In honor of the 60th anniversary of its founding, the National Science Foundation has published its "Sensational 60", honoring "60 discoveries or advances that NSF believes have had a large impact or influence on every American’s life" (http://www.nsf.gov/about/history/sensational60.pdf).
Work from the LTER program is acknowledged in three of these scientific advances.
- The establishment of the LTER Network and its subsequent accomplishments is recognized in bullet 40, The Web of Life—And Ecological Research Too
- Bullet 21, Fire and Brimstone, describes work on acid rain conducted at Hubbard Brook site
- The Math and Science Partnership project, which involves several LTER sites, contributes to the activities described in bullet 38, Kid’s Stuff: Science and Technology Education
Careful inspection would probably show LTER contributions to several of the other advances listed in the Sensational 60 (e.g., Global Climate Change, International Cooperation). The contributions of LTER scientists to this list of NSF's most significant accomplishments reaffirm the stature of LTER as one of the nation's most important research programs.