EC3 – Earth-Centered Communication for Cyberinfrastructure:
Challenges of field data collection, management, and integration
The vision of EarthCube is to revolutionize Earth Science investigations by promoting
better data access, incorporating cyberinfrastructure into the scientific workflow, and facilitating
increased sophistication of analyses and modeling. The ultimate goal of EarthCube is to
accelerate the rate at which we do science and increase the scope of our scientific investigations.
This specific project focuses on the field-based geosciences (i.e., those involved in investigating
the natural world in situ through recording observations, taking samples, and collecting field
data). We are organizing two field excursions to facilitate a dialogue between field -based
geologists, and computer and cognitive scientists concerning the unique problems faced by the
field-based geological community with respect to data format, standards, management,
representation, and integration. We hope to break down the artificial barriers between subfields
within the Earth Sciences, allowing us to ask new types of questions, and provi ding the means to
contend with previously unanswerable ones.
The field trip participants will help to make recommendations for shaping the
development of the EarthCube project. EarthCube, in general, and this project, specifically, are
ripe for collaborations between domain-specific scientists and a variety of types of computer
science researchers. Issues regarding knowledge management, machine learning, and software
development are all critically important to the progress of an EarthCube -style approach to doing
science. The field sciences present specific challenges with regards to data management and
incorporating the digitization of analog data into the workflow of the field -based scientist. These
challenges represent unique research avenues for an interdisciplinary approach to software
engineering and development and have the potential for far-reaching, broad impacts for the
scientific community as a whole.
EC3 Field trip to Yosemite and Owens Valley: Aug. 2 nd - 7 th , 2015
We encourage individuals from all different backgrounds in both the geosciences and the
computer and cognitive sciences to apply to participate in this fieldtrip forum. Our criteria for
acceptance to the fieldtrip excursion will primarily be based on the inclusion of as broad a set of
professional backgrounds, expertise, and perspectives as possible. Additionally, we strongly
encourage graduate students and early-career scientists to apply. Graduate students applying to
participate in the field trip forum should include a letter of recommendation from her/his
academic advisor/mentor. Completed application files should be e-mailed directly to Matty
Mookerjee at matty.mookerjee@sonoma.edu.
Application Deadline: March 16th, 2015
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EC3 FIELDTRIP APPLIC ATION FORM
APPLICANT INFORMATION
Name: Click here to enter text.
Institution/Company: Click here to enter text.
Position (grad. student, Assist. Prof., CEO, etc.): Click here to enter text.
Specific subfield of expertise: Click here to enter text.
Years of experience in field (since undergraduate degree): Click here to enter text.
OPTIONAL INFORMATION
Sex (M/F): Click here to enter text.
Ethnicity: Click here to enter text.
Please provide, in the space below, a brief justification for your inclusion on this fieldtrip.
Include any experience that you have with cyberinfrastructure, geoinformatics, database
development, fieldwork, and/or any other experience/expertise that you would be able to
contribute to this fieldtrip discussion group. Feel free to use bulleted lists.
JUSTIFICATION
Click here to enter text.
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