association of Marine Laboratories (NAML) are co-hosting a workshop that will seek to identify the emerging research, education, and management issues best addressed by place-based facilities such as field stations and marine laboratories. The workshop is scheduled Nov. 17-19th, 2011 in Colorado Springs, CO.
The workshop aims to assess the infrastructure required to build and sustain the research capacity needed to support these activities. There will be five Work Groups, one for each of the following conceptual areas: Molecular Biology and Genomics, Ecosystem Dynamics, Macrosystems, Organismal and Population Biology, and Environmental Change. Each work group will consist of 8-12 people and will be charged with addressing the cross-cutting themes of research, education, management, and the coupling of human impacts and natural systems as they pertain to field stations and marine laboratories.
A detailed description of the workshop can be found at http://goo.gl/lhKtM.
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NSB/NSF Seeks Input on Proposed Merit Review Criteria Revision and Principles
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Over the past year, the National Science Board (NSB) has been conducting a review of the National Science Foundation's merit review criteria (Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts). At the Board's May 2011 meeting, the NSB Task Force on Merit Review proposed a revision of the two merit review criteria, clarifying their intent and how they are to be used in the review process. In addition, the Task Force identified a set of important underlying principles upon which the merit review criteria should be based. The NSB /NSF seeks your input on the proposed revision and principles. Comments will be collected through July 14, 2011. See http://goo.gl/V83d1 for details.
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NIMBioS Accepting Applications for Postdoc Scholarships
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The National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), located at the Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, is currently accepting applications for postdoctoral scholarship at the interface between mathematics and biology. Highest priority will be given to those with explicit plans to develop their ability to effectively carry on research across these fields. NIMBios is particularly interested in requests to support research that integrates diverse fields, requires synthesis at multiple scales, and/or makes use of or requires development of new mathematical/computational approaches. Support is in the form of an annual stipend of $51,000, full University of Tennessee employee fringe benefits, and an annual travel allowance of $2,000. For additional information on NIMBioS, visit http://www.nimbios.org.
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Solicitations of Potential Interest to the NEON Community
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Please click the respective links to check the original source of information. The abbreviated text below may not reflect amendments to the original announcements, and may not reflect the original intent of the solicitation. The "New" icons indicate recent new announcements (includes announcements for regular solicitations), and not necessarily new programs. These are primarily, though not limited to, NSF solicitations. Not all new announcements are included in the list below.  Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) - Excerpt: The goal of the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) solicitation is to understand and predict the interactions between the water system and climate change, land use (including agriculture, managed forest and rangeland systems), the built environment, and ecosystem function and services through place-based research and integrative models. Studies of the water system using models and/or observations at specific sites singly or in combination that allow for spatial and temporal extrapolation to other regions, as well as integration across the different processes in that system are encouraged, especially to the extent that they advance the development of theoretical frameworks and predictive understanding. Proposals may establish new observational sites or utilize existing sites and facilities already supported by NSF (National Science Foundation) or other federal and state agencies (e.g. USGS (US Geological Survey), USEPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) , USDA/ARS/FS (US Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Station/Forest Service), NOAA(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)).
- Critical Dates: Full proposals are due October 19, 2011.
- Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2)
- Excerpt: Computation is accepted as the third pillar supporting innovation and discovery in science and engineering and is central to NSF's vision of CIF21. In order to nurture, accelerate and sustain this critical mode of scientific progress, NSF has established the Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation (SI2) program, with the overarching goal of transforming innovations in research and education into sustained software resources that are an integral part of the cyberinfrastructure. The program addresses all aspects of cyberinfrastructure, from embedded sensor systems and instruments, to desktops and high-end data and computing systems, to major instruments and facilities. Furthermore, it recognizes that integrated education activities will play a key role in sustaining the cyberinfrastructure over time and in developing a workforce capable of fully realizing its potential in transforming science and engineering.
- Critical Dates: See NSF website.
- Informal Science Education (ISE)
- Excerpt: "Informal" science education experiences are those that occur outside formal school settings. The ISE program seeks to advance research by building the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning, furthering the assessment of such learning, and supporting the use of innovative methods to address questions of importance to those who work in informal science education settings. The ISE program invests in the design and development of models, resources, and programs for STEM learning throughout the lifespan. The ISE program seeks to build the STEM and education expertise of informal science education's broad community of professionals, volunteers, parents and caregivers, and all those with potential to facilitate the learning of others.
- Critical Dates: See NSF website.
- Terrestrial Ecosystem Science
- Excerpt: The US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), is pleased to announced its interest in receiving applications for terrestrial ecosystem science that will improve the understanding of the role of terrestrial ecosystems in climate forcing related to a changing climate. The BER Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) program will consider applications on measurements, experiments, modeling and synthesis that provide improved quantitative and predictive understanding of the terrestrial ecosystem that can affect atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration changes and thereby affect the anthropogenic gas forcing of climate. The emphasis of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to understand the impacts of, and feedbacks from a changing climate on non-managed terrestrial ecosystems. Authors should pose their research applications in the context of representing terrestrial ecosystem processes in earth system models.
- Critical Dates: Pre Applications are required and due June 14, 2011; Full Applications are due September 12, 2011.
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