I am struck by the thought that after nearly six years of LTER work we seem to be at the point of beginning again. Of course, what I have in mind is the fact that we are faced with the job of seeing to it that five brand new sites are integrated into the extant LTER network. What’s more, there is to be yet another competition for new funding in just a few months which, presumably, will yield yet another, and possibly the final, cohort of projects.
Attending the recent LTER Coordinating Committee meeting in Denver provided me the opportunity to acquire perspective on the state of development (especially on an intellectual plane) of the five new groups of colleagues and their plans for the projects and sites. Perhaps the most meaningful summary observation I can make is, ‘the older projects better look out!’ My impression is that the newly incorporated project groups are ready to move on a number of things that their predecessors have spent five years talking about.
It must be obvious by now that the Division (BSR), in response to the encouragement of the research community, is actively promoting the exploration, adoption, and use of new technologies. In LTER, and across the BSR Programs, this new emphasis translates into things like Geographic Information Systems, Remotely Sensed Imagery, Advanced Analytical Methods, Molecular Techniques, and “things too weird to mention.” For LTER there is the opportunity to get in on the “ground floor’ of many of these developments and to assume a leadership role in the incorporation of new approaches into the standard repertoire of ecological tools. The chance is too good to miss.
Such opportunities would appear to be truly exceptional when one considers the increasingly probable development of major programs like the international Geosphere/Biosphere Program (GBP). In the same international context there are now efforts beginning to initiate formal interactions specifically regarding LTER. Within the next several months it is likely that a meeting will be announced under international auspices. Whatever the specific eventual course of these developments, it will be the responsibility of LTER scientists to assume significant roles in the effort to integrate the driving questions pertinent to the geosphere and the biosphere.
The LTER “Briefing” scheduled for November 6, is another link in the developing chain of opportunities. Presenters will “show their stuff” to an audience that will be influential in the planning and execution of many efforts that might associate with or build upon individual LTER projects or interproject activities. If early indications are reliable, then “showing their stuff” will include not only the reporting of significant results but also the display of advanced stages of thinking about the kinds of things that should be accomplished in the near- to mid-term future.
My earlier comment about the strength and state of readiness of the five new projects has solid basis in fact. Four of the sites have been the foci for considerable funding from Ecosystem Studies, other NSF programs, and other agency programs for quite some time (Hubbard Brook, Kellogg, Tundra, and Taiga). The Barrier islands site has its own significant record of support but is essentially new to NSF as a site, although the senior scientists have records of NSF and other agency support for work in other places. Apparently, we can look forward to immediate, positive, and productive interactions with the new LTER network members.
I’m sure everyone is anticipating the winding down of the busy growing season and that backlogs of preserved material and accumulated data will be addressed in good order. It would be appropriate to emphasize that even though new primary data are undoubtedly exciting, one should not lose sight of the necessity to sit down and think and talk about things with one’s colleagues. That’s the way ideas for putting the pieces back together come about. Keep up the full court press.