NEON: Where We Are Today (And How We Got There) Jeffrey Goldman Science Office Director,
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Transcript of NEON: Where We Are Today (And How We Got There) Jeffrey Goldman Science Office Director,
NEON:Where We Are Today
(And How We Got There)
Jeffrey GoldmanScience Office Director,
American Institute of Biological Sciences
Interacting Drivers of Biological Change
Land use & habitat alteration
Invasive species
Evolution of infectious disease
Climate changeBiogeochemi
cal cycles
BiodiversitySpecies composition
Ecosystem functioning
Common Features
• Regional, continental, or global in extent• Multicausal & complex• Require information about
interdependence of species• Require comparative analysis of
ecosystems over large areas and long periods
All profoundly impact our society
Current Infrastructure
• Research centers, sites, stations– Distributed across U.S., haphazard assemblage
of equipment, often without basic connectivity• Informatics
– Ecological data highly heterogeneous, data sets largely undocumented, difficult to find
• Networks– Many US-based and international networks,
few enforce standardized protocols and documentation or collection at multiple spatial scales
The National Ecological Observatory Network
A continent-wide research platform to study phenomena at regional to continental scales
NEON will:• Consist of distributed field- and laboratory-
based observatories (facilities, sites, etc.)• Engage large multidisciplinary teams• Employ high technology to link facilities,
sense the environment, forecast changes• Promote data sharing and open data
policies• Create an ability to predict biological
changes and consequences
NEON Milestones
• NEON planning workshops (2000 & 2002)• Regional planning meetings (2000-present)• Federal funding requests (FY’01, FY’03,
FY’04, FY’05)• NRC study (Summer 2003)• The IBRCS project (2002-2005)
Federal Funding Requests
• Special NSF budget account: Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction Account (MREFC)– Reserved for facilities and equipment that cannot be
supported at the NSF directorate level– Generally, of use to a large segment of a research
community
• Examples: – Gravitational wave observatories– Radio telescope arrays– Distributed networks of equipment (lately)
Colors of Money
1. Planning (workshops, NRC, AIBS)2. Implementation (MREFC)3. Maintenance and Operation4. Research (independent
investigators)
AIBS Infrastructure Project
Initiated IBRCS project, a catalyst for community activity surrounding biological research infrastructure, especially NEON.• Attempt to represent community vision • Attempt to unify voice of community• Inform and build constituency• Provide venues for discussion• Develop knowledge of existing biological
research infrastructure
AIBS Infrastructure Project
1. Infrastructure Working Group2. White paper, town meetings, and
roundtable3. Outreach (annual meetings, reports,
BioScience, briefings)4. NEON Coordination & Implementation
Conference5. Current Workshop Series: NEON Science
Drivers
Framing questions1. What are the regional/continental scale issues of
national concern?
2. Is a network of infrastructure needed to address them?
3. Will NEON, as conceived, do the job?
4. What impact will NEON have on the community and the next generation?
NRC study
Six themes emerged
Recommended Organizing Themes
•biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem functioning
•ecological aspects of biogeochemical cycles•ecological implications of climate change•ecology and evolution of infectious disease• invasive species• land use and habitat alteration
NRC study
Framing questions1. What are the regional/continental scale issues of
national concern?
2. Is a network of infrastructure needed to address them?
3. Will NEON, as conceived, do the job?
4. What impact will NEON have on the community and the next generation?
NRC study
Six themes emerged
Yes
Yes and no
A profoundly positive impact
Coordination & Implementation Conference
Recommendations
• NEON should exist as a national network of regional observatories
• Observatories should be established simultaneously but should mature incrementally according to specific organizing questions, including those identified by the NRC
• A new organization with broad representation should be established to manage NEON
• establish before observatories• receive all funding for infrastructure/M&O and
distribute it to observatories• Specification of the NEON design should begin
immediately
Detail Remains Elusive
• What science will NEON enable?• What solutions will be sought?• Who will benefit?• Where will infrastructure reside?• Who will administer and in what
context?
