Institute for Sustainable Earth and Environmental Software
ISEESMatthew B. Jones
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS)
University of California Santa Barbara
ISEES Science Drivers WorkshopMarch 11-12, 2013
Science and Synthesis
• Role of synthesis in advancing science• Merger of synthesis with experimental and
observational science
Ocean Health Index (OHI)Oc
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Pace of Shifting Climate in Marine and Terrestrial Ecosystems
Burrows et al. 2011. Science 334:652-655“The velocity of climate change is two to seven
times faster in the ocean than on land in the sub-Arctic and within 15° of the equator...”
Synthesis over time
• Jackson et al., Science 2001
Software in the science lifecycle
From Reichman, Jones, and Schildhauer; doi:10.1126/science.1197962
Software for the Earth, Life, and Environmental Sciences
• Statistical analysis– e.g., R, SAS, Matlab, Systat, Excel, etc.
• One-off models (by students, faculty, etc.)
• Custom analytics (e.g., Primer, MetaWin, MaxEnt)
• Modeling frameworks (e.g., ROMS)
• Community models (e.g., Century, Community Climate Model)
• Workflows (Kepler, VisTrails, …)
• Computing engines (e.g., Sun Grid Engine, Amazon ECS)
• Data management (DataONE, Metacat, DataUp)
• Service computing (Blast, WMS, WFS, …)
Software challenges
• Wide range of software types• Code Complexity and Quality• Reproducibility• Systems integration• Development and maintenance are labor
intensive– NSF not set up for infrastructure/maintenance
• Software lifetime long compared to hardware• Under-appreciated value
ISEES Vision
• Massively accelerate science– (Earth, environmental, and life science)
– Enable collaboration and integration across disciplines
– Invent, develop, integrate, mature, and sustain software• used throughout the scientific lifecycle
ISEES Structure
• Community driven initiative– Provide mechanisms to empower the community– Model after synthesis centers
• Prioritize based on science drivers• Link to community initiatives such as ESIP• Enable a new generation of open, reproducible
science
ISEES Steering Committee
• Matthew Jones (Cyberinfrastructure)• Lee Allison (Geology)• Daniel Ames (Hydrology)• Bruce Caron (Collaboration)• Scott Collins (Ecology)• Patricia Cruse (Library)• Peter Fox (CI & Semantics)
• Stephanie Hampton (Ecology)• Chris Mattmann (JPL; Apache)• Carol Meyer (ESIP Community)• William Michener (DataONE)• James Regetz (Analytics)• Mark Schildhauer (Semantics)
Strategic planning approach
Science Drivers
• Goal: Explore science drivers for ISEES– (some drivers, not *the* drivers)
• Connect the science drivers to software needs
• Envision role of a software institute in enabling science
9:00 am – The 2-day process
Defining the Grand Challenge Questions
Monday
Scientists’ Needs and Benefits
Workflow Software Needs
Defining the Analytical Workflow to Answer
the Questions
Tuesday
• Question• Problem statement/background• How answer benefits science• How answer benefits society• 3-6 references
• Workflow (WF) diagram• Data needs• Analysis/viz. needs• Collaboration needs
• List of software needs• WF-SW Commonalities• WF-SW Differences
• What does ISEES look like?
• Workforce needs• Community needs• Community benefits
Introductions
• Name • Affiliation• Area(a) of expertise and interest• Favorite vacation spot
Questions?
• http://isees.nceas.ucsb.edu/
• http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinfo/
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