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At least 1,351 records · Page 75Linked to original sources
USGS2017

Five-year external reviews of the eight Department of Interior Climate Science Centers: Southeast Climate Science Center

In 2008, the U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) within the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI). Housed administratively within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), NCCWSC is part of the DOI’s ongoing mission to meet the challenges of climate change and its effects on wildlife and aquatic resources. From 2010 through 2012, NCCWSC established eight regional DOI Climate Science Centers (CSCs). Each of these regional CSCs operated with the mission to “synthesize and integrate climate change impact data and develop tools that the Department’s managers and partners can use when managing the Department’s land, water, fish and wildlife, and cultural heritage resources” (Salazar 2009). The model developed by NCCWSC for the regional CSCs employed a dual approach of a federal USGS-staffed component and a parallel host-university component established competitively through a 5-year cooperative agreement with NCCWSC. At the conclusion of this 5-year agreement, a review of each CSC was undertaken, with the Southeast Climate Science Center (SE CSC) review in February 2016. The SE CSC is hosted by North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is physically housed within the NCSU Department of Applied Ecology along with the Center for Applied Aquatic Ecology, the North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (CFWRU), and the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Southeast Regional Climate Hub is based at NCSU as is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Southeast Regional Climate Center, the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, the NOAA National Weather Service, the State Climate Office of North Carolina, and the U.S. Forest Service Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center. This creates a strong core of organizations operating in close proximity focused on climate issues. The geographic area covered by the SE CSC represents all or part of 16 states and the Caribbean Islands and has overlapping boundaries with seven Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs): Appalachian LCC, Eastern Tallgrass Prairie and Big Rivers LCC, Gulf Coast Prairie LCC, Gulf Coastal Plains and Ozarks LCC, Peninsular Florida LCC, South Atlantic LCC, and Caribbean LCC. The SE CSC region also encompasses 134 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and 89 National Park Service (NPS) units and is home to 11 federally recognized and 54 state recognized tribes.

Report↗
USGS2023

Geologic carbon management options for the North Atlantic-Appalachian Region

Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) North Atlantic-Appalachian Region is developing the regionwide capacity to provide timely science support for decision-makers attempting to enhance carbon removal, sequestration, and emissions mitigation to meet national atmospheric carbon reduction goals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that in 2021, the fourteen States and the District of Columbia in the northeastern region account about for approximately 18 percent of the total national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This Fact Sheet provides a summary of USGS science information and ongoing and new investigations or data-collection programs that may help the northeastern region decrease the release of carbon-containing GHG to the atmosphere.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachuse↗
USGS2016

Recreation, values and stewardship: Rethinking why people engage in environmental behaviors in parks and protected areas

Successfully promoting and encouraging the adoption of environmental stewardship behavior is an important responsibility for public land management agencies. Although people increasingly report high levels of concern about environmental issues, widespread patterns of stewardship behavior have not followed suit (Moore 2002). One concept that can be applied in social science research to explain behavior change is that of values. More specifically, held and assigned values lie at the heart of understanding why people around the world continue to live in unsustainable ways that impact parks and protected areas. A held value is an individual psychological orientation defined by Rokeach as “an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or endstate of existence is personally and socially preferable” (1973, 550). Held values are at the core of human cognition, and as such, influence attitudes and behavior. Assigned values on the other hand, according to Brown (1984), are the perceived qualities of an environment that are based on and deduced from held values. In other words, assigned values are considered the material and nonmaterial benefits that people believe they obtain from ecosystems. Held and assigned values predict stewardship behaviors (Figure 1). During the 2013 George Wright Society Conference on Parks, Protected Areas, and Cultural Sites, we organized a session to improve our understanding of why individuals and groups choose to engage in stewardship behaviors that benefit the environment. We used held and assigned values as vehicles to explore what people cared about in diverse landscapes, review select case studies from across the globe, and question how best to incorporate visitor perspectives into protected area management decisions and policymaking. In addition to sharing project results, we also discussed the importance of accounting for multiple and often competing value perspectives, potential ways to integrate disciplinary perspectives on valuing nature, and future directions for social science research and practice. In this paper, we present the results from our session to provide fodder for further contemplation about the timely question of how park and protected area managers can foster values that lead to environmental protection.

