ALBUQUERQUE, NM-The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Office, which is based in the Biology Department at the University of New Mexico, has been awarded $15.6 million by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support its scientific research activities for the next six years.
The two-part funding includes a $6.7 million award over five years from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009) to support cyberinfrastructure development for integrated network science in LTER and $8.9 million as renewal of the LTER Network Office (LNO)'s core Cooperative Agreement between NSF and UNM, to run for six years.
"Significant changes in the vision for LTER network science have taken place since our last renewal in 2003, based on decadal strategic planning by the LTER community," observed Robert B. Waide, the LNO Executive Director and a Lead Principal Investigator who will be responsible for implementing the award. "The stimulus funding will provide the first opportunity to implement the new scientific goals described in the Decadal Plan for LTER. This plan envisions collaborations between ecologists and social scientists to create a new body of theory that draws on and incorporates information technology and the most advanced educational approaches to amplify the social impact of this vision," he said, adding that as a result, the LNO also identified needs for additional support to address new network synthesis, cyberinfrastructure, and governance goals.
To ensure accountability, LNO will undergo periodic reviews by external panels chosen by NSF during the duration of the awards, including the usual triennial reviews stipulated under the Cooperative Agreement.
NSF (http://www.nsf.gov) established the U.S. LTER program (http://www.lternet.edu) in 1980 to support research on long-term ecological phenomena in the United States. The Network, a collaborative effort involving more than 1800 scientists and students, comprises 26 research sites distributed throughout the U.S. mainland, the Caribbean, the Pacific island of Moorea, and Antarctica.
The LTER Network Office (http://lno.lternet.edu) was created by NSF in 1983 to support and coordinate network and site activities of the LTER Network and moved to UNM in 1997. The Office provides a central point of contact and collective expertise to support the research and education goals of the LTER Network, represent the network in interactions with other scientific networks and institutions, facilitate operation of the network as a cohesive research entity, and foster new, broadly-based initiatives that extend LTER science, education, and cyberinfrastructure to new communities.