The Future of Ecological Research As Education Network (EREN) Dr. Bob R. Pohlad, Ferrum College Dr. Laurel Anderson, Ohio Wesleyan University

When did we start? January 2008 – Conference calls begin August 2008 – Meeting at ESA, NEON interaction March 2009 – Meeting at Ohio Wesleyan University – organizational meeting

Where are we now 257 registered, 187 sites

EREN’s Future Status EREN’s five year NSF/RCN funding cycle officially ends April 30, 2015.

What happens when the funds run out? Possibility 1 – EREN ends. Possibility 2 – Low budget EREN. The EREN web page and account are maintained to allow online networking. EREN Members join online for free and meet informally in association with other meetings. There are no funds for EREN meetings. Possibility 3 – Mid-budget EREN. EREN raises funds through individual and institutional memberships to maintain its web page and hold one funded meeting per year for 50 attendees. This model would cost about $60,000 annually. Possibility 4 – Fully funded EREN. EREN gets another substantial grant and hires a data manager and an administrative assistant. One funded meeting is held annually for 50 attendees.

Potential funding ideas for EREN Renew/reapply for an RCN grant – This is likely possible only with a “change in scope”. Idea: EREN invites PUI math and computer science faculty into the RCN to develop strategies for working with EREN data and teaching Big Data concepts to undergraduates in a math- biology partnership.

Potential funding ideas for EREN Apply for an Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Grant – Develop a proposal arguing that more inclusion of authentic, collaborative research experiences in the classroom improves student learning outcomes. EREN meetings become a venue for discussing and disseminating curricular innovations as well as developing and maintaining research projects.

Potential Funding Ideas for EREN The individual projects seek funding – the EREN Mission would be continued through the separate projects. There is a second Macrosystems proposal currently under review.

Potential Funding Ideas for EREN EREN becomes a non-profit entity and collects individual and institutional membership fees to support its activities. Institutional and membership fees could be assigned on a sliding scale, with wealthier institutions bearing more of the burden. ◦ It is unclear if this model could generate the funds needed to allow for meetings or salary for support staff. ◦ This entity could apply for grants. ◦ This entity could have an elected governing board.

Future Steps – EREN Projects Curriculum design for projects. Should consider the following questions: 1.What are the main challenges that you see for this project to be part of your laboratory teaching exercises? 2.How does this project become multi- site/regional/continental as you teach it? 3.How do we do data analysis that emphasizes the multi-site/regional/continental scale 4.How do we assess student learning and the effectiveness of the project? 5.How do we get students to interact across institutions?

The next big research project… Lead Scientist: Insert your name here! RCN funding is provided to build a network that will generate new project ideas and associated requests for new funding. We want to support the development of new ideas that fit the EREN model. Todays presentations are examples of collaboration successes through EREN.

JOIN THE EREN TEAM Visit our website at Contact EREN at: Follow us online via: ◦ Facebook (Erenweb) ◦ Twitter (EcoResearchEdNetwork) or ◦ LinkedIn (Erenweb) EREN is funded by the NSF RCN-UBE Program (National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network-Undergraduate Biology Education Program)