Book chapter↗
USGS2026

Advancing monitoring approaches to enhance tidal Chesapeake Bay habitat assessment for submerged aquatic vegetation, water clarity, chlorophyll a and dissolved oxygen

Water quality monitoring capacity has been declining for the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP) at a time when information needs are growing, and data gaps exist to address critical decision-support for managers. The CBP Scientific Technical Assessment and Reporting Team is leading a Principal’s Staff Committee requested gap analyses toward understanding support needed to improve water quality monitoring and analysis programming. Advanced technologies and alternative monitoring approaches in the form of satellite-based measurements, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) algorithms for data interpretation, continuous water quality in-situ sensor arrays, and community science efforts offer a growing portfolio of valuable opportunities for expanding data collections and analysis program capacities. However, since 1985, each of these options are examples of growing opportunities to enhance water quality assessments yet has seen limited adoption into elements of Chesapeake Bay water quality monitoring programs. Where new technologies have been adopted (e.g., shallow water continuous water quality monitoring), such temporally rich data streams have supported Bay health insights yet had limited use in regulatory water quality criteria assessment. This Scientific Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) supported workshop provided the ideal forum for engaging our CBP partnership regarding the maturity of new and evolving monitoring and analysis capacities to address program information needs while appreciating limitations with adopting new tools and approaches. Improving natural resources monitoring efficiency and effectiveness will expand the scientific and technical foundations for making robust, strategic choices on decisions for CBP Partnership community-based priorities, policies, and management actions. Workshop findings and recommendations reflect progress in science, technology, and analyses addressing long-standing programmatic limitations in data collection and analysis capacities. State-of-the-science updates highlighted in the workshop span the spectrum of efforts representing improvements, successes, remaining challenges toward operationalizing protocols, and guidance toward research, or adoption and implementation by monitoring programs.

Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia↗
USGS2016

Science center capabilities to monitor and investigate Michigan’s water resources, 2016

Michigan faces many challenges related to water resources, including flooding, drought, water-quality degradation and impairment, varying water availability, watershed-management issues, stormwater management, aquatic-ecosystem impairment, and invasive species. Michigan’s water resources include approximately 36,000 miles of streams, over 11,000 inland lakes, 3,000 miles of shoreline along the Great Lakes (MDEQ, 2016), and groundwater aquifers throughout the State. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) works in cooperation with local, State, and other Federal agencies, as well as tribes and universities, to provide scientific information used to manage the water resources of Michigan. To effectively assess water resources, the USGS uses standardized methods to operate streamgages, water-quality stations, and groundwater stations. The USGS also monitors water quality in lakes and reservoirs, makes periodic measurements along rivers and streams, and maintains all monitoring data in a national, quality-assured, hydrologic database. The USGS in Michigan investigates the occurrence, distribution, quantity, movement, and chemical and biological quality of surface water and groundwater statewide. Water-resource monitoring and scientific investigations are conducted statewide by USGS hydrologists, hydrologic technicians, biologists, and microbiologists who have expertise in data collection as well as various scientific specialties. A support staff consisting of computer-operations and administrative personnel provides the USGS the functionality to move science forward. Funding for USGS activities in Michigan comes from local and State agencies, other Federal agencies, direct Federal appropriations, and through the USGS Cooperative Matching Funds, which allows the USGS to partially match funding provided by local and State partners. This fact sheet provides an overview of the USGS current (2016) capabilities to monitor and study Michigan’s vast water resources. More information regarding projects by the Michigan Water Science Center (MI WSC) is available at http://mi.water.usgs.gov/ .

Michigan↗
USGS2018

Beyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau

The Colorado Plateau is one of North America's five major deserts, encompassing 340,000 km 2 of the western U.S., and offering many opportunities for restoration relevant to researchers and land managers in drylands around the globe. The Colorado Plateau is comprised of vast tracts of public land managed by local, state, and federal agencies that oversee a wide range of activities (e.g., mineral and energy extraction, livestock grazing, and recreation). About 75% of the Plateau is managed by federal and tribal agencies and tens of millions of people visit the Plateau's public lands each year. However, even in the face of this diverse use, our knowledge of effective ways to restore Plateau ecosystems remains relatively poor. Further, the multiple agencies on the Plateau have mandates that differ greatly in allowable practices, restoration needs, and desired outcomes. The Colorado Plateau is also expected to undergo ecosystem shifts in the face of climate change, further complicating management decisions and potentially limiting some options while creating others. Here we explore the current state of Colorado Plateau restoration science and underscore key challenges and opportunities for improving our capacity to maintain the myriad of services provided by these desert ecosystems. We highlight past research efforts and future needs related to restoration concepts, including consideration and design of novel ecosystems, mitigation for and adaptation to climate change, use of genetically diverse seed adapted for current and future conditions, and the value of strong multi‐agency and stakeholder collaborations in restoring systems on the Colorado Plateau and beyond.

