Educating Scientists About the Data Life Cycle

The research life cycle is well known and consists of an initial idea or question that, if sound, leads to submission and funding of a proposal, implementation of a study and, ideally, to one or many publications that advance the state of knowledge. What is less well understood is how the research life cycle is related to the data life cycle.

In this presentation, approaches for educating scientists in eight phases of the data life cycle (e.g., planning, data acquisition and organization, quality assurance/quality control, data description, data preservation, data exploration and discovery, data integration, and analysis and visualization) are discussed. Specifically, the design and approaches used for developing learning modules, instructional material and resources, and an innovative three-week experiential course that enable participants to more efficiently and effectively manage their research data and compete for research funding are presented.

Speaker Details

William Michener is professor and director of e-Science Initiatives for University Libraries at the University of New Mexico. He has authored four books related to ecological informatics and more than 70 journal articles and book chapters. He is a Certified Senior Ecologist and serves as editor of Ecological Archives and associate editor of the International Journal of Ecological Informatics. He has directed several large interdisciplinary research programs including the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Biocomplexity Program, the Development Program for the U.S. Long-Term Ecological Research Network, and numerous cyberinfrastructure research and development projects. His current efforts focus on developing information technologies for the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences through DataONE—a large, multi-institutional, international research project funded by NSF.

Date:
Speakers:
William Michener
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico
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