Call for Participation
National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
To nominate an individual to serve on a NEON committee or for more
information on NEON planning, go to:
http://www.neoninc.org
For more information about the development of a high latitude regional
NEON group, contact:
Donie Bret-Harte
E-mail: Syndonia.BretHarte [at] uaf.edu or ffmsb [at] uaf.edu
BACKGROUND
NSF recently awarded $6 million dollars to the American Institute of
Biological Sciences for the planning of a National Ecological
Observatory Network (NEON) that would establish a national platform for
integrated studies and monitoring of natural processes at all spatial
scales, time scales, and levels of biological organization. The planning
proposal relies on input from the scientific community to define NEON's
science questions, and may rely on regional groups for implementing the
infrastructure, which is envisioned to have a 30-year life span. A
meeting was held 18-20 October 2004 to help regional groups
self-organize in preparation for possible implementation of the national
NEON, if it is funded.
The science questions to be addressed by the NEON infrastructure will be
determined by the activities of 15 committees (8 science, 3 education, 3
infrastructure, 1 consortium design) in 3 workshops to be held between
January and June of 2005. These committees will identify 4-5 driving
science questions for the program, which will be the basis for the
science plan. The science plan will be completed by October 2005. The
basic topic areas for the science questions have already been chosen,
but the exact form of the questions has not been determined, and the
prioritization of the questions has not been completed. The committee
chairs have been chosen, and they will have the primary responsibility
for selecting the members of their committees from among the nominations
received, but all membership assignments must be approved by NSF and the
senior management team, and must meet criteria for expertise and for
diversity of institution, age, gender, race, etc. If you are available
and interested in participating in this process, please nominate
yourself today at http://www.neoninc.org, as selections will take place
in the near future.
Donie Bret-Harte (UAF), John Hobbie (MBL), and Jeff Welker (UAA)
represented the high latitude regional NEON group at the recent meeting
for the regional groups. This group plans to hold a meeting later this
winter, and hopes that you will attend if you are interested in being
involved. Even though the national plan for NEON has not been completed,
now is the time to act to influence the development of the scientific
focus, agenda, and infrastructural base for the NEON program. The high
latitude regional NEON group is eager for participation from scientists
from federal and state agencies, non-profits, and diverse educational
institutions, as well as research universities. Please pass this
information to any of your colleagues who are interested, and ask them
to contact Donie Bret-Harte (Email: Syndonia.BretHarte [at] uaf.edu or
ffmsb [at] uaf.edu) to put their names on the mailing list or for more
information.