The Socializing of an Ecosystem Ecologist: Interdisciplinarity from a Career Spent in the Long-Term Ecological Research Network

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Childers
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Florida Everglades ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
State University ◽  
New School ◽  
Louisiana State University ◽  
The North ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research

The broad interdisciplinarity of my science and my worldview are direct products of my career spent in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program. I attribute the holistic systems approaches that I use in my teaching and mentoring to my career spent in the LTER program. I am able to converse with a broad array of collaborators and practitioners because of my career spent in the LTER program. My career is rich with interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships thanks to the LTER program. My life is rich with friends that I have met throughout my career spent in the LTER program. There are probably few mid-career scientists who have spent virtually all of their careers associated with the LTER network. As one of these few, I view this as a tremendous asset. My experiences in the LTER program began in 1983 with the North Inlet Program (NIN), where my master’s research, advised by the late Hank McKellar, involved modeling salt marsh ecosystem dynamics. After completing my PhD at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1989, I returned to the NIN for a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship with Fred Sklar at the Baruch Marine Laboratory. I worked with Fred on another of his National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, but there was considerable overlap between that research and the work being done at NIN. When the NSF released a solicitation for new coastal LTER sites in 1998, I was an assistant professor at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami. We gathered a core group of Everglades colleagues and answered this solicitation with a proposal to study coastal ecosystem dynamics in the Florida Everglades. Our proposal was successful, and by early 2000 the new Florida Coastal Everglades LTER program (FCE) was off and running. I directed FCE from its inception until I left FIU in 2008 for Arizona State University (ASU). On arriving at ASU in 2008, I immediately became involved with the Central Arizona–Phoenix (CAP) LTER program. I was excited about my move to ASU and the new School of Sustainability because I felt as if it were a rare mid-career opportunity to change the trajectory of, and perhaps even the impact of, my career.

Born and Bred in the Long-Term Ecological Research Network: Perspectives on Network Science and Global Collaborations

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda D. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
State University ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Kansas State University

I am a plant community and ecosystem ecologist who has conducted research within the context of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network from the beginning of my scientific career, now almost two decades ago. My research has benefited greatly from site-based research at the Konza Prairie (KNZ) LTER site, as well as from network-level syntheses utilizing data sets and knowledge produced by the collective of LTER sites. My involvement in the KNZ LTER site, in particular, has shown me the strength of conducting site-based research, yet my involvement in synthesis activities within the LTER network and beyond has illuminated the limitations of site-based research for addressing cross-site comparative research. To this end, I have been and continue to be a strong proponent of highly coordinated, multisite experiments, and much of my research is comparative in nature. Being involved in the LTER network from the start of my research career has made me a scientist who is well aware of the benefits and power of collaborative, multidisciplinary research. Because of the benefits and breadth of experiences that I have received from such research endeavors, I encourage my graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to also become involved in such research, and I recognize the positive impact collaborative, multidisciplinary research can have on beginning investigators. I believe that individuals outside of the LTER network (ranging from established principal investigators, to young investigators, to graduate students) are often not fully aware of the benefits of being involved in the LTER network or of the advances in ecological understanding that it has made possible. Thus, there is a need for the LTER network to be more proactive and creative in the ways that it attracts new researchers to get involved in the site-based or network-level research. Ultimately, the LTER network will only benefit from increased involvement by new investigators, who also could serve the role of leading the LTER network in the future. I have been affiliated with the LTER program since beginning as a graduate student at Kansas State University.

Tales from a “Lifer” in the Long-Term Ecological Research Program

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra P. C. Peters
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Principal Investigator ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
State University ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Principal Investigators ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Jornada Basin ◽  
Term Data

