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National Ecological Observatory Network

 

Project Description
NEON will be a continental scale research instrument consisting of geographically distributed infrastructure, networked via state-of-the-art communications. Cutting-edge lab and field instrumentation, site-based experimental infrastructure, natural history archive facilities and/or computational, analytical and modeling capabilities, linked via a computational network will comprise NEON.

NEON will transform ecological research by enabling studies on major environmental challenges at regional to continental scales. Scientists and engineers will use NEON to conduct real-time ecological studies spanning all levels of biological organization and temporal and geographical scales. NSF disciplinary and multi-disciplinary programs will support NEON research projects and educational activities. Data from standard measurements made using NEON will be publicly available.

Principal Scientific Goals
NEON will provide nationally networked research, communication, and informatics infrastructure for collaborative, comprehensive and interdisciplinary measurements and experiments on ecological systems. NEON’s synthesis, computation, and visualization infrastructure will create a virtual laboratory that will permit the development of a predictive understanding of the direct effects and feedbacks between environmental change and biological processes.

Principal Education Goals
NEON will be a platform for experiential learning and biosphere literacy. NEON will create innovative learning environments and pathways for K-20 students and foster integration of research and education through institutional and multi-institutional networking, partnerships, alliances, and collaborations. NEON’s research and communication infrastructure will enable public dialog, education of policy and management decision makers, and the development of workforce skills and life-long career opportunities. NEON will forge new disciplinary alliances and push interdisciplinary scientific, information, and technological frontiers, and thus will create education and training opportunities leading to new career paths.

NEON in FY 2004
The most pressing challenges facing the nation’s biosphere result from complex interactions between human, natural and physical systems, which operate over large spatial and temporal scales and transcend all levels of biological organization. To better understand these interactions requires a new tool to investigate the structure, dynamics, and evolution of ecosystems in the United States and to forecast biological change. Through a series of workshops, reports, and planning activities, (for information see: http://ibrcs.aibs.org/core/index.asp), the research community determined they needed a new tool. That tool needed to be a continent-wide research platform, composed of networked state-of-the-art analytical and communication technologies, or NEON.

In response, the Directorate for Biological Sciences of the National Science Foundation announces its intention to support the establishment of a NEON Coordinating Consortium (NCC), which will provide the scientific leadership, administration, community participation, and overall governance of NEON and include a NEON Project Office. The latter will manage the initial planning and design phase of NEON and will ultimately be responsible for NEON construction and daily management. See NSF 04-549 for the Program Announcement soliciting proposals for the NCC and NEON Project Office.

A Prospective Principal Investigator meeting was held Friday, February 27, 2004 at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, VA, to discuss this solicitation as well as the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), NSF's Facilities Management and Oversight Guide, and Large Facilities Project Management.

 

NEON Contact Information

Dr. Elizabeth R. Blood
Program Director
National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
Division of Biological Infrastructure
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Blvd #615N
Arlington, VA 22230
703.292.8470
eblood@nsf.gov

 

 

 
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Last Modified: Sep 03, '04