Fostering effective and sustainable scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange: a workshop-based approach to establish a national ecological observatory network (NEON) domain-specific user group

Alison Donnelly¹, Ankur R Desai², Katherine A Heckman³, Lucas E Nave⁴, Michael J Cramer⁵, Marie Faust⁶, Peter Weishampel⁶, Caleb Slemmons⁶, Christian G Andresen⁷, Edward Ayres⁶, Stacy R Cotey⁴, Kathryn M Docherty⁸, Joshua Hatzis⁹, Kathryn Hofmeister¹⁰, Jalene M LaMontagne¹¹, John D Lenters¹², Noah R Lottig¹³, Amy M Marcarelli¹⁴, Jessica Miesel¹⁵, Jason Riddle¹⁶, Meghan Salmon-Tumas¹⁶, Mike D SanClements⁶, Subash Sapkota¹⁷, Mark D Schwartz⁹, Puja Sharma⁵, Ojaswee Shrestha¹⁸, Geoffrey Vincent¹⁹, Angela Waupochick¹⁸, Ting Zheng¹⁸, Zhiwei Ye¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA. donnela@uwm.edu.
² Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
³ USDA Forest Service, Houghton, MI, USA.
⁴ College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA.
⁵ Environmental Research Center and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
⁶ National Ecological Observatory Network, Battelle, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁷ Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
⁸ Department of Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University, Michigan, USA.
⁹ Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA.
¹⁰ Environmental Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI, USA.
¹¹ Department of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹² University of Michigan Biological Station, University of Michigan, Pellston, MI, USA.
¹³ Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, Michigan, USA.
¹⁶ College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI, USA.
¹⁷ University of Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Monroe, LA, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Environmental Sciences, Northland College, Ashland, WI, USA.

PMID: 38656350
PMCID: PMC11272799
DOI: 10.1007/s00484-024-02673-x

Fostering effective and sustainable scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange: a workshop-based approach to establish a national ecological observatory network (NEON) domain-specific user group

Alison Donnelly et al. Int J Biometeorol. 2024 Jul.

. 2024 Jul;68(7):1475-1481.

doi: 10.1007/s00484-024-02673-x. Epub 2024 Apr 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA. donnela@uwm.edu.
² Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
³ USDA Forest Service, Houghton, MI, USA.
⁴ College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA.
⁵ Environmental Research Center and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
⁶ National Ecological Observatory Network, Battelle, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁷ Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
⁸ Department of Biological Sciences, Western Michigan University, Michigan, USA.
⁹ Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, USA.
¹⁰ Environmental Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, WI, USA.
¹¹ Department of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹² University of Michigan Biological Station, University of Michigan, Pellston, MI, USA.
¹³ Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, Michigan, USA.
¹⁶ College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI, USA.
¹⁷ University of Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Monroe, LA, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Environmental Sciences, Northland College, Ashland, WI, USA.

PMID: 38656350
PMCID: PMC11272799
DOI: 10.1007/s00484-024-02673-x

Abstract

The decision to establish a network of researchers centers on identifying shared research goals. Ecologically specific regions, such as the USA's National Ecological Observatory Network's (NEON's) eco-climatic domains, are ideal locations by which to assemble researchers with a diverse range of expertise but focused on the same set of ecological challenges. The recently established Great Lakes User Group (GLUG) is NEON's first domain specific ensemble of researchers, whose goal is to address scientific and technical issues specific to the Great Lakes Domain 5 (D05) by using NEON data to enable advancement of ecosystem science. Here, we report on GLUG's kick off workshop, which comprised lightning talks, keynote presentations, breakout brainstorming sessions and field site visits. Together, these activities created an environment to foster and strengthen GLUG and NEON user engagement. The tangible outcomes of the workshop exceeded initial expectations and include plans for (i) two journal articles (in addition to this one), (ii) two potential funding proposals, (iii) an assignable assets request and (iv) development of classroom activities using NEON datasets. The success of this 2.5-day event was due to a combination of factors, including establishment of clear objectives, adopting engaging activities and providing opportunities for active participation and inclusive collaboration with diverse participants. Given the success of this approach we encourage others, wanting to organize similar groups of researchers, to adopt the workshop framework presented here which will strengthen existing collaborations and foster new ones, together with raising greater awareness and promotion of use of NEON datasets. Establishing domain specific user groups will help bridge the scale gap between site level data collection and addressing regional and larger ecological challenges.

Keywords: NEON great lakes user group; Researcher engagement; Workshop framework.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial or other interests.

References

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Fostering effective and sustainable scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange: a workshop-based approach to establish a national ecological observatory network (NEON) domain-specific user group

Affiliations

Fostering effective and sustainable scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange: a workshop-based approach to establish a national ecological observatory network (NEON) domain-specific user group

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Miscellaneous