Dr. Suzanne Pilaar Birch is a co-Principal Investigator of “Disciplinary Improvements for Past Global Change Research: Connecting Data Systems and Practitioners” which has just been funded under the National Science Foundation’s Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable Open Science Research Coordination Networks (FAIROS RCN) program. The grant will advance ethical scientific practices in the use of paleoecological, contemporary ecological, paleoclimatic, and archaeological data. The grant is one of ten awarded for new projects focused on creating and enhancing coordination among researchers to advance findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable data principles in open science practices. Their aim is to build technical and social capacity among data resources by supporting technical implementation of ethical open science applications and developing communities of practice around FAIR and CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics) open science principles. This project provides broad participative support and guidance for these goals by bringing together data managers from a variety of specimen and environmental data resources, including the Neotoma Paleoecology Database, Open Context, ZooArchNet, NEON, and iSamples; metadata stewards; disciplinary practitioners; and early-career researchers. More information on the NSF open science investment can be found here. Congratulations Dr. Birch!
