The National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected Battelle, an independent, nonprofit research and development organization, to manage the construction, commissioning and initial operations of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). Battelle, with a long history of program management and scientific expertise, will help ensure NEON’s mission and its full scientific utility. For more information, please see Battelle’s press release.
NEON is a ground-breaking NSF-funded project in the ecological sciences. When fully constructed, the Observatory will measure ecological change at the continental scale across decades, providing freely available data and educational resources to the public. The data and spatial extent provided by NEON will enable scientists to tackle questions at scales not accessible to previous generations of ecologists.
The Observatory had been managed by NEON, Inc. since 2005, but as announced in December 2015, NSF began seeking an alternative management option. As part of the transition process, the NEON, Inc Board of Directors has agreed to the reorganization and resigned effective Friday April 8, 2016 so that Battelle can assume full oversight of the NEON program.
“Battelle is excited to begin this new chapter for the Observatory,” said Manager of Battelle’s Ecology business Rich Leonard. “We look forward to working with the scientific community to establish NEON as a transformational presence in the ecological sciences for decades to come.”
For more information on NEON construction status and data availability, see more here. –
