PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #21: Education.
Wednesday, August 8, 2001. Presentation from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Exhibition Hall

A distributed multidisciplinary graduate training seminar: a model for biocomplexity research.

SANDLIN, ELIZABETH¹, ANDELMAN, SANDY¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- The overarching aim of our Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) project is to build and evaluate a metadata-based computing framework for integrating heterogeneous environmental and ecological data. The KNB itself is a national network intended to facilitate ecological and environmental research on biocomplexity. Our main vehicle for education, outreach, and training is to create and lead an integrated multi-campus graduate research training seminar. The goals of the seminar are to (1) engage graduate students in the design of the KNB; (2) demonstrate the power of a collaborative, multi-scale, multidisciplinary approach to biocomplexity research; (3) allow participants to learn about new tools and methods for data synthesis and integration; and (4) use these tools to organize and synthesize multi-scale data on biodiversity and productivity. Graduate students at Texas Tech, University of New Mexico, and UC Santa Barbara conducted research projects on various aspects of diversity and productivity in grasslands. Some of these students met at NCEAS to participate in collaborative, cross-site synthetic research. In 2002 and 2003, we will expand the seminar curriculum to include more institutions and various habitat types. A primary aim of this distinctive 3-year training effort is to generate of a cohort of investigators who are well-versed in ecological knowledge networking tools and synthetic approaches to their research.

KEY WORDS: biocomplexity, ecoinformatics, grassland, NCEAS