Colorado Plateau↗
USGS1992

Selected papers in the applied computer sciences 1992

This compilation of short papers reports on technical advances in the applied computer sciences. The papers describe computer applications in support of earth science investigations and research. This is the third volume in the series "Selected Papers in the Applied Computer Sciences." Listed below are the topics addressed in the compilation: Integration of geographic information systems and expert systems for resource management, Visualization of topography using digital image processing, Development of a ground-water data base for the southeastern Uited States using a geographic information system, Integration and aggregation of stream-drainage data using a geographic information system, Procedures used in production of digital geologic coverage using compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) technology, and Automated methods for producing a technical publication on estimated water use in the United States.

Bulletin↗
USGS2011

Understanding risk and resilience to natural hazards

Natural hazards threaten the safety and economic wellbeing of communities. These hazards include sudden-onset hazards, such as earthquakes, and slowly emerging, chronic hazards, such as those associated with climate change. To help public officials, emergency and other managers, the business community, and at-risk individuals reduce the risks posed by such hazards, the USGS Western Geographic Science Center is developing new ways to assess and communicate societal risk and resilience to catastrophic and chronic natural hazards.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2011

USGS research on Florida's isolated freshwater wetlands

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has studied wetland hydrology and its effects on wetland health and ecology in Florida since the 1990s. USGS wetland studies in Florida and other parts of the Nation provide resource managers with tools to assess current conditions and regional trends in wetland resources. Wetland hydrologists in the USGS Florida Water Science Center (FLWSC) have completed a number of interdisciplinary studies assessing the hydrology, ecology, and water quality of wetlands. These studies have expanded the understanding of wetland hydrology, ecology, and related processes including: (1) the effects of cyclical changes in rainfall and the influence of evapotranspiration; (2) surface-water flow, infiltration, groundwater movement, and groundwater and surfacewater interactions; (3) the effects of water quality and soil type; (4) the unique biogeochemical components of wetlands required to maintain ecosystem functions; (5) the effects of land use and other human activities; (6) the influences of algae, plants, and invertebrates on environmental processes; and (7) the effects of seasonal variations in animal communities that inhabit or visit Florida wetlands and how wetland function responds to changes in the plant community.

Florida↗
USGS2006

Water-Quality Data for Selected National Park Units within the Southern Colorado Plateau Network, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, Water Years 2005 and 2006

The National Park Service initiated a Level 1 Water-Quality Inventory program to provide water-quality data to park managers so informed natural resource management decisions could be made. Level 1 water-quality data were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey Arizona Water Science Center at 57 sites in 13 National Park units located in the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring network in water years 2005 and 2006. These data describe the current water-quality at selected sites within the park units and provide information for monitoring future trends. Water samples were collected three times at each type of site including wells, springs, seeps, tinajas, rivers, a lake, and an irrigation ditch. Field measurements were taken at each site and they included pH, specific conductance, temperature, barometric pressure, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, turbidity, and discharge rates where applicable. Water samples collected were sent to the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory and analyzed for major ions, trace elements, and nutrients. The National Water Quality Laboratory also analyzed selected samples for mercury and petroleum hydrocarbons. Additional samples at selected sites were collected and analyzed for cyanide, radiochemistry, and suspended sediment by U.S. Geological Survey contract labs. Fecal-indicator bacteria (Escherichia coli) were sampled for at selected sites as another indicator of water quality. Quality control for this study was achieved through proper training of field personnel, use of standard U.S. Geological Survey field and laboratory protocols, collection of sample blanks and replicates, and a thorough review of the water-quality analyses. Measured field pH ranged from 6.0 to 8.8, within normal range for springs and rivers, at most sites. Concentrations of dissolved solids ranged from 48 to 8,680 mg/L and the majority of samples had concentrations of dissolved solids below 900 mg/L. Trace-element concentrations at most sites were at or near the laboratory reporting levels. The highest overall trace-element concentrations were found at U.S. Highway 160 Spring near Park Entrance to Mesa Verde National Park. Concentrations of uranium in samples at all sites ranged from below the detection limit to 55.7 ?g/L. Water samples from selected sites were analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbons and concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons were at or above the laboratory detection limit in samples at six National Park units. Ten sites were sampled for Escherichia coli and positive counts were found at 9 out of the ten sites, the highest colony counts were found at Chinle Creek at Chinle, AZ in Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Measured concentrations of dissolved ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were at or near laboratory reporting levels at most sites; nitrate concentrations ranged from below the reporting limit (0.047 mg/L) to 9.77 mg/L. Samples that were analyzed for mercury had concentrations below or at the laboratory reporting level. Concentrations of cyanide were less than the laboratory reporting level for all samples except two, Spruce Tree House Spring in Mesa Verde National Park and Pine Tree Canyon Tinaja in Canyon de Chelly National Monument, which had average concentrations of .042 and .011 ?g/L respectively. Gross alpha/beta radioactivity counts were below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level except for samples from Casa Chiquita Well  Middle at Chaco Culture National Historical Park which averaged 35 pCi/L. Suspended-sediment concentrations were variable and ranged from 10 to 150,000 mg/L.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Linking physical monitoring to coho and Chinook salmon populations in the Redwood Creek Watershed, California—Summary of May 3–4, 2012 Workshop

