ESA Hosts Webcast and Survey on the Scientific and Educational Uses of NEON

March 22, 2007

ESA Hosts Webcast and Survey on the Scientific and Educational Uses of NEON

Ecological Society of America (ESA) hosted a Webcast on the educational and scientific uses of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) on March 21, 2007 at the American Society of Association Executives in Washington, DC. Panelists at the event were: ESA Executive Director Katherine McCarter, NSF Assistant Director (Directorate of Biological Sciences) James P. Collins, NEON CEO David Schimel, and ESA Education Director Jason Taylor.

The ESA online survey of NEON science and education revealed strong community interest in the availability of data generated by the National Ecological Observatory Network. Among the results:

* Prior to participating in the survey, 91 percent of the respondents had heard of NEON and 58 percent had engaged in NEON discussions at ESA, LTER, NEON meetings, or with colleagues.
* A majority of respondents (72 percent) anticipated using data from the NEON network, and 76 percent said they would use data from environmental gradients.
* More than 80 percent thought that open access policies will have a positive effect on student or post-doc use of NEON data.

Incentives to respondents conducting research at NEON sites include: collaboration opportunities, data accessibility and integrity, affordable housing, funding, on-site staff, facility and equipment access, and how well NEON sites and data will integrate with existing research. Barriers to conducting research at NEON sites include: the cost of accessing a site and its facilities and equipment; lack of relevancy of NEON site locations and data streams to a researcher’s interests; distance of a NEON site from a researcher’s home institution; site overcrowding, overuse, or abundance; and data quality and data ownership issues.

NEON CEO David Schimel responded to questions on NEON science, data policy, site selection, and other issues. For a recording of the Webcast-including audio, video, and slide presentations-visit www.neoninc.org.

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