For our latest Women in Ecology interview, we spoke with Laura Steger, Environmental and Zoological Collections Manager for the NEON Biorepository at Arizona State University. Steger spent her childhood in nature, influencing her to continue in that environment and work with NEON, spending her time surrounded by different specimens and samples from many different ecosystems.
For our latest interview, we spoke with Janey Lienau, a first-year Ph.D. student at the Yale School of the Environment. Lienau’s work in the soil lab focuses on the interaction between animals, plants, and soil in forest ecosystems. Her soil studies during the pandemic were made possible by NEON open data. She shares how her unique upbringing shaped her career aspirations, how she came to love fieldwork and asking questions, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
In this latest Women in Ecology interview, we spoke with Dr. Nayani Ilangakoon, a research scientist at the University of Colorado - Boulder (CU Boulder) who received her Ph.D. from Boise State University. Ilangakoon is focused on the impact of wildfires on ecosystems, and pairs her childhood experiences in nature with remote sensing data from NEON to conduct her research.
The availability of large, open data sets is changing the way ecologists conduct research and the way ecology is taught. Open data from the NEON program and other large ecology networks are a potential goldmine for undergraduate and graduate educators.
We spoke with Dr. Phoebe Lehmann Zarnetske, an ecologist and associate professor at Michigan State University, about her path through academia, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the challenges of maintaining a work-life balance. She also shares her thoughts on what it will take for scientific contributions to be more widely adopted for broader societal challenges.
Dr. Katie Marshall shares the profound impact mentors have had on her, driving her to become a mentor herself. Her captivating career path and cutting-edge research projects serve as a testament to the remarkable achievements of women in the field, underscoring their contributions to ecological research and serving as an inspiration to future scientists. Notably, she highlights the pivotal role played by NEON in driving her research endeavors.
In our latest Women in Ecology interview, we hear from Clara Qin, a dedicated Ph.D. candidate from UCSC. Qin bridges the gap between ecological knowledge and practical application, and highlights the importance of embracing diverse perspectives and their significant impact on ecological research. Her personal experiences and background - including being a child of immigrants and active in the trans and queer community - have shaped her motivations, aspirations, and transformative moments.
Lark Heston (Domain 07) has worked to collect data for research on a broad range of ecology subjects. Here, Lark delves into the topic of gender bias and stigmas in the scientific community, as well as the importance of breaking down the barrier of "othering" by promoting inclusivity for all individuals.
Plant scientist Nidhi Vinod, Ph.D. student at UCLA, is an incredible example of what it means to be a successful scientist who has overcome barriers in her field. In interviewing her, we learned of the societal and financial pressure she faced in paving her path forward in the field of ecology, how intertwined her relationship with her ancestors and spirituality is with her love for ecology, and the work she is doing – some utilizing NEON data – to contribute to ecology worldwide.
Battelle Senior Ecologist Eric Sokol with the NEON Program works with the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long Term Ecological Research (MCM LTER) Project to gather and produce ecological data and resources, in one of the most remote locations in the world.
Dr. Kyla Dahlin of Michigan State University says support networks and mentors have helped her pursue a career researching landscape and plant ecology, remote sensing, and Earth system modeling. From making management plans for city parks, to thinking globally about ecology, she has seen a lot in her STEM journey.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Jianwu (Jim) Tang this January. He was a respected senior scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Ecosystems Center (University of Chicago), Woods Hole, Massachusetts, who made many contributions to making NEON what it is today.
For the latest post in this series, we feature Lori Petrauski, a NEON Senior Field Ecologist for Domains 18 and 19 (Tundra and Taiga) in Alaska. Inclusivity, appreciation for nature, and critical thinking about how ecology can help to understand future impacts are at the forefront of her approach to science.
We recently asked Puerto Rican-born Wilmarie Plaza-Muniz, Field Ecologist with the NEON program in the Atlantic Neotropical Domain, to share about her work with the national project, her path into ecology, and how her heritage and passions inform her current work.