As a long-time member of the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network, first as a graduate student and scientist at the Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) site (1984–1997), then as a scientist at the Sevilleta (SEV) site (1996–present) and now as principal investigator at the Jornada Basin (JRN) site (2003–present), my professional career has been shaped almost entirely by my LTER experiences. My experiences in the LTER program directly contributed to my individual-based approach to ecosystem dynamics combined with the knowledge that the dominant ecological processes can change as the spatial extent increases, and that long-term data are critical to disentangle how these pattern–process relationships change across scales. The LTER program has provided me with international experience and exposure that are valuable to my career. My opportunity to travel overseas has led to bonding experiences and new insights into other ecosystems. My appreciation for the value of K–12 education and the amount of work that is involved in “doing it right” has been shaped by my experiences with the Jornada Schoolyard LTER Program. One of the key challenges that I face in working at an LTER site is the tension between continuing to collect long-term observations with the need and desire to test new ideas that often result from the long-term data but then compete for resources with the collection of those data. Another challenge is in mentoring young scientists to become principal investigators, and in cultivating new relationships with potential co–principal investigators. Currently, I am the principal investigator at the JRN LTER program at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, New Mexico. I am also a collaborating scientist at the SEV LTER program at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I received my BS in biology at Iowa State University in 1981 and my MS in biology from San Diego State University (SDSU) in 1983. My LTER experiences began as a PhD student at Colorado State University (CSU) through the SGS LTER program in 1984, and these continued while I was a postdoctoral fellow (1988–1989).

Trade-offs of Participation in the Long-Term Ecological Research Program: Immediate and Long-Term Consequences

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence R. Walker ◽  
Michael R. Willig
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Temporal Scales ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Collaboration And Communication ◽  
Program Change

For those who may have skipped to this chapter and not read the 3 introductory chapters, the 36 essays, or the 4 evaluative chapters of this book, the answer to the burning question “Does participation in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program change scientists?” is an unequivocal “Yes!” As Boyer and Brown (Chapter 41) point out, however, those changes are mostly in the realms of knowledge acquisition and behavior adoptions in the practice of science. Participation in the program did not appear to have a substantial effect on the development of attitudes. Could such changes have occurred outside of the LTER program? Schlesinger (Chapter 40) thinks so. He suggests that the LTER program provides “some structure and modest standardization to a set of common measurements” but that it has not substantially broadened or deepened the ecological sciences. Yet the effect of the LTER program on science, while a fascinating and often-addressed question, is not the focus of this book (see Willig and Walker, Chapter 1). Of course, to address how scientists change also involves understanding how they approach and conduct science. In addition, personal change occurs in a broad societal context. For example, the LTER program has coincided with and helped promote a transition in ecology from research done by one or a few investigators on a particular organism or process in a particular habitat to investigations involving multidisciplinary teams working together to test models about how ecosystem dynamics unfold across large spatial and temporal scales. However, going to “big programs” and “big data sets” does not mean losing a sense of place or being divorced from the natural history of particular organisms. Even as spatial and temporal scales increase, ecological research is ideally still “place aware” (Bestelmeyer, Chapter 19). Using the essays of this book as a rich source of information to address fundamental questions about the nature of scientists, we provide some final thoughts on how the LTER program has affected its participants, particularly on how they view time and space, collaboration, and communication. We end with reflections on the future of ecology and society, based on the views expressed in this book and on our own participation in the LTER program.

Networking: From the Long-Term Ecological Research Program to the National Ecological Observatory Network

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce P. Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Associate Professor ◽  
Cape Cod ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Environmental Biology ◽  
The North ◽  
Virginia Coast Reserve ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Disciplinary Background

As a scientist, the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program has been on my mind for more than three decades. As an educator, I have served in the classroom for 41 years. The merger of the physical and the ecological sciences was at the core of my teaching philosophy. As a science communicator, I informed the general public on issues of climate and climate change. As a collaborator, I found that understanding strengths and weaknesses in collaborative partnerships best ensures success. As a science leader, I served at the National Science Foundation (NSF) as the Director of the Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), established the Schoolyard LTER Program, and launched the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). My disciplinary background includes formal graduate education at the University of Wisconsin in meteorology, climatology, and paleoclimatology, as well as in oceanography and biology (mycology, botany, zoology, and genecology). As a postdoctoral fellow, my scientific identity was on track to culminate as a paleoclimatologist. As an assistant and associate professor, my identity morphed to include coastal geomorphology (Hayden et al. 1995). Finally, my experiences in the LTER program have vectored my career toward the interactions of climate and vegetation (Hayden 1998). My affiliation is with the Virginia Coast Reserve (VCR) site in the LTER program (1986–2014). As one of the founding principal investigators of the VCR site, I have served in subsequent renewals as its principal or co-principal investigator. Our site-based research plan focused on the Virginia Coast Reserve on Virginia’s eastern shore with a focus on the dynamics of the chain of 14 barrier islands, bounded by the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay to the south and Assateague Barrier Island to the north. This peninsula is 100 km in length by 20 km in width. Only the islands fronting the Mississippi delta are more dynamic in both the temporal and spatial domains. Prior to joining the LTER program, my research was hemispheric to regional in scope, and it focused on the environmental dynamics of the Atlantic Coast from Florida to Cape Cod at 50-m intervals (Fenster and Hayden 2007).

