NSF funds research in new frontier of ecological science

With a $6 million grant from the National Science Foundation, University of Oklahoma researchers will lead the effort to develop cyberCommons—an information "commons" or cafeteria where others can obtain electronic real-time data or forecasts similar to those produced for weather.

This service will be useful for business and policy makers and will enable students of many ages to learn from the study. Teachers and students will be able to download data, models and visuals to use in the classroom for learning about ecological processes, predictions, and the use and management of data.

The massive amounts of data available will allow ecologists to predict how changes in weather will alter the amount of carbon used by plants or how much water from leaves will be lost in the atmosphere. Or, over longer time intervals, how weather will affect the amount of nitrogen stored in plants and soil or how the diversity of grassland plants will change with drought.

The complexity of the research demands a multidisciplinary team of OU researchers, led by University Research Cabinet Chair Paul Risser, in collaboration with researchers from universities in two EPSCoR states (Oklahoma, Kansas), including Oklahoma State University, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University.

OU researchers on the project each bring a specialized expertise, which when combined enables the ecological forecasting. For example, there are experts on plants, animals, micro-organisms, soil, water, nutrients and mathematical modeling.

Among the computer experts are those who manage large data sets on supercomputers, techniques for mining data sets to reveal patterns in data, statistical models and techniques for visualizing analytical results.

University of Oklahoma researchers:

Paul Risser, University Research Cabinet
S. Lakshmivarahan, Computer Science
Henry Neeman, Information Technology
May Yuan, Atmospheric & Geographic Sciences
Gia-loi "Le" Gruenwald, Computer Science
Jeffrey Kelly, Oklahoma Biological Survey
Yiqi Luo, Botany & Microbiology
Amy McGovern, Computer Science
Xiangming Xiao, Botany & Microbiology
Christopher Weaver, Computer Science

Oklahoma State University researcher:
Michael Palmer, Biology