On Thursday, May 3, 2012, a science workshop was held at the Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) office in Arcata, California, with researchers and resource managers working in RNSP to share data and expert opinions concerning salmon populations and habitat in the Redwood Creek watershed. The focus of the workshop was to discuss how best to synthesize physical and biological data related to the freshwater and estuarine phases of salmon life cycles in order to increase the understanding of constraints on salmon populations. The workshop was hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Status and Trends (S&T) Program National Park Monitoring Project ( http://www.fort.usgs.gov/brdscience/ParkMonitoring.htm ), which supports USGS research on priority topics (themes) identified by the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program (I&M) and S&T. The NPS has organized more than 270 parks with significant natural resources into 32 Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Networks ( http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/networks.cfm ) that share funding and core professional staff to monitor the status and long-term trends of selected natural resources ( http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/monitor ). All 32 networks have completed vital signs monitoring plans (available at http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/monitor/MonitoringPlans.cfm ), containing background information on the important resources of each park, conceptual models behind the selection of vital signs for monitoring the condition of natural resources, and the selection of high priority vital signs for monitoring. Vital signs are particular physical, chemical, and biological elements and processes of park ecosystems that represent the overall health or condition of the park, known or hypothesized effects of stressors, or elements that have important human values (Fancy and others, 2009). Beginning in 2009, the I&M program funded projects to analyze and synthesize the biotic and abiotic data generated by vital signs monitoring and previous in-park natural resource monitoring and inventories to provide useful information, models, and tools to park managers for addressing resource management issues. The workshop described in this report is an element of the project funded by USGS NPS-I&M program to conduct a synthesis of salmon-related datasets in the Klamath (KLMN) and San Francisco Bay Area (SFAN) networks of national parks. The synthesis focused on four park units: Redwood National Park (KLMN), Point Reyes National Seashore, Muir Woods National Monument, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area (SFAN).

California↗
USGS2026

Cascading consequences and interventions for hazards after wildfire in northern California

This report documents the process and outcomes of a workshop convened by the U.S. Geological Survey in December 2024 to identify cascading postfire hazards and other effects stemming from the 2021 Dixie Fire in northern California and to explore potential intervention strategies. The Postfire Hazards and Consequences Workshop brought together stakeholders with expertise across disciplines relevant to postfire management. The two-day workshop applied the chains of consequences methodology developed by the Department of the Interior Strategic Sciences Group. Workshop participants identified key issues emerging from postfire conditions and discussed actionable strategies to enhance resilience in fire-prone regions. Findings revealed a complex network of interacting consequences, many of which transcended disciplinary boundaries and affected multiple sectors of society, underscoring the systemic nature of wildfire recovery challenges and indicating that long-term planning approaches could be integrated to help reduce society’s risks from wildfire.

