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

September 26, 2007

New U.S. Ecological Observatory Garners Founding Member Institutions

The deadline for application extends to November 1, 2007 More than 20 US universities and scientific organizations interested in promoting the goals of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) have become Founding Members of the organization.

“The most immediate activity of these members will be to help us choose additional members for our Board of Directors,” said NEON Board Chair Dr. James A. MacMahon. “Nearly half of all Board members will be elected from the representatives of membership institutions. This expansion of the Board will occur before December,” he said.

Founding Members will be recognized throughout the operational life of NEON as supporters of an observational network designed to transform the way ecological research is conducted in the United States. The application deadline for Founding Memberships is November 1, 2007.

Who Has Joined NEON?

In the East and South: The Ecological Society of America, Harvard University (Harvard Forest), the Science and Engineering Alliance, University of Alabama, University of Florida, University of Maryland—Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (Institutional Member), University of New Hampshire, University of South Carolina, and Williams College.

In the Midwest: Kansas State University, University of Kansas (Biodiversity Institute), University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame (Environmental Research Center), and the University of Oklahoma.

In the West: University of Arizona (Institute for the Study of Planet Earth), University of California—Los Angeles, University of California—Riverside, University of Colorado at Boulder (INSTARR—Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research), University of Utah, University of Washington, and Utah State University (Ecology Center).

To learn more about the benefits of NEON Founding and Institutional Membership and to download an application form, visit www.neoninc.org.

NEON at a Glance

The National Ecological Observatory Network is a research platform for discovering and understanding ecological change at the continental scale. NEON will deploy a network of standardized instruments and cyberinfrastructure to gather data on ecological responses of the biosphere to changes in climate, land use, and invasive species, and on feedbacks with the geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.

Observatory data will advance ecological forecasting, improve natural resource management, and provide early warning of biological hazards. NEON will support the first continental-scale comparisons of research transects focused on some of the nation’s most pressing ecological challenges—including forest management, invasive species, infectious disease, and the effects of urban and exurban development.

NEON is the first initiative in the biological sciences supported through the National Science Foundation’s Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction portfolio, which has previously funded large telescope arrays, particle accelerators, and research vessels. The Observatory will promote frontier environmental science and education for at least 30 years.