NSF Director Visits NEON Headquarters

NEON hosted a visit from Dr. Subra Suresh, the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), on Monday. Dr. Suresh and several colleagues also with the NSF, including Tim Killeen (Assistant Director for Geosciences), Joann Roskoski (Acting Assistant Director for Biology), and Liz Blood (Program Director for NEON) viewed a short presentation on NEON’s current status from Dr. Dave Schimel, NEON’s Chief Science Officer. The group visited with staff from several teams, who presented posters outlining current plans for the observatory, then toured the headquarters facility, including the engineering and calibration and validation labs and the airborne operations lab. Dr. Suresh presented brief remarks to NEON staff on how NSF-funded environmental observatories enable his vision of the “Era of Observation” and the “Era of Data and Information.” In that vision, the products of scientific discovery – including high-quality data, protocols, models, and publications – are made easily accessible to accelerate scientific innovation.