NEON's Ambassador Program is envisioned to empower and connect researchers and educators who are eager to engage with their communities. They will help their communities use NEON to accelerate scientific discovery, enhance educational opportunities, increase diversity and inclusion of the scientific community, and/or inform public policy. The inaugural cohort of NEON Ambassadors will contribute to a community-driven design for the new program.
A new study by Hakkenberg and Goetz uses NEON lidar and field observations to explore how climate mediates biodiversity-structure relationships (BSRs) across the U.S. Their findings could help improve biodiversity maps created with remote sensing data and better predict the impact of habitat degradation and climate change on biodiversity across disparate regions.
The rugged Sierra Nevada mountain range is home to 20 wilderness areas; two national monuments; and Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. They also host all five of the NEON field sites in D17, the Pacific Southwest. The sites are located across the largest elevation gradient in the Observatory, providing a unique opportunity to collect data from the foothills to the higher elevations.
NEON's Science, Technology & Education Advisory Committee (STEAC) has welcomed three new members into the group beginning September 2021 - Drs. Karen Lips, Steve Petruzza, and Shawn Serbin
In August 2021, NEON partnered with DeLeaves again (first collaboration in 2019) for a campaign at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) field site to validate the scalability of a drone technique for sampling foliage from tall canopies.
NEON recently reviewed and corrected land cover maps for five field sites using data collected by the Airborne Observation Platform and analyzed by NEON staff scientists. The new maps provide a more accurate view of land cover distribution at the sites and will be used to inform changes to our spatial sampling design.
NEON biological sample data can now be found in the Global Biodiversity Information Facilities (GBIF) network. The partnership allows NEON data to be discovered and used alongside similar historical and global datasets, benefiting both current NEON data users and the international science community at large.
Community members in northern Wisconsin are learning how they can help monitor and control the spread of invasive plant species in their local area. A workshop organized by Ashley Spink, a senior field ecologist for the NEON program, was supported through NEON's partnership with the Thriving Earth Exchange program.
The plains of Texas and Oklahoma are home to rolling grasslands, expansive croplands, and more than 10 million head of cattle. In the Southern Plains (Domain 11), agriculture reigns supreme. Understanding how land management decisions and agricultural practices impact ecosystems is key to both maintaining agricultural productivity and protecting native habitats.
NEON's non-core field sites are not any more relocatable than the core sites. To better reflect the scientific intent of these sites, and with the concurrence of NSF, the NEON program is changing their terminology from "relocatable" to "gradient" sites.
NEON has joined forces with the Environmental Data Initiative to promote data accessibility and usability in the environmental sciences. The joint initiative will create tools, templates, and standards that will make it easier to synthesize data from NEON, the Long Term Ecological Research Network, and other networks and organizations.
If you can't choose between the mountains and the ocean, the Pacific Northwest (D16) may be the place for you. This coastal Domain features spectacular mountain ranges, vast conifer forests, and a rugged, rocky coastline. The NEON field sites, nestled into the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon, offer an opportunity to see how different land management strategies impact this unique temperate ecosystem.
Cows and croplands dominate large portions of the U.S. How does this agriculture impact ecosystems? NEON field sites located on or near agricultural land – including some colocated with Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) sites and Agricultural Research Stations – can help answer important questions about the interactions between agricultural activities and native ecosystems.
NEON staff participated in a five-session virtual workshop to generate creative strategies and new research collaborations centered on the fire science community. The workshop was designed to make steps towards improving understanding of different types of fires across temporal and spatial scales, predicting feedbacks between wildfire and living systems, and improving the representation of biological processes in models. Kaelin Cawley, a NEON research scientist and aquatic biogeochemist, brought the NEON perspective to the event.
If you like it hot, the Desert Southwest may be for you. From the iconic saguaro cactus stands of the Sonoran to the mesquite scrublands of the Chihuahuan, this region offers a diverse range of desert and mountainous landscapes to explore. Data from the NEON field sites will help scientists better understand the impact of human disturbances and climate change on these unique and fragile arid ecosystems.
While some people find bugs to be scary or gross, Dr. Roisin Stanbrook hopes to change that perception by showing how insects are critical to the conservation of our natural world. In addition to detailing her fascinating work with dung beetles, Stanbrook discussed how her non-traditional path to conservation ecology is an asset in the long run, and how she hopes to teach her students the same.
Can machine learning be used for accurate species identification of beetles and other invertebrates? Dr. Katie Marshall and Jarrett Blair at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and collaborators sought to answer this question using carabid beetle data from the NEON program. Eventually, they hope to leverage machine learning to identify other species caught in the NEON beetle pitfall traps. Machine learning could one day be used to classify unidentified species in the NEON bycatch (species caught other than the target species) and answer new questions about invertebrate diversity and abundance across North America.
How do you collect phenology data at a large scale for an elusive species like the deer mouse? Drs. Bryan McLean and Robert Guralnick combined mammal trapping data from the NEON program with a century of museum data to find insights into the environmental drivers of reproduction for small mammals.
Every year, the NEON program hires between 230-250 seasonal field technicians. These seasonal workers, often recent college graduates, are tasked with collecting field observations and physical samples at NEON field sites. A new internal Online Training Center makes it easier to standardize training across the NEON Domains and track training progress for new recruits.
We spoke with Dr. Bala Chaudhary, assistant professor of Environmental Science and Studies at DePaul University, about her career, about how the lack of representation of people of color – both while she was in school and in her professional career – drives her to work toward creating a more equitable academic system, and she shared insightful ways that universities and labs can improve.
Recently, SciTeens partnered with Florida State University to offer a virtual Data Science Camp for high school students in Florida. Participants learned how to manipulate and analyze data in the Python computer language and present data at a college level. The students in the Ecological Data Science Camp explored data from the NEON program and had an introduction into techniques for importing and analyzing the data.
Happy Earth Day! Many NEON field sites are hosted by or colocated with organizations that do conservation and restoration work. The data NEON collects at these sites provide a window into how ecosystems are changing and the impact of restoration efforts.
Domain 07, in the heartland of the U.S., is a land of rolling hills, steep ridges, gentle valleys, and many shades of green. The Appalachians and Cumberland Plateau feature some of the world's oldest mountains and the world's largest hardwood-forested plateau. The region's rich geologic history and temperate, moist climate have made it one of the most biodiverse areas of North America.
This month, Dr. Erin Hotchkiss talked with us about her current and upcoming projects, including a collaboration with NEON using sensors at NEON stream sites to investigate the relationships between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Observing and predicting mosquito phenology could answer important questions about relationships between climate, insect activity, and the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. These relationships can be explored with phenology data from NEON and the National Phenology Network (USA-NPN).
MDPs are mobile, modular NEON field stations that can go practically anywhere with road access. They put the power of NEON's instrumented systems into the hands of PIs, academic institutions, and research organizations.
The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and NEON have developed an open resource onboarding document geared to support researchers beginning their postdoctoral work with NEON - it can be easily adapted for other early career scientists entering roles.
Happy World Wildlife Day! At the NEON program, we are lucky enough to share our workspaces with all kinds of wild creatures, great and small. And while we only collect data on a few (mosquitos, ticks, beetles, small mammals, birds, and fish, to be specific), we celebrate them all.
Our list of 'NEON Women to Watch' honors women we highlighted this past year whose educational and professional experiences provide a fascinating glimpse into women's paths in academic science, the crucial role of mentors and advocates in a student's development, and how the field can be more inclusive going forward.