Award: DEB-0832652

Our project provided support to a network of research sites, the Long Term Ecological Research Network, whose goal is to understand the effects of ecological processes such as disturbance, biodiversity loss, and climate change that take place over long periods of time. The NetworkÆs 25 research sites represent a broad range of key ecosystems spread across the country, and one of the NetworkÆs most important challenges is to communicate the results of research to each other, to other scientists and policymakers, and to the public. During this award, our project facilitated communication through a series of activities designed to reach each of these audiences. To enhance communication and research synthesis within our network, we supported annual planning meetings of leaders of each of the 25 sites as well as 80 working groups focused on comparing results among sites to understand fundamental ecological principles that operate in all ecosystems. One of our principal goals was to encourage data sharing among investigators, which we accomplished by supporting and training site information managers and by developing a Network Information System to make data from sites openly accessible. We created and maintained web pages to share results and data, and we distilled and organized key research findings to make them easily accessible. Training of undergraduate and graduate students helped produce a new generation of scientists capable of working across disciplines and ecosystems. We disseminated results from Network research to a broad range of scientists and policymakers through scientific publications, web pages, online videos, presentations at scientific meetings, brochures, newsletters, briefings, and social media. Three large scientific meetings brought together scientists, students, and resource managers from many communities to compare research results and identify methods to apply these results to key issues of resource management. We encouraged integration of research communities by building partnerships with other networks and research centers. Our project organized annual briefings for agency personnel and policymakers to inform them of our results. Our most valuable impact on the scientific community was the development of new software to manage ecological data. This software forms the basis for the Network Information System, which makes data from all of our research sites openly available to scientists, policymakers, and the public. The software and other tools associated with the Network Information System are being adopted by other research communities. Communication of research results to the public is facilitated by the tools and materials created by our project. Staff from our project were involved in the development of a communication strategy that guides the Network as it engages the public. We supported the creation of many tools to enhance public engagement including web pages, online video, brochures, and a series of childrenÆs books with ecological themes. In addition, our project supported efforts to expand engagement with local and national communities by providing training on communicating science to the public. In the 19 years that our project has existed, we have seen the productivity of the Network increase until it now have over 19,000 scientific publications to its credit. Moreover, in the three years that the Network Information System has operated, the number of centrally available data sets has grown from zero to over 42,000. To broaden outreach, these data are also available through other national data providers such as DataONE. In addition to these specific accomplishments, our project has served as the custodian of records documenting the knowledge generated by our Network on key ecosystems across the Nation. Last Modified: 06/01/2016 Submitted by: Robert B Waide