Norman ecological prediction system receives grant

BY JAMES S. TYREE Comments 0
Published: October 31, 2009

NORMAN — University of Oklahoma is sharing a $6 million grant to develop a system to help people of all ages and education levels make local environmental predictions.

OU scientists will lead a group that includes Oklahoma State University, Kansas State University and University of Kansas in developing "cyberCommons,” a service that will collect ecological data from all over the world and help people make forecasts based on that information.

"It’s taking what we’ve learned in predicting the weather and applying it to ecological systems,” said Paul Risser, director of the OU Research Cabinet.

Risser said the grant proposal to the National Science Foundation was so complete and convincing in its explanation that it was approved without a single question — a rarity in scientific circles.

Information on animals, plants, soils, ground water, micro-organisms and weather is gathered separately around the world. The cyberCommons will take all that data and make sense of it for people and businesses like farmers, timber companies, ecologists and others who make crucial decisions based on nature and climate trends.

"But this is also an education project,” Risser said. "We’ll have four-credit classes for students who learn to use the techniques, along with summer workshops and programs for K-12.”

Jana Smith, a public relations specialist for OU Research and Development, said the project will allow teachers and students to download data, models and visuals in the classroom regarding ecology processes and predictions and data management.

Because of its wide scope, the project has a team of experts in varied fields. The team has 10 members from OU, an OSU biologist and several others from the Kansas universities.

About half of the grant money will go to each state on the collaborative project.