Challenges
• Steep learning curve• National spotlight premature• “Big Science” model unfamiliar
– Requires design blueprint earlier than initially realized
– Garners political scrutiny that is unfamiliar to initial champions
– Requires a framework for concept development initially absent
What is “Big Science”?
• Expensive large-scale facilities (such as accelerators and reactors) and programs involving large teams of investigators
• Hierarchical organization of scientific labor, multidisciplinary teams, coalition building needed to generate support of funding agency
Elusive History of Big Biology
Prior attempts-mixed success• Biotrons, phytotrons• National biological facility• Oceanographic research vessels• Tropical biology• Human Genome Project
Biologists’ ambivalence to Big Science• Heterogeneity and fragmentation• Couldn’t get line item funding• Don’t need or want it• Rival interests
From: Appel, Toby. 2000. Shaping Biology: The National Science Foundation and American Biological Research, 1945-1975.
DistinguishingSmall and Big Science
Attribute Small science Big science
Success defined by Scientists, creators, inventors, peers
Managers, reviewers, sponsors, peers
Decisions made by Scientists, creators, inventors
Managers, directors, delegated
Design flexibility Flexible, creative Fixed, baselined
Fabricated by In-house craftwork, “make”
Industrial approach, “buy”
Team composition Predominantly scientist
Scientists, engineers, acc’ts., PMs
Project visibility Private Public
Project process Opaque TransparentAdapted from talk by Gary Sanders, CalTech
Is NEON Big Science?
• NEON has been a “big science” project developing in a “small science” culture
• NEON is compared to:– Other big science projects by people
familiar with big science– Small science projects by people familiar
with small science
# of different detectors
# o
f lo
cati
ons
Not All Big Science Projects are the Same
NIF LHC
LIGO
EarthScope NEON
Stages in Big Science Project
Stage
Federal Funding
NSF Intern
alCommunity
Planning
Concept
Development
Implementation
Operation
Renewal
NEON Solicitation from NSF
• Develop a NEON Consortium and establish a project office to:– Lead, coordinate, and organize– Serve as NEON focal point for NEON community
• Implementation plan– Science and education plan– Network design– Schedule– Cost estimates
• National NEON organization– Member-governed– Independent, non-profit
NEON Science Drivers Workshops
• Six Workshops Organized Around Science Themes
– Identify organizing questions– Identify required research
infrastructure• Issues
– Driven by science– Integrative across grand challenges– Selective, not comprehensive– Find right point along the spectrum
An Example
• EarthScope– How does strain accumulate and release at plate
boundaries?– How do earthquakes start, rupture, and stop?– How can we predict earthquake ground motions
over a wide frequency range?
Timeline
NEON conceived, 1998
Planning workshops, 2000 & 2002
Regional Meetings, 2000 - present
IBRCS Project, 2002 - 2005
NRC Study, 2003
NOEN Science Drivers Workshops, 2004Final NEON Planning Phase, 2004 -
2006
Summer Workshops
• Make productive use of the time during which proposals were being written and reviewed
• Initiate the discussion of science drivers and required infrastructure
• Contribute recommendations to eventual NCC• Minimize overlap with NCC
Objectives
• Provide:– state-of-the-art national facility – all levels of biological organization – across temporal and spatial scales
• Connect:– geographically distributed infrastructure– one virtual installation via communication
networks– Remote users to the facility
• Facilitate:– predictive modeling of biological systems – data sharing and synthesis
Path of ideal Big Science project
1. Community develops decadal plan, incl. prioritized list facilities/ instruments required to make a quantum leap in discipline
2. Team, sometimes a consortium, forms to lead development of facility/instrument (Team owns plan)
3. Team receives “small science” funding from sponsoring agency to develop concept into “Big Science” project (Program level buy-in)
4. Program staff shepherds plan through multi-year institutional process (Agency buy-in)
5. Agency proposes Big Science project to Congress6. Congress approves/appropriates7. Agency makes award to original team, often as coop.
agreement8. Team implements project to build facility/instrument with
oversight of sponsoring agency9. Team operates facility/instrument for community-wide use10. Discipline makes quantum leap11. Repeat
Stages in Big Science Project
1. Concept2. Development3. Implementation4. Operation5. Renewal
Emerging Technologies