The document outlines the approach and activities of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) from 1995-2012. It discusses: (i) NCEAS's approach of open calls for proposals and using a science advisory board for review, as well as providing meeting facilities, logistical support, and cyberinfrastructure. (ii) Over 5,000 participants engaged in working groups, hosted projects, and fellowships, coming from a diverse range of academic and non-academic institutions around the world. (iii) NCEAS's role in fostering new science through validating the synthesis center model, promoting collaboration and data sharing practices, and accelerating progress in emerging

1. Homework from Alison
(i) your approach to the analysis and synthesis
concept,
(ii) why you have taken this approach,
(iii) what you perceive are your strengths and
weaknesses–and legacy,
(iv) the role of your Centre in fostering new
science and discoveries, and
(v) what you wish to see from the meeting.

2. NCEAS approach to analysis and synthesis
(1995-2012)
• NSF and CA
supported, community
owned
• Open calls for proposals
– Science Advisory Board
review
– Guidance from NCEAS
leadership
• Meeting facility and
logistical support
• Cyberinfrastructure

3. Approach: Research Activities
• Working groups
– diverse, 3-16 participants, 4-8
meetings over 1-2 years
• Postdoctoral fellows
– 12-18, 2-3 yrs
• Sabbatical fellows
– 2-6, 3-12 mos
• Distributed graduate seminars
– 6-8 universities 1-2 semesters
• Informatics research and training
• “Hosted by NCEAS” activities

4. Why this approach?

5. 3. Who does the work
• Over 5,000 participants in
– 250+ working group
projects
– 200 “hosted”projects
– 119 Postdoctoral Associates
– 86 Center Fellows
(sabbaticals)
• Participants from
– 49 states,
– 67 countries
• 750+ academic institutions
• 600+ non-academic entities
(companies, NGOs, agencies)
• Participants belong to > 550
scholarly societies
• Not just usual suspects…
80% have 4 or fewer visits
Who does the research?

6. Figure 5. Percent Women Participating in Working Groups since establishment of NCEAS in 1995.
For comparison, among ESA members who answered diversity survey questions for a 2006 report,
the average female representation on faculty was 36% (30% women among senior professors,
44% women among junior professors).

7. Role of your Centre in fostering new
science and discoveries?
• Validated the synthesis center
concept
• Promoted a culture of
broadened collaboration
among ecologists and allied
disciplines
• Promoted best practices for
data sharing and open science
(eco-informatics)
• Accelerated progress in
emerging research areas (e.g.
spatial ecology, disease
ecology, ecosystem services)

8. What you perceive are your strengths
and weaknesses–and legacy,
• Strengths
– Community engagement
– Leadership willing to take risks
– Adequate financial resources
– Customer service
– Technical staff
– Facility and location
• Weaknesses
– Uneven WG orientation, training and support
– Narrow communication and outreach
– Lack of long-term business strategy

9. •Not home
•Neutral ground
•Concentration of infrastructure
•Expectations
•Trust
•Flexibility
•Serendipity
•Computer/informatics support
 Intense “collegial”
interactions, sustained focus
 “Emotional energy,” “cultural capital,”
“science at the bar”
 “Peer review on the fly”  rapid
conceptual advance
Location – “an unusual place… removes
scientists…from their local
contexts…strangeness and uncertainty
that stimulates originality”
Sociological studies: Hackett et al. 2008
4. Sociology

10. What you wish to see from the
meeting?
• Identify important emerging research areas
that could be fostered by one or more centers
• Discuss opportunities for joint training
initiatives
• Explore and evaluate alternative institutional
vision(s) and strategies for synthesis centers