Long Term Ecological Research Network Office Strategic Planning Follow up

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Ecological Informatics Building Solutions for
Multi-Decadal Research
SLA 2008 Conference Seattle, WA 17 June 2008
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Roadmap

• Why multi-decadal research?
• A brief history of LTER
• Data/information challenges
• Ecological informatics
• Current state-of-the-art
• Future

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Roadmap

• Why multi-decadal research?
• A brief history of LTER
• Data/information challenges
• Ecological informatics
• Current state-of-the-art
• Future

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Long-Term Research is Required to Reveal

• Slow processes or transients
• Episodic or infrequent events
• Trends
• Multi-factor responses
• Processes with major time lags

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Roadmap

• Why multi-decadal research?
• A brief history of LTER
• Data/information challenges
• Ecological informatics
• Current state-of-the-art
• Future

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Data Dispersion

• Data are massively dispersed
• Ecological field stations and research centers
  (100s)
• Natural history museums and biocollection
  facilities (100s)
• Agency data collections (100s to 1000s)
• Individual scientists (1000s to 10,000s)

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Data Entropy
Time of publication
Specific details
General details
Retirement or career change
Information Content
Accident
Death
Time
(Michener et al. 1997)
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Data IntegrationJones et al. 2007

• Data are heterogeneous
• Syntax
• (format)
• Schema
• (model)
• Semantics
• (meaning)

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Information and Storage
Petabytes Worldwide
Information
Available Storage
Source John Gantz, IDC Corporation The
Expanding Digital Universe
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Roadmap

• Why multi-decadal research?
• A brief history of LTER
• Data/information challenges
• Ecological informatics
• Current state-of-the-art
• Future

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Ecological Informatics
A discipline that incorporates both concepts
and practical tools for the understanding,
generation, processing, and propagation of
ecological data, information and knowledge.
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Data Archives
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Existing Tools Provide Needed Functionality
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Metacat Data Distribution
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VegBank an example warehouse
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Roadmap

• Why multi-decadal research?
• A brief history of LTER
• Data/information challenges
• Ecological informatics
• Current state-of-the-art
• Future
• Science
• Technology
• Sociocultural dimension

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Global ChangeSmith, Knapp, Collins. In press.
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Critical Areas in the Earth System
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The Coupled Science/CI Vision

• Facilitate the long-term access and use of
  preserved biological, socio-ecological, and earth
  observation data
• Data are diverse and complex (multi-scale,
  multi-discipline, and multi-national)
• Agile, evolutionary CI development building upon
  a progressively refined, robust core framework
• Build sustainable communities of practice and CI
  enterprises

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Knowledge Pyramid
Adapted from CENR-OSTP
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Technology Directions

• Cyberinfrastructure that enables the science
• Whole-life-cycle data management
• Domain-agnostic solutions

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Focus on CI that Enables the Science(end-to-end
solutions)

• Discovery, access, and use
• Free, open access to holdings (and tools)

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Support the Data Lifecycle

• Reliable, replicated storage infrastructure
• Interoperability across data centers

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Examples of Data Holdings
Metadata Interoperability Across Data Holdings
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Data Interoperability Ontologies and Semantic
Mediation

• Individual Researchers Notebook/Field
  Observations
• Micro/Meso-scale projects
• Multiple researchers
• Spreadsheets/databases
• Macro-scale projects (LTER, OOI, PISCO)
• Sensor clusters
• Laboratory analyses
• National-scale programs (e.g., NEON)?
• Sensor networks and flux towers
• Earth observation imagery

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Domain-Agnostic Solutions
Domain Agnostic practice or tool that crosses
domains
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Kilo Nalu Workflow
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Kepler Use Cases Represent Many Science Domains

• Ecology
• SEEK Ecological Niche Modeling
• REAPenvironmental sensor networks
• NEON Ecological sensor networks
• Molecular biology
• SDM Gene promoter identification
• ChIP-chip genome research
• CAMERA metagenomics
• Oceanography
• REAP SST data processing
• LOOKING ocean observing CI
• ROADNet real-time modeling
• Ocean Life project

• Physics
• CPES Plasma fusion simulation
• FermiLab particle physics
• Chemistry
• Resurgence Computational chemistry
• DART (X-Ray crystallography)
• Library science
• DIGARCH Digital preservation
• Cheshire digital library archival
• Conservation biology
• SanParks Thresholds of Potential Concerns
• Geosciences
• GEON LiDAR data processing
• GEON Geological data integration

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Workflows Aid Comprehension

• Publish to workflow repository with accession
  number
• Documents the linkage between publication,
  analysis, and data

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Workflow Sharing Portal
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Sociocultural Directions

• Education and training for CI literacy
• Engaging the broad community through citizen
  science
• Building sustainable communities of practice and
  CI enterprises

Mound built by cathedral termites
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• Experiential, Career-long Education and Training

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Citizen Science
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A Toolkit for Citizen Science

• How-to manual for new practitioners
• Resources for designing, executing, evaluating
  projects
• Solves data management issues
• Common path to share and archive data, regardless
  of domain

www.CitizenScience.org
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CI Enterprises to Become Increasingly Global
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a wide range of partnering organizations

• Digital libraries
• Academic institutions
• Research networks
• NSF- and government-funded synthesis
  supercomputer centers/networks
• Governmental organizations
• International organizations
• Data and metadata archives
• Professional societies
• NGOs
• Commercial sector

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Longevity of CI Enterprises

• Broad, active community engagement
• Involvement of library and science educators
  engaging new generations of students in best
  practices
• Existing outreach and education programs
• Transparent, participatory governance
• Adoption/creation of sustainable business models
• Strong organizational sustainability

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Thanks!

• Suzie Allard University of Tennessee
• Matt Jones University of California Santa
  Barbara
• Mike Frame National Biological Information
  Infrastructure
• Bob Cook Oak Ridge National Laboratory DAAC
• DataNetONE Partners Kepler-CORE Team