National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
c/o American Institute of Biological Sciences
1444 I St. NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
Contact: Dan Johnson, 202/628-1500 x215
fax: 202/628-1509; djohnson@aibs.org

November 12, 2006

NEON Passes a Milestone: the Conceptual Design Review

Leaders of NEON, Inc. and the NEON Project Office presented detailed reports of Observatory planning progress to an NSF Conceptual Design Review Panel at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, UC San Diego, La Jolla, California, 6-9 November 2006.

The presentations described NEON research objectives, science questions, continental-scale design, and infrastructure deployment. Functional requirements (including systems components, cyberinfrastructure interfaces, and performance requirements), the budget and management plan, and NEON education were included in the review. The National Science Foundation has asked the Panel to assess a host of documents produced by the NEON Project Office, including the Preliminary Project Execution Plan, Project Development Plan, and Cost Book.

NEON CEO Dr. David Schimel and Board Chair Dr. James A. MacMahon led a plenary session at which design experts presented the review panel with an overview of activities related to NEON science, engineering, and management. A series of breakout sessions were held to provide the panelists with additional details.

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale research platform for discovering and understanding the impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasives on ecology. It is the first research initiative in the biological sciences to be considered for funding through the NSF Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) fund, a portfolio that has supported construction of telescope arrays and the commissioning of ocean research vessels.

More than 20 scientists from a variety of disciplines served on the Conceptual Design Review Panel, which was chaired by Dr. Gary Sanders, Project Manager of the Thirty Meter Telescope. NEON presentations were made at the Calit2 Synthesis Center on the UC San Diego campus, a venue that provided state-of-the-art visuals of the project’s cyberinfrastructure, sensors, and instrumentation.