Emergent interdisciplinary research opportunity for the MBL

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An emergent interdisciplinary research opportunity for the MBL

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.

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.

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

“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

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

YES!

The MBL is exactly where this can happen.

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

NSF-15-33 Dimensions of Biodiversity ($16-22M total)

“The Dimensions program focuses on genetic,

phylogenetic, and functional dimensions of

biodiversity. Successful proposals will test

hypotheses about biodiversity that integrate

these three dimensions and investigate the

dynamic interactions and feedbacks among

them.”

“The Dimensions of Biodiversity campaign takes a broad view of biodiversity that ranges from genes through species to ecosystems in an effort to integrate both descriptive and functional aspects of biodiversity on Earth. “

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.

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 legacyProspective 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 capacityThe small footprint and inter-disciplinary capacity of MBL and the Woods Hole/UC partners present a potent recipe for new and nimble science.

• TimingThese opportunities are new and leaders will emerge to respond.

• Local and regional impactMBL 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

Cape Cod represents a major boundary between two biogeographic sub-provinces

Location

Pappalardo et. al, 2015

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

Location

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

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

Combination of phylogenetic scope and historic depth is unparalleled

Woods Hole Marine Region

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

Data

What kind of data?

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 records2500 species

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

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

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

Rich Ecological Graph

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

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

Local Opportunities

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

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