Bridging Community and Ecosystem Ecology at the Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research Site via Collaborations

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Gough
Keyword(s):  
The Arctic ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Louisiana State University ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Cross Site

My research in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program helped to shape me into the ecologist that I am, working at the interface between communities and ecosystems on a variety of questions. As a university educator and public speaker, I incorporate examples of LTER site-based empirical and theoretical research, as well as cross-site meta-analyses in my teaching and presentations. My awareness of long-term research, in particular the response of North American ecosystems to global change, is heightened by my interactions within the LTER network. Working in the LTER program has provided me with opportunities for collaborations both within the Arctic site and across the network. The LTER program has thus inadvertently provided the framework for all of my current and recently funded research projects. These collaborations assisted in sustaining me through major life events, particularly having children, by helping me maintain my research productivity when my family required more of my time and attention. Currently, I am a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Texas at Arlington. I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in botany and ecology, and I also supervise MS and PhD students working in the tundra at the Arctic (ARC) LTER site and locally on urban ecology questions. I earned my PhD in plant biology from Louisiana State University and have been affiliated with ARC site since 1996, when I was hired as a postdoctoral scientist by Gus Shaver on a related grant. Since 1999, when I started my first faculty position, I have been an independently funded researcher affiliated with the ARC site, and for the past few years I have served as a member of the ARC Executive Committee. My research at ARC site is at the interface between the community and the ecosystem. My contributions to site-specific understanding have focused on the factors (abiotic and biotic) that control tundra plant species diversity, including the role of consumer species (Figure 7.1). In addition, I have been involved in a cross-site working group in the LTER network (now called PDTNet: Productivity-Diversity-Traits Network) since 1996.

Long-Term Ecological Research and Lessons from Networked Lives

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
Michigan State University ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
State University ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
The Public ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
The University

The Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program has affected how I conduct and evaluate ecological research. Working with the LTER program has given me a greater appreciation for the complexity of the natural world and has provided a framework to study it. The LTER program has provided the best possible venue to connect ecological research with classroom instruction, mentoring, and professional development. Translating our science to the public is a challenge. My experiences in the LTER program have provided multiple opportunities to work with the public, K–12 and college or university students, and professionals in different fields. This process has honed my communication skills. The ideas that emerge from true collaborative science cannot be understated. The work at an LTER site and within the LTER network works best when we collaborate. I received my undergraduate training in ecology at the University of California (UC) Santa Barbara. At UC Santa Barbara in the 1970s, the ecology program focused largely on populations and communities. Field observations, laboratory studies, manipulative field studies, and equation-based modeling were the norm. I recall the first set of litter and soil samples of arthropods that I sorted were extracted using Tullgren funnels and thought at the time that a person would have to be insane to pursue this type of work as a career. Two years later, I was in the graduate program at Michigan State University working with Dr. Richard Snider where I studied the impacts of herbicides on soil arthropods in no- till corn. At Michigan State, I learned the importance of species life histories, behaviors, and tolerances to environmental variation. My first exposure with the LTER program started in 1979, during my first year of graduate school at Michigan State University. A National Science Foundation (NSF) program officer was visiting the university to promote the concept of the LTER program and the first round of competition. Being 22 years old at the time, it was difficult for me to appreciate discussions about a program that would potentially operate over several decades. As a graduate student, it was a lesson in the planning, extended time frame, and other programmatic logistics of collaborative science.

scholarly journals SixPseudoalteromonasStrains Isolated from Surface Waters of Kabeltonne, Offshore Helgoland, North Sea

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa B. Duhaime ◽  
Antje Wichels ◽  
Matthew B. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Model System ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
The North ◽  
Long Term Ecological Research ◽  
The North Sea

Draft genomes are presented for 6Pseudoalteromonassp. strains isolated from surface waters at Kabeltonne, Helgoland, a long-term ecological research station in the North Sea. These strains contribute knowledge of the genomic underpinnings of a developing model system to study phage-host dynamics of a particle-associated ocean copiotroph.

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