Dg.o 2004 eco-informatics birds of a feather session

Solving environmental challenges such as global climate change, emerging diseases, decreasing biodiversity, waning resources, will require better informatics tools. These tools are being researched and developed under the rubric of Eco-Informatics. At Dg.O 2004, sixteen people participated in a lively ninety-minute conversation on future directions of that field. Their objective was to determine whether to continue the work of two prior workshops sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and U. S. Geologic Survey Agency (USGS). Those workshops focused on articulating information technology research that will be needed to support future biodiversity and ecosystem research, and focused primarily on the informatics needs of ecology researchers. Discussion extended ideas covered in previous workshops in four ways:1. In addition to the NSF (program directors and research principal investigators), and USGS agency representatives, the Environmental Protection Agency was an active participant in the planning and convening of the discussion. NASA agency participants continue to be interested and kept aware of the work.