EarthCube Workshop Summary

This week, the National Science Foundation, in conjunction with Critical Zone researchers organized the EarthCube Workshop: Engaging the Critical Zone Community to Bridge Long Tail Science with Big Data. The workshop focused on data integration and how it can help scientists working in geology, hydrology, biology, ecology and other Earth Sciences in their work to better understand the Critical Zone. The Critical Zone is the area around the Earth's surface, from the upper edge of bedrock to the top canopy of vegetation. This is where water circulates and it is essential to life on Earth.

One of the Critical Zone researchers who helped organize the workshop is Dr. Tarboton, who is also a co-Principle Investigator (PI) for the CI-WATER EPSCoR grant and a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering  at Utah State University.

“Highlights from this workshop included the presentation by Sue Brantley that examined the variety of data types present from critical zone studies and identified progress in the cyberinfrastructure systems that make this data available and accessible,” Dr. Tarboton said in an email correspondence.  “Another good talk was by Roy Haggerty who spoke of the need to shed light on "dark data", data that is buried in the files of researchers, often in paper form, and inaccessible to others, and in danger of being lost when the scientist involved retires.”

By Kali S. McCrackin

CI-WATER Symposium to focus on research, collaboration and education

Receiving grants is often difficult and hard-earned, especially in states like Wyoming and Utah. This year however, all the hard work has paid off, as Wyoming and Utah were rewarded a $6 million dollar, three-year collaborative grant. The grant, called Cyberinfrastructure Water (CI-WATER), aims to develop high-performance cyberinfrastructure tools for simulating the effects of climate, land-use and population changes on future water availability in the upper Colorado River basin, and to transfer these tools to interested private and governmental stakeholders. Next week, it will host its first annual symposium in Salt Lake City. The Symposium, scheduled for September 5^th and 6^th, will get the water conversations flowing, the research projects rolling and outreach opportunities going.

CI-WATER is a shared grant between the University of Wyoming, Brigham Young University, the University of Utah and Utah State University. The Symposium will feature researchers from all universities involved as well as keynote speaker Brad Udall. Mr. Udall is the director of Western Water Assessment, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratio (NOAA) funded program designed to help create forecasts about the climate.The keynote address will focus on the importance of modeling and model building within the scientific realm and the necessity of building models properly in order to gain insights into physical processes. Mr. Udall’s address will look at the ways models have been used in the recent past and what models are and are not capable of portraying. The address directly applies to CI-WATER because a huge part of the grant involves watershed modeling. The keynote address is scheduled for the afternoon of September 5^th and will be followed by two sessions moderated by researchers from the University of Wyoming and Brigham Young University.

Dr. Chris Emdin

Dr. Fred Ogden from the University of Wyoming will moderate the Industry Panel. This panel will provide the science community and other western water stakeholders an industry perspective on the goals of the CI-WATER project. Following the panel, Norm Jones from Brigham Young University will moderate research team discussions. These discussions will highlight what the various research teams are working on and where the research is going.

Day one of the Symposium will end with a tour of the Natural History Museum of Utah and an educational event featuring Dr. Chris Emdin of Columbia University. Dr. Emdin’s talk will focus on teaching science to students and getting younger generations interested in science and the STEM fields.He was recently featured in a Utah public radio broadcast about his work and philosophy on science education.

The second day of the Symposium, September 6^th, is primarily a work day for all members involved with the CI-WATER grant. Presentations and discussions regarding research and work on the grant will be shared for the rest of the Symposium.

Over the next three years, scientists from all four universities will collaborate on various aspects of the grant, which will not only find sustainable solutions to water resource problems, but also promote education, research and science. The Symposium will help facilitate all aspects of the grant.

By Kali S. McCrackin
Photo from www.ci-water.org

Water Resources and Cyberinfrustructure

How are water resource quality and availability impacted by climate variability, watershed alterations and management activities? This is the question that Wyoming and Utah will address in their new EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) Track II Grant, CI-Water: Cyberinfrustructure to Advance High Performance Water Resource Modeling.

EPSCoR is a federal grant program which aims to help the National Science Foundation (NSF) in promoting scientific research and education throughout the United States. The goal of EPSCoR is to make historically uncompetitive states stronger through improvements to infrastructure. EPSCoR offers two different grants. Track I grants provide up to $4 million for five years for projects designed to support physical, human and cyber infrastructure. Track II grants provide up to $2 million for three years for projects shared between multiple EPSCoR states and centered on cyber infrastructure.  These grants not only make jurisdictions more competitive, but they also establish innovative projects and research designed to benefit entire communities.

The CI-Water project  is a Track II grant shared between EPSCoR programs in Wyoming and Utah. It is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Wyoming, University of Utah, Utah State University and Brigham Young University.  In order to answer the above question, the universities have four primary goals.

1. Enhance cyberinfrustructure facilities~ This includes updating and designing computer systems to support the research to be conducted, enhance watershed modeling and facilitate collaboration between the four universities.
2. Enhance access to data and modeling~ This includes developing easy to use models and data that link past research to current research.
3. Advance high resolution watershed modeling~ This includes revolutionizing watershed modeling through integrating new processes with those already existing.
4. Promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning~ This includes activities not only for EPSCoR groups, but also for elementary school students and teachers; university students, faculty and programs; and adults learners.

Through collaboration, interaction and communication, the CI-Water project will help Wyoming and Utah researchers and communities understand our water resources now and in the future.

~by Kali S. McCrackin