Impact
Explore how NEON impacts ecological research and education.
Case Studies
Research supported by NEON
NEON provides a foundation for hundreds of research projects. Learn about the work we've supported:
Monitoring Biodiversity on a Global Scale
A recent paper in Environmental Research: Ecology explores the potential for using air- and spaceborne lidar to monitor biodiversity on a global scale. The study used NEON airborne laser scanning (ALS) data with NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) spaceborne lidar to validate a unique approach that uses "characteristic" forest structure to infer biodiversity for areas difficult to directly sample.
Diving Into the Future of Freshwater Forecasting
Can water quality be forecast just like the weather? For Dr. Quinn Thomas, that is the ultimate goal. He and fellow researchers tested a model for forecasting lake temperatures at six NEON lake sites. Their results were recently published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. Thomas is also the Principal Investigator for the EFI-RCN NEON Forecasting Challenge, which seeks to create a community of ecological forecasters using NEON data to test forecasting models.
Where Are Ground Beetle Populations at Risk?
A recent paper in Global Ecology and Biology, Habitat–trait interactions that control response to climate change: North American ground beetles, explores the connections between climate change, habitat types, and ground beetle traits. The study could help researchers model which ground beetle species may be at risk and the habitats needing protection to preserve them.
Spotlights
People making an impact
Women in Ecology – Laura Steger
For our latest Women in Ecology interview, we spoke with Laura Steger, Environmental and Zoological Collections Manager for the NEON Biorepository at Arizona State University. Steger spent her childhood in nature, influencing her to continue in that environment and work with NEON, spending her time surrounded by different specimens and samples from many different ecosystems.
Learn more about NEON's footprint
Discover where NEON transforms ecological research and learning.
Observatory Blog
Like to hear what the NEON community is working on? We publish about one new blog post per week.
Publications
Scientists and educators have published many professional papers using NEON data and resources. Check out our bibliography.
Newsroom
Check out our newsroom where you can subscribe to periodic newsletters, find where we've been in the news, and more.
Share your research story!
Have you used NEON data, samples, or infrastructure? Please contact us about your research and we'd be happy to write a blog article featuring your work as well as add your papers to our publications list.
Recent Publications
NEON has already supported many research projects; explore the literature that has been produced by NEON's community.
Engaging at conferences
NEON at ESA 2023
NEON attended the in-person 2023 Ecological Society of America meeting.
NEON at AGU 2023
NEON and Battelle attended the 2023 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.