California↗
USGS2014

Proceedings of the U.S. Geological Survey Eighth Biennial Geographic Information Science Workshop and first The National Map Users Conference, Denver, Colorado, May 10-13, 2011

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is sponsoring the first The National Map Users Conference in conjunction with the eighth biennial Geographic Information Science (GIS) Workshop on May 10-13, 2011, in Lakewood, Colorado. The GIS Workshop will be held at the USGS National Training Center, located on the Denver Federal Center, Lakewood, Colorado, May 10-11. The National Map Users Conference will be held directly after the GIS Workshop at the Denver Marriott West, a convention hotel in the Lakewood, Colorado area, May 12-13. The National Map is designed to serve the Nation by providing geographic data and knowledge for government, industry, and public uses. The goal of The National Map Users Conference is to enhance communications and collaboration among the communities of users of and contributors to The National Map, including USGS, Department of the Interior, and other government GIS specialists and scientists, as well as the broader geospatial community. The USGS National Geospatial Program intends the conference to serve as a forum to engage users and more fully discover and meet their needs for the products and services of The National Map. The goal of the GIS Workshop is to promote advancement of GIS and related technologies and concepts as well as the sharing of GIS knowledge within the USGS GIS community. This collaborative opportunity for multi-disciplinary GIS and associated professionals will allow attendees to present and discuss a wide variety of geospatial-related topics. The Users Conference and Workshop collaboration will bring together scientists, managers, and data users who, through presentations, posters, seminars, workshops, and informal gatherings, will share accomplishments and progress on a variety of geospatial topics. During this joint event, attendees will have the opportunity to present or demonstrate their work; to develop their knowledge by attending hands-on workshops, seminars, and presentations given by professionals from USGS and other Federal Agencies, GIS related companies, and academia; and to network with other professionals to develop collaborative opportunities. Specific conference topics include scientific and modeling applications using The National Map, opportunities for partnerships, and advances in geospatial technologies. The first part of the week will be the GIS Workshop, offered as a pre-conference seminar. It will focus on hands-on GIS training and seminars concerning current topics of geospatial interest. The focus of the USGS GIS Workshop is to showcase specific techniques and concepts for using GIS in support of science. The presentations will be educational and not a marketing endeavor. To promote awareness of and interaction with selected USGS corporate and local science center data products, as well as promoting collaboration, a “GIS Olympics” event will be held Tuesday evening during the GIS Workshop. The second part of the week will feature interactive briefings and discussions on issues and opportunities of The National Map. The focus of the Users Conference will be on the role of The National Map in supporting science initiatives, emergency response, land and wildlife management, and other activities. All presentations at the Users Conference include use or innovations related to a The National Map data theme or application. On Wednesday evening, a poster session is being held as a combined event for all attendees and as a juncture between the events. On Thursday evening, the Henry Gannett Award will be presented. Additionally, poster awards will be presented. Several prominent speakers are featured at plenary sessions at The National Map Users Conference, including Deanna A. Archuleta, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Department of the Interior; Dr. Barbara P. Buttenfield, Professor of Geography at the University of Colorado in Boulder; best-selling author Frederick Reuss; and Dr. Joel Scheraga, Senior Advisor for Climate Adaptation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, panel discussions have attracted participation from notable experts from government, academia, and the private sector. This Proceedings volume will serve as an activity reference for workshop attendees, as well as an archive of technical abstracts presented at the workshop. Author, co-author, and presenter names, affiliations, and contact information are listed with presentation titles with the abstracts. Some hands-on sessions are offered twice; in these instances, abstracts submitted for publication are presented in the proceedings on both days on which they are offered.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2012

Flood-inundation maps for a nine-mile reach of the Des Plaines River from Riverwoods to Mettawa, Illinois

Digital flood-inundation maps for a 9-mile reach of the Des Plaines River from Riverwoods to Mettawa, Illinois, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission and the Villages of Lincolnshire and Riverwoods. The inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Science Web site at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/flood_inundation/ , depict estimates of the areal extent of flooding corresponding to selected water levels (gage heights) at the USGS streamgage at Des Plaines River at Lincolnshire, Illinois (station no. 05528100). Current conditions at the USGS streamgage may be obtained on the Internet at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?05528100 . In addition, this streamgage is incorporated into the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) flood warning system ( http://water.weather.gov/ahps/ ) by the National Weather Service (NWS). The NWS forecasts flood hydrographs at many places that are often co-located at USGS streamgages. The NWS forecasted peak-stage information, also shown on the Des Plaines River at Lincolnshire inundation Web site, may be used in conjunction with the maps developed in this study to show predicted areas of flood inundation. In this study, flood profiles were computed for the stream reach by means of a one-dimensional step-backwater model. The hydraulic model was then used to determine seven water-surface profiles for flood stages at roughly 1-ft intervals referenced to the streamgage datum and ranging from the 50- to 0.2-percent annual exceedance probability flows. The simulated water-surface profiles were then combined with a Geographic Information System (GIS) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (derived from Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data) in order to delineate the area flooded at each water level. These maps, along with information on the Internet regarding current gage height from USGS streamgages and forecasted stream stages from the NWS, provide emergency management personnel and residents with information that is critical for flood response activities such as evacuations and road closures, as well as for post-flood recovery efforts.

