The first meeting of the LTER National Advisory Board (NAB) took place on 10-11 December 1998 at the Sevilleta Field Station, near Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Mary Clutter, assistant director, Directorate for Biological Sciences at the National Science Foundation kicked off the meeting with a strong endorsement of the LTER Program.
As the first formal review of the LTER Network since 1993, the responsibilities of the NAB are to:
- Provide regular review and advice to aid in the periodic assessment needed by the LTER program and by NSF
- Provide guidance on new directions or interactions that might be pursued by the program
- Help to publicize the activities and opportunities in the LTER program
The NAB also provides independent oversight for the LTER Office.
The NAB began its review by examining progress toward achieving the goals set by the "Ten-year Review of the LTER Program" (http://www.lternet.edu/nab/risser-report.html). The NAB concluded that LTER sites have continued to conduct excellent long-term measurements and question-driven studies. Other aspects of the Network that were singled out for positive comment included the development of a clear network governance structure, the creation of an outside body to provide advice and commentary, the expansion of the role of standing committees, and the successful relocation of the Network Office.
One important recommendation of the Ten-year Review was to expand site-based research to achieve broad-scale synthesis and integration. While modest success toward this goal was acknowledged, the NAB encouraged stronger efforts to develop broader synthesis. In addition, the NAB emphasized the role of the Network Office in achieving this goal.
Specific recommendations addressed a series of operational issues facing the LTER Program. These included:
- A moratorium on the addition of new sites until the 20-year review process has addressed the relative importance of more sites versus augmented funding for existing sites
- A careful evaluation of the Network’s ability to take on new and different responsibilities without comparable increases in funding
- A clear prioritization of efforts to interact with other networks that emphasizes benefits to the LTER Network
- A measured development of partnerships with other ecologically based research sites (OBFS stations, Forest Service sites, RNA sites) to enhance opportunities for regionalization
- A clearer definition of the regionalization effort to delimit the appropriate region of extrapolation of site-based research
The facilitation of cross-site synthesis by:
- Bringing together scientists from different sites
- Appointing senior scientists for short-term periods to focus on synthesis
- Having the Network Office provide initial analysis of synthetic data sets
- Working towards standardization of measurements in new cross-site projects
- Initiating network-wide analyses of long-term changes in North American ecosystems
- Higher-order coordination of research in response to new initiatives such as the Microbial, Biodiversity, and National Environmental Observatories
- Partnerships with other communities that are developing informatics standards and enhancement of network informatics efforts through the acquisition of additional extramural funds
- Define a strategic plan for Network-level outreach and communication opportunities and activities, as well as the Network Office’s role in such a plan
- Develop a plan setting priorities for commitment of time and effort. The NAB considered this such an important recommendation that they requested a report on progress within six months
- Continued emphasis on rigorous scientific management at the network level, including enhanced computing architecture and support of the Information Management Committee
- Focused effort to address the question of standardization of measurements;
- Development of new metrics of performance
- Enhancement of the participation of outside scientists in LTER projects
The full report of the National Advisory Board is available at http://www.lternet.edu/network/NAB_Report1998.html. Efforts to address recommendations from the report are discussed in an accompanying article on the recent CC meeting.
More information about the meeting and a list of NAB members can be found on the LTER web page (http://www.lternet.edu/nab/).