Background to NEON     NEON Objectives     History of NEON - Planning Workshops

Background to NEON

The National Science Foundation’s proposed National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will establish 10 observatories located around the country that will serve as national research platforms for integrated studies in field biology. Each observatory will provide state-of-the-art infrastructure to support interdisciplinary, integrated research. Collectively, the network of 10 observatories will allow scientists to conduct comprehensive, continental-scale experiments on ecological systems. Each NEON observatory will include site-based experimental infrastructure; natural history archive facilities; and facilities for biological, physical and data analyses. In addition, the 10 NEON observatories will be linked via a cutting-edge computational network.

1. In FY99, NSF organized a planning workshop to outline the general structure and goals of NEON, including recommendations on the characteristics and capabilities that would qualify a site for membership in the network. Also relevant to this discussion are the results of workshops sponsored by the National Science Foundation which give an idea of where NSF is currently with the program formerly known as BON Biological Observation Network (BON).
2. In FY99, NSF ran a pilot project for NEON, establishing six microbial observatories in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. These sites will serve as test beds for developing protocols, instrumentation and cooperative research programs to address microbial diversity and biocomplexity.
3. In FY00, NSF plans to conduct a planning workshop scheduled for 9-12 January 2000 at Archbold Biological Station, to further develop the interdisciplinary capability and conceptual breadth of NEON. The logistics and arrangements for the participants at the Jan, 2000 planning workshop at Archbold Biological Station, in Florida are as follows
1. Jan 2000 NEON Workshop Participant list
4. In FY00, NSF plans to conduct a second planning workshop scheduled for 9-11 March 2000 at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, to explicitly address the minimum standard instrumentation and other technological needs of NEON observatories.