Illinois↗
USGS2007

Land Cover Applications, Landscape Dynamics, and Global Change

The Land Cover Applications, Landscape Dynamics, and Global Change project at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) seeks to integrate remote sensing and simulation models to better understand and seek solutions to national and global issues. Modeling processes related to population impacts, natural resource management, climate change, invasive species, land use changes, energy development, and climate mitigation all pose significant scientific opportunities. The project activities use remotely sensed data to support spatial monitoring, provide sensitivity analyses across landscapes and large regions, and make the data and results available on the Internet with data access and distribution, decision support systems, and on-line modeling. Applications support sustainable natural resource use, carbon cycle science, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and robust simulation modeling approaches that evaluate ecosystem and landscape dynamics.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2022

Science facilitation: Navigating the intersection of intellectual and interpersonal expertise in scientific collaboration

Today’s societal challenges, such as climate change and global pandemics, are increasingly complex and require collaboration across scientific disciplines to address. Scientific teams bring together individuals of varying backgrounds and expertise to work collaboratively on creating new knowledge to address these challenges. Within a scientific team, there is inherent diversity in disciplinary cultures and preferences for interpersonal collaboration. Such diversity contributes to the potential strength of the created knowledge but can also impede progress when teams struggle to collaborate productively. Facilitation is a professional practice-based form of interpersonal expertise that supports group members to do their best thinking. Although facilitation has been demonstrated to support group functioning in a wide range of contexts, its role in supporting scientific teams has been largely overlooked. This essay defines scientific facilitation as a form of interactional expertise and explains how facilitating scientific teams requires skills in managing interpersonal interactions as well as understanding how different types of disciplinary knowledge integrate in the creation of new knowledge. Next, it explains how this science facilitation expertise may be developed through metacognition. Finally, it provides examples of how scientific facilitation could be more widely incorporated into research by describing three pathways to expand the use of facilitation theory and techniques in collaborative scientific research: developing facilitation skills among scientists leading teams, using broadly trained facilitators, and using specialised science facilitators. The strengths and risks of each path are discussed, and criteria are suggested for selecting the right approach for a given team science project.

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications↗
USGS2011

Geoinformatics in the public service: Building a cyberinfrastructure across the geological surveys

Advanced information technology infrastructure is increasingly being employed in the Earth sciences to provide researchers with efficient access to massive central databases and to integrate diversely formatted information from a variety of sources. These geoinformatics initiatives enable manipulation, modeling and visualization of data in a consistent way, and are helping to develop integrated Earth models at various scales, and from the near surface to the deep interior. This book uses a series of case studies to demonstrate computer and database use across the geosciences. Chapters are thematically grouped into sections that cover data collection and management; modeling and community computational codes; visualization and data representation; knowledge management and data integration; and web services and scientific workflows. Geoinformatics is a fascinating and accessible introduction to this emerging field for readers across the solid Earth sciences and an invaluable reference for researchers interested in initiating new cyberinfrastructure projects of their own.

Book chapter↗
USGS2009

A selection and archiving strategy for science records

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center archives electronic science collections that total over two petabytes in size and over 100,000 rolls of aerial and satellite film. Limited resources, the evolution of missions, and recommendations from advisory committees have led to the development of a scientific records appraisal process as a means for determining long-term archiving priorities. The process was formed through extensive literature searches describing approaches used to appraise administrative, physical artifacts, and science records. Less information was available that specifically addressed science records; therefore, relevant portions from each records appraisal process was assembled. In addition, involvement with the appropriate stakeholders was deemed critical and led to the active participation of scientists, records managers, and senior managers in the process. As part of the documentation portion of the process, an extensive online tool was developed to capture information describing each collection and detail preservation or access challenges that may be part of a collection. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration recommends the tool as a best practice for U.S. federal agencies. To date, over 30 science collections have been appraised. This paper will detail the process used to appraise science collections for long-term archiving, the composition and rationale for the tool elements, and the results the USGS has attained.

Conference Paper↗