This summer, more than 3500 ecologists gathered in Montréal for the 2022 ESA/CSEE joint meeting. We were thrilled to participate and have the opportunity to meet NEON data users (and prospective data users) face to face - here are some highlights!
As they fly around the U.S. collecting data from Domain to Domain, our Airborne Sensor Operators (ASOs) take some pretty good photos! Here we introduce you to three of our ASOs and showcase some pictures taken aboard NEON's Airborne Observation Platform (AOP)—along with some other fun photos of life as a NEON ASO.
Students participating in ESA's SEEDS program receive engaging and hands-on ecological experiences developed for mainly undergraduates. The goal is to enable diverse students to learn more about ecological sciences and the many ways in which they could pursue Ecology as a career path. SEEDS students visited the NEON GUAN site in March 2022, their first trip since the pandemic.
In our second of this blog series highlighting the many diverse backgrounds and paths in ecology, we talked to NEON's Jeb Timm, who grew up in and works in semi-remote Alaska, about his current role and any advice he has for the next generation of ecologists—particularly those pursuing technical or vocational paths into the field.
We spoke with Shalane Frost, one of NEON's assistant Domain managers for field operations in Alaska, about her unique career path and balancing her ecology studies with her athletic career. Frost believes that a career in ecology should not be one-size-fits-all, and that people in STEM—especially women—should feel empowered to explore a variety of paths that incorporate ecology into their academic and professional journeys.
Six teachers and more than 50 students across Puerto Rico had the opportunity to explore ecological questions using NEON data as part of the 2021 PR NEON Data Jam. The event, coordinated by Forward Research and sponsored by Battelle, was built on the LTER model using NEON data from the Guánica Dry Forest (GUAN) site in Puerto Rico (D04).
We spoke with Dr. Corinna Gries, one of the Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) leads at the University of Wisconsin with decades of experience in data management, about the benefits of digitizing data and making it more publicly accessible. Her unique career path provides a window into the increasingly critical—yet often overlooked—intersection of technology, scientific research, and data management in STEM fields.
As 2021 comes to a close, we want to highlight the exceptional work delivered this year by the National Ecological Observatory Network. Here are some of the most exciting news items involving the NEON program over the past year.
We recently asked Hawaii-born NEON Senior Field Ecologist Shea Uehana to share about his work with the ecological project, his path into the field of ecology, and how his background informs his current work.
NEON's Ambassador Program is envisioned to empower and connect researchers and educators who are eager to engage with their communities. They will help their communities use NEON to accelerate scientific discovery, enhance educational opportunities, increase diversity and inclusion of the scientific community, and/or inform public policy. The inaugural cohort of NEON Ambassadors will contribute to a community-driven design for the new program.
While some people find bugs to be scary or gross, Dr. Roisin Stanbrook hopes to change that perception by showing how insects are critical to the conservation of our natural world. In addition to detailing her fascinating work with dung beetles, Stanbrook discussed how her non-traditional path to conservation ecology is an asset in the long run, and how she hopes to teach her students the same.
We spoke with Dr. Bala Chaudhary, assistant professor of Environmental Science and Studies at DePaul University, about her career, about how the lack of representation of people of color – both while she was in school and in her professional career – drives her to work toward creating a more equitable academic system, and she shared insightful ways that universities and labs can improve.
Recently, SciTeens partnered with Florida State University to offer a virtual Data Science Camp for high school students in Florida. Participants learned how to manipulate and analyze data in the Python computer language and present data at a college level. The students in the Ecological Data Science Camp explored data from the NEON program and had an introduction into techniques for importing and analyzing the data.
This month, Dr. Erin Hotchkiss talked with us about her current and upcoming projects, including a collaboration with NEON using sensors at NEON stream sites to investigate the relationships between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and NEON have developed an open resource onboarding document geared to support researchers beginning their postdoctoral work with NEON - it can be easily adapted for other early career scientists entering roles.
