DataONE is a multinational cyber-infrastructure with the aim of consolidating environmental data from around the world. Researchers said the long-term benefits of creating such a resource are potentially limitless.
Professor William Michener, DataONE principal investigator, said the project currently has three components composed of coordinating nodes, member nodes and the investigator tool kit.
“Coordinating nodes are essentially the ‘yellow pages’ for environmental research,” Michener said. “Member nodes are data repositories from around the world, and the investigator tool kit is a suite of tools scientists can use for doing their research.”
The collective resource has already proven invaluable for environmental scientists worldwide, he said. One of the earliest test cases for the project was mapping the distribution of bird populations across the United States. Scientists have long understood that the mere presence and density of bird populations is a good indicator of the overall health of the environment, he said.
The trouble is that meaningful data on the distribution of bird populations are difficult to come by, and it is often extremely time consuming to compile related information in order to draw meaningful conclusions. DataONE essentially streamlines the process, he said.
“We brought together ornithologists, macroecologists, data scientists and others,” Michener said. “It was a huge success with lots of positive interactions within the group including the stated bird reports, several of which have been released since our initial efforts.”
Prior to its inception, researchers would have had to navigate current repositories individually to find desired information, wasting time poring through potentially unrelated material in the hopes of finding relevant data, he said.
“It allows for precise search and discovery for environmental data to address a whole array of questions someone might have,” Michener said, “Particularly researchers.”
Amber Budden, director for community engagement and outreach for DataONE, said the project has drastically improved the accessibility and speed of discovery for diverse Earth and environmental science data.
“We’re building out a network of data repositories for people to preserve the data for future generations, but also to make it available for scientific and public communities so people can use those data,” Budden said.
Budden said one of the greatest aspects of DataONE is that the metadata, essentially data about data, will allow researchers to access information from across disciplines and from around the world and still be able to draw meaningful conclusions.
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Michener said the UNM University Libraries currently serves as the headquarters for the DataONE repository.
DataONE received initial funding from the NSF in 2009. He said the current grant would be used to allow DataONE to enter into phase two, in which they will dramatically increase the content available through the search engine and expand to include different colleges within the University.
DataONE is an open-source search engine available to anyone with an interest in environmental science, he said.
“You just type in ‘dataone.org’ and start searching,” Michener said. “It’s quite an easy-to-use website that’s very powerful.”
Tomas Lujan is a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @TomasVLujan.
