| Construction Progress | | As of April 2013, NEON has completed civil construction at Disney Wilderness Preserve and Blandy Experimental Farm. Sensor deployment has begun on some sites. For more details, see our construction progress page. |
| NEON Provides Congressional Testimony |
On March 21, 2013, Dr. Russell Lea (NEON, Inc. CEO) provided written and oral testimony to the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies. Every year, as part of the process Congress undertakes to appropriate funds for the following Federal financial year that starts on October 1, Congress invites the public to submit testimony to express support for new or existing programs that are funded through the Federal agencies.
The public may choose to submit written comments, and in addition, request the opportunity to deliver oral comments. Like what NEON, Inc. has done for the past few years, we elected to submit written and oral testimonies before this subcommittee that funds agencies including NSF. Oral testimonies are delivered in a hearing room not far from the House of Representative's Chamber, which is located in the U.S. Capitol building.
On behalf of the future NEON user community, Russ thanked the subcommittee for its consistently strong support for NSF, even in financially austere times. This was then followed up with an overview of the approved construction budget profile for NEON. The budget profile, which is public information available from NSF's annual budget request to Congress, lists the estimated future-year costs for constructing NEON. The testimony wrapped up with an overview of why is it imperative for NEON to stay within its approved budget and schedule profile. The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS: a NEON, Inc. Founding Institution) similarly provided testimony before the same committee. AIBS stressed the importance of NSF in STEM education, supporting field stations, digitization of natural sciences collections, biodiversity research, NEON, and other matters of priority to our community. |
| White House Releases National Observation Strategy |
The White House's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), managed by the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), released a report titled "National Strategy for Civil Earth Observations". The strategy is designed to maximize coordination between agencies that operate the complex portfolio of civil observation assets to serve both science and operational needs. The National Strategy includes a policy framework for the assessment of such assets that contribute to societal benefit areas. The Strategy also includes data-management guidelines that advance data-management frameworks.
NSF's environmental observation assets, such as the Long-term Ecological Research Network, EarthScope, the Oceans Observatories Initiative, ocean research vessels, HIAPER, and NEON are ultimately components of the national civil assets for earth observations. The integration of these NSF assets, and those operated by other Federal agencies, represent a collective capacity to generate the data and information necessary to manage our nation's natural resources. As pointed out by a President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) 2011 report titled "Sustaining Environmental Capital", state of the art informatics is the key to integrating these assets. |
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Key Dates in 2013
| May 30 - May 31: NEON, Inc. Board Meeting
Jun 4 - Jun 7: ESA Scaling UP Workshops
Aug 4 - Aug 9: ESA Annual Meeting
Dec 9 - Dec 13: AGU Fall Meeting |
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