New NEON Science Office Will Focus on the Future of Continental-Scale Ecology

With Congressional funding imminent for the NEON observatory, the NEON corporation welcomes a new office that will focus on developing the field of continental-scale ecology and ensuring scientific excellence at NEON.

The NEON Science Office will be responsible for addressing strategic science objectives and will lead collaborative efforts to engage and prepare the scientific community to make best use of the NEON Observatory as a resource.

Dr. Dave Schimel, who served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) during NEON’s successful planning, design and review process, will lead the NEON Science Office in his new role as Chief Science Officer (CSO). Dr. Schimel will remain Principal Investigator of the NEON project, a natural fit since the CSO position will be primarily responsible for facilitating and enabling the science of continental-scale ecology.

Under Dr. Schimel’s leadership, NEON successfully passed seven major reviews and grew from a staff of ten to over 115. Given NEON’s explosive growth and the heightened interest in NEON from the scientific community, it has become apparent that the Principal Investigator role requires a full-time focus.

“We have talented staff who have worked extremely hard over the last several years to create a suite of data products and resources I think will effectively address many of the large science questions,” said Dr. Schimel. “This position will allow me to support the community in using NEON to answer those questions, to continue to build a strong community of users and collaborators, and to mentor younger colleagues to take ownership and leadership in NEON continental science and education.”

Dr. Schimel’s understanding of global environmental change makes him the perfect candidate to lead the new office. Dr. Schimel is one of the 2007 recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report. He has authored more than 150 papers on biogeochemistry climate impacts on ecosystems and the global carbon cycle.

Prior to serving at NEON, Dr. Schimel was a Senior Terrestrial Scientist in NCAR’s Climate and Global Dynamics Division for 16 years, and was Founding co-Director of the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry. He was appointed CEO of NEON in November 2006.

A search committee has been established to identify a new CEO, who will oversee the NEON corporation as the observatory moves into construction and operations.