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OCR for page 87
C H A P T E R S I X
Findings and Recommendations
Dranging on the reports of past workshops on the National
Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), on the synthesis of
those reports by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and
the American Institute of Biological Sciences, on the National
Research Council report on Grand Challenges in Environ-
mental Science and on the expertise of its own members, the
committee identified six large-scare environmental issues of
national concern. It then examined NSF's conception of
NEON and assessed whether NEON's national network of
field and laboratory research infrastructure would be an
appropriate and necessary means of addressing those large-
scale issues. The effect that NEON may have on the scientific
community and on the next generation of scientists was also
assessed. The committee's findings and recommendations are
summarized below.
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NEON: ADDRESSING THE NATION'S ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES
Finding 1
The committee identified six critical environmental challenges that
are regional, continental, or global in their extent biodiversity, species
composition, and ecosystem functioning; ecological aspects of biogeo-
chemical cycles; ecological implications of climate change; ecology and
evolution of infectious diseases; invasive species; and land use and habitat
alteration. Although ad six issues are of national concern, at present we
do not have knowledge adequate to address them. Rapid and substantial
advances in basic scientific knowledge would be needed for society to
deal with those major environmental issues wisely.
Recommendation 1
The committee strongly recommends that the nation and NSF give
highest priority to research on the six environmental challenges the
committee identified.
Finding 2
An in-depth understanding of the causes and consequences of the
six challenges is needed to allow assessment of potential ecosystem
response and to formulate effective environmental policy. Meeting this
need would require large-scale experimentation, long-term observation,
and scientific synthesis that could be carried out only using a network of
nationwide infrastructure and research sites that are optimized for the
purpose.
Recommendation 2
The committee strongly endorses a NEON-like endeavor and the
vision of the mission of NEON that NSF has articulated. As proposed
by NSF, the central goal of NEON would be to perform comprehensive
88
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Findings and Recommendations
continental-scare experimental and observational research on the nation's
ecological systems to obtain an in-depth understanding of the environ-
ment. That knowledge could serve as a basis for developing predictive
capability and would allow assessment of how alternative societal actions
and policies will affect species and ecosystems and the services that they
provide to society.
Finding 3
NEON, as currently proposed, would be built piecemeal via funding
of one or two regional observatories at a time, and each observatory
would be managed by a different university or consortium. Such a design
and implementation might hinder the integration and the national
nature of the network of sites and make it less than optimally effective in
facilitating coordinated continental-scale research.
Recommendation 3
Each NEON observatory should be initiated as a nationwide net-
work of facilities and infrastructure designed for a coalition of many
multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary teams from across the nation to
address optimally one of the six major environmental challenges. Each
observatory should accommodate a combination of experimentation and
observation and should comprise a collection of nationwide sites-
whether terrestrial, freshwater, or marine that are most relevant to its
central theme. Sufficient funds must be allocated for the development of
each NEON observatory as a nationwide network. Because the six
research themes identified by the committee have overlapping infra-
structure needs, complete construction of each observatory could succes-
sively build on sites and infrastructure as each one is established. Each
later observatory could leverage investments made in the existing ones;
this would increase the effectiveness and decrease the cost of the entire
network.
89
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NEON: ADDRESSING THE NATION'S ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES
Finding 4
The committee agrees with the fundamental concept of NEON as
stated by NSF and with many of the major recommendations derived
from the six workshops. It believes that NEON would provide opportu-
nities for large-scale environmental research and enable intellectual and
scientific development that is impossible with existing infrastructure.
However, the effective implementation of NEON and the maximization
of its contributions to science and the nation require a refined focus and a
more detailed plan for its implementation.
Recommendation 4
The creation of a NEON observatory addressing one of the six major
environmental challenges would probably be a multistep process involving
open workshops and working groups on that challenge, peer-reviewed
preproposals submitted by different teams for work on that challenge at
particular sites, and discussion and coordination among the chosen teams
to synthesize the diverse ideas generated and create final plans for the
entire observatory. The goals of the multistep process are to optimize
the ability of various scientists to contribute creativity and personal
commitment to the observatory and the ability of the multiple teams and
sites to pursue their shared challenge in a coordinated manner. The
result would be a clear vision of what the observatories are intended to
look like and achieve, which would additionally provide a better fit
within the purview of Major Research Equipment and Facilities Con-
struction funding. The committee offers some specific suggestions:
.
NSF should encourage NEON observatories to form partner-
ships with existing informatics centers (for example, the National Center
for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, the National Biological Informa-
tion Infrastructure and GenBank) or use them as models.
.
Each NEON observatory should form partnerships with appro-
priate federal, state, and local agencies and organizations to coordinate
90
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Findings and Recommendations
and optimize data collection and sharing. Establishing memoranda of
a
understanding could facilitate partnerships and collaboration.
.
The committee endorses NSF's proposal of a coordinating unit
to oversee the implementation and operation of NEON. It recommends
that a single scientific coordinating unit, preferably formed by a neutral
body such as a multiuniversity consortium, provide this oversight.
Finding 5
The challenge of educating the next generation of scientists, teachers,
and students and of reaching out to the public about environmental
science and issues cannot be met casually by individual researchers.
Nothing short of an integrated, sequenced education and outreach plan
that meets national standards, targets audience needs, and is based on
measurable outcomes will answer the leadership and education vision set
forth to NSF by the National Science Board. The NEON observatories
are ideal venues for such an integrated, robust education and outreach
plan.
Recommendation 5
NEON's education programs should be targeted at undergraduate
and graduate students and faculty, precollege students and teachers, and
informal education, and citizen outreach. We recommend that multiple,
systematic programs be integrated into the NEON proposal and devel-
oped, sequenced, and planned beginning at each observatory's inception
and with attendant funding mechanisms and budgets.
If implemented in the general format outlined above, NEON could
provide the fundamental scientific advances needed to understand how
human-induced environmental change influences the Tong-term quality
of life and wealth creation for the nation. Long-term outputs would
include a science-based approach to environmental policy, risk analysis
for environmental threats, evaluation of potential approaches to the
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NEON: ADDRESSING THE NATION'S ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES
threats, and a venue for increasing public awareness and understanding of
environmental issues. NEON could revolutionize the discipline of
environmental biology by transforming ecology into a more mechanistic
science that generates predictions and solutions that would help society
to deal actively with major environmental issues.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
major environmental
