Emergent research opportunities for MBL based on 175 years of research in Woods Hole, Massachusetts

1. 175YearsofscientificresearchintheWoodsHoleRegion
An emergent interdisciplinary research
opportunity for the MBL

2. New informatics disciplines have emerged, usually led from within, by
researchers seeking to improve and streamline their work.
Over the past 20 years these domains have been transformed
by the information revolution.

3. As these disciplines mature, however, new opportunities
are emerging along inter-disciplinary lines.
Most of the past 20 years has been spent developing and
solving intra-disciplinary challenges.

4. Advances made in one domain often find traction and application in another.
• Negative examples where this could have occurred but did not exist at MBL.
• Positive examples where it was exploited also exist and have brought
millions of dollars to the MBL.
Adaptive
Adaptive informatics processes should be identified,
formalized and cultivated at the MBL

5. “This is not an easy endeavor because any such synthesis needs to
be broadly multidisciplinary and integrative (Whitham et al., 2006).
And yet the potential pay offs are large given that genetic variation
across plant and animal systems can have extended consequences
at the population, community and ecosystem levels. “
Interoperability across these domains is an emergent capability (~past 3-5
years) and supports the pursuit of novel inter-disciplinary scientific questions.
Integrated
This presents new opportunities for the MBL

6. This WILL be a component of a new generation of big science and is a leadership
opportunity
Could the MBL, with it’s partners, programs and inter-disciplinary focus, be one of
those leaders?
Integrated

7. YES!
The MBL is exactly where
this can happen.

8. NSF has several calls for such inter-
disciplinary research
Dimensions of Biodiversity is one example that presents an opportunity to
engage multiple MBL research centers in a novel collaboration

9. Integrated
OrganismsMolecules Tissues EcosystemsCells
Bioinformatics
Biomedical
Informatics
Neuroinformatics Biodiversity
Informatics
Ecoinformatics
Bioimaging
Informatics
Computational
Biology
GENOMES PHENOMES ECOSYSTEMS
NSF-15-33 Dimensions of Biodiversity ($16-22M total)

10. An additional twist…
“The Geosciences Directorate is particularly
interested in projects that consider how marine
biodiversity interacts with ecosystem function
relative to climate change.” http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15533/nsf15533.htm
NSF-15-33 Dimensions of Biodiversity ($16-22M)
Ecological function and resilience in relation to
anthropogenic change is an issue with local, regional,
national and global significance. UC’s Matt Greenwald
has related this as a DC priority.
We possess some secret weapons to bear on this.

11. Our secret weapons
• Location, Location, Location
Woods Hole is located on the edge of a significant biogeographic
boundary ideal for exploring anthropogenic change.
• A Rich Data legacy
Prospective science requires retrospective data. The Woods Hole region
is the most richly surveyed marine region in the world*
• Informatics Capacity
The MBL (and UC/Woods Hole partners) have a unique inter-disciplinary
informatics capacity to deliver the necessary enabling infrastructure.
• Broad scientific capacity
The small footprint and inter-disciplinary capacity of MBL and the Woods
Hole/UC partners present a potent recipe for new and nimble science.
• Timing
These opportunities are new and leaders will emerge to respond.
• Local and regional impact
MBL is well-positioned to leverage opportunities locally and nationally.
* This is not well-known nor appreciated but is something we have discovered and is defensible

12. Cape Cod represents a major boundary between two
biogeographic sub-provinces
Location
Pappalardo et. al, 2015

13. Exactly the sort of boundary where anthropogenic change can be observed
and measured. Especially true if you have a detailed historic record.
Location

14. The Woods Hole Marine Region provides both temporal
depth and broad taxonomic breadth.
Data
• The Woods Hole Marine
Region has been surveyed
and inventoried for over
200 years.
• Cape Cod Bay and Gulf of
Maine also extensively
documented

15. Thousands of papers, surveys, specimens, inventories from
1825 through 2015. View here.
• Over 750 publications (and
growing) from 1670 verify
the occurrence, range and
abundance of marine species
• Longest continuous sea
surface temperature series
for North America
• Multiple comprehensive
regional surveys
• Over 500K occurrence
records already digitized
The Woods Hole Marine Region provides the
deepest and broadest view for any marine region

16. Combination of phylogenetic scope and historic depth is
unparalleled
Woods Hole Marine Region

17. Properly mobilized, these data collectively represent an irreplaceable
knowledge store that can be used as a platform supporting new inter-
disciplinary research
Data

18. What kind of data?

19. A 190 year record documenting changes in occurrence, abundance and
distribution. This type of data is the basis for over 2,500 recent ecological
and organismal publications over the last 8 years. Click here to see.
A biodiversity atlas for the Woods Hole region
1 publication
25K records
2500 species

20. Tens of thousands of specimens available from historic surveys. These represent
molecular and biological vouchers available for genomic, population and
organismal research. Provides a temporal basis for new voucher collections.
Geo-referenced tissue and molecular samples

21. Assist identifying new model species; supports refined ecological modeling.
Example: Phenology profiles support climate change inquiry through time-dependent
seasonal changes. Currently a focus of a WHOI 2015 proposal.
Rich Ecological Species Profiles

22. Extracted physical, intra- and inter-species interactions support refined
ecological models and the identification of novel model marine species.
Rich Ecological Graph

23. Integrated informatics supports a new generation of multi-disciplinary
science and leverages our rich legacy. Not possible 10 years ago. It’s new
and we know how to do it!
Interoperability = Opportunity

24. Integrated biological informatics approaches create new local
opportunities for funding and giving.
Local Opportunities

25. Creates opportunities for new computational and biological collaborations
with UC partners and regional/national research organizations.
There is funding interest in establishing a distributed network among US
marine labs. MBL led an initial pilot on this 15 years ago.
Regional/National Opportunities
Wider engagement opportunities with UC and National Association of Marine
Laboratories

26. Opportunities
• Leverages MBLs multi-disciplinary strengths and
history
• Facilitates collaborations across MBL Centers
• Multi-disciplinary supports bigger science and more
funding
• Engages local and UC partners
• Supports a wide range of scientific questions
Possible Next Steps
• Assess Fit for MBL and new directions
• Assess opportunities through deeper discussion
• Broaden Discussion within MBL
• SWOT analysis