THE PARTNERSHIP

Each of the PBI partners brings particular expertise and experience to the coalition that encompasses many of the elements of contemporary research and education in ecology, biodiversity, evolution, systematics, and informatics. Specifically:

• National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) - The Center promotes the integration of existing data to address important ecological questions (http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu). Approximately 500 scientists visit the Center each year to participate in working groups and another 15-20 sabbatical fellows and postdoctoral associates are in residence. In the processes of hosting many scientists analyzing many topics, the Center encounters many of the problems associated with heterogeneous, complex data in many formats and from many locales. Thus, activities at the Center can serve as both a source for topics the Consortium can address, and a test-bed for solutions produced by the Consortium.
  
  
• The Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, The University of Kansas (KU-BRC) - The Center discovers, documents and disseminates knowledge of Earth's biological diversity and natural environments, past and present, through collection-based research, education and informatics. KU-BRC is leading a national and international initiative with other natural history museums to provide digital access to and integration of the biodiversity information associated with approximately 3 billion specimens of animals and plants housed in museums worldwide that document the life of the planet and are the result of 300 years of the biological exploration of Earth. KU-BRC's scientists and students have expertise in worldwide biotic and ecological investigations, evolutionary studies and informatics research into the history and nature of biological diversity.
  
  
• Network Office of the Long Term Ecological Research Program - The LTER Network comprises 24 sites spread throughout North America, the Caribbean, and Antarctica (http://www.lternet.edu). Over 1200 LTER scientists and students are involved in research based on five common core themes (populations, disturbance, cycling of inorganic nutrients, storages and flows of organic material, and productivity). In addition to site-based research, the LTER Network emphasizes cross-site and network-wide studies, including the regionalization of results from individual sites and facilitating international LTER activities. Development of approaches for the management of site and network databases is the responsibility of the LTER Information Management Committee. Thus the LTER Network provides extensive experience in the development and maintenance of networked, distributed databases as well as a test bed for Consortium projects.
  
  
• San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) - The mission of SDSC (www.sdsc.edu) is to provide world leadership in advancing knowledge through the development and application of advanced computational and information technologies. SDSC has developed in-house expertise and significant collaboratives dedicated to developing enabling technologies for environmental observing and information systems. SDSC also leads the National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI), a research consortium involving more than 40 institutions across the country. As the leading NPACI site (www.npaci.edu), SDSC manages a significant nation-wide network of computational infrastructure; coordinates key informatics research activities in service to the academic community; and sponsors many education, outreach, and training programs.
  
  
• California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology - Cal-(IT)² (www.calit2.net) is one of four institutes established through the California Institutes for Science and Innovation initiative proposed in the year 2000 by Governor Gray Davis. Cal-(IT)², a partnership between UC San Diego and UC Irvine, seeks to ensure that California maintains its leadership in the telecommunications and information technology marketplace. The institute's mission is simple: Extend the reach of the current information infrastructure throughout the physical world to enable anytime/anywhere access. This, complemented by research and development in related information technologies, will help the State provide new capabilities to important market segments poised to be transformed by the new Internet and prototype ways to monitor and manage growth anticipated in the coming years.