Project Office News: September 2007

NEON Welcomes New Senior Leader

The National Ecological Observatory Network is pleased to announce a key addition to its project office: Eyvette Wright, Procurement Manager.

More on Eyvette Wright

Posted by djohnson on Monday September 24, at 11AM

Michael Keller Joins NEON as Chief of Science

Dr. Michael Keller, Project Scientist for the NASA component of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia, has been named NEON Chief of Science.

More on Michael Keller

Posted by djohnson on Monday September 24, at 11AM

An Update for the Ecological Community

In their latest Dear Colleague letter, NEON’s Board Chair and CEO summarize next steps and recent project news, including the arrival of the NEON Chief of Science.

Dear Colleague:

We wanted to bring you up to date on our progress with pushing NEON to reality. Recently, there was a NEON session at the ESA meetings in San Jose. The room was packed and attendees seemed pleased by the progress that the NEON team has made. The question and answer period was useful.

Since that August meeting a lot of things have happened. We interviewed and hired a Chief Financial Officer, a Human Resources Director, and a Procurement Manager. All three come with truly remarkable qualifications. Of more interest to scientists is the appointment of Michael Keller as the Chief of Science. Michael has served since 1996 as the Project Scientist of the NASA component of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). He is also Co-Chair of the International Scientific Steering Committee for LBA. He earned his B. A. at the Department of Geology, Harvard University, and his Ph.D. at the Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Princeton University. His most recent professional appointments include: Research Scientist, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service; Affiliate Professor, University of New Hampshire; and Visiting Professor, University of Sao Paulo.

One of Michael’s early tasks will be to manage the selection process to identify and engage the Domain Chief Scientists. This task must be completed before we undergo our next review, the Final Design Review (FDR), as soon as possible. Domain Chief Scientists for each domain will be selected through an open process, to get the best scientists in the country to be an integral part of the final planning and implementation of NEON. We are currently working on the details of the search process, a draft of which will be shared with the community for comment within the next month or so.

We continue to receive questions about the choice of core sites in the Domains. Currently, we have preliminarily identified the general core sites in most Domains. In three Domains, a final decision has not yet been made about the core site location. In these Domains, a collaborative selection process involving NEON Inc. and the scientific community is underway. USGS EROS Data Center is providing technical support. Site identification will be made in the Fall of 2007. We need to note that while we will complete the identification process for core sites, these recommendations are not final until we have completed another NSF Panel review.

In the next few weeks we will begin the search for the Chief of Education. A Tiger Team that has been working on an education plan has also developed a position description for this search. Together, the Chiefs of Science and Education will be important parts of the senior administrative team for NEON.

Also in the near future we will announce the availability of four visiting scientists opportunities. These will allow scientists to work for NEON for periods of about two months as we finalize all of our design components. The visitors can work at NEON’s Boulder or DC offices, or they can remain at their home institutions to complete their work.

As most of you know, we have been developing an institutional membership program for NEON. Until 1 November institutions can become Founding Members by paying dues of $5,000. Dues for regular Institutional Members are $1,000. Benefits of membership can be found on our website (www.neoninc.org). To date we have over 20 Founding Member institutions. The most immediate activity of these members will be to help us choose additional members for our Board of Directors. Nearly half of all Board members will be elected from the representatives of the member institutions. This expansion of the Board will occur before the end of December.

Most recently, our business operations have arrived at the point where NSF can make awards directly to NEON Inc. Previously, AIBS was the grantee and NEON worked under their umbrella. This was a wonderful arrangement and went very smoothly, however, it is an important milestone to achieve independence.

Currently we are recruiting to replace our Project Manager. The position announcement is found on our website. Additionally, we will begin to add to our engineering staff, as we get closer to the initiation of construction.

As you can see, things are moving rapidly and progress is tangible. We continue to need your support. Many of you will be called upon to provide advice and help of various kinds.

Thanks to all of you, the future for NEON looks bright. We send you our heartfelt THANKS!

Jim James A. MacMahon Chairman NEON, Inc. Board Trustee Professor of Biology Utah State University	Dave David Schimel CEO NEON, Inc.

Posted by djohnson on Friday September 14, at 12PM