October 2020: What’s New With NEON?

This month, we highlight the latest contributions of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) to ecological research. NEON continues to gain recognition for expanding the boundaries of ecological understanding. This month, NEON data aided in the establishment of a new research institute and was featured at a top water sustainability research conference. 

This Month’s Spotlight 

The latest news from NEON includes:  

1. A recent profile by Digital Trends details the history of NEON and how the program will redefine ecological research and discovery for decades to come. The piece discusses how the wide-spread observation network enables researchers to collect spatially integrated data from dozens of sites over time, furthering our understanding of how ecosystems operate as a complex system.

2. At the 2020 Oka’ Water Institute’s Sustainability Conference, ecologist and field science manager Dr. Rajit Patankar presented on the NEON project’s long term ecological monitoring at the Blue River. This annual conference convenes regional policy experts, and the field’s top researchers investigating the intersection of water sustainability and economic prosperity. 

3. The University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin will leverage NEON data to establish a new ‘Biology Integration Institute (BII)’ – the first research institute to primarily use spectral biology and predictive models to study vegetation biodiversity across scales. Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Minnesota and Wisconsin BII will advance the scientific community’s understanding of the causes and impacts of biodiversity change on earth.

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by Battelle, NEON is a continental-scale ecological observatory facility dedicated to providing high-quality, consistently generated data that is free and available to all users. By enabling scientists, researchers, and students to address critical questions and understand ecosystem changes over time, the NEON project allows the ecological community to tackle questions and problems at a scale that wasn’t possible before.  
 
You can read about the latest research in the NEON Spotlight every month at Inside Battelle, and also on our social media channels. For more information about NEON, visit NEONscience.org.