1. LTER issues – May 2015: Thanks for electing me! Thanks to Scott Collins! Plans for this meeting: – Science Council does science: Movement of inorganic matter – LTER business: 30 minutes here Wednesday evening with NSF Thursday night Business Meeting Friday AM PI meeting Please read the email from Saran Twombly of March 31 addressing “Changes to 2016 LTER renewal solicitation”

2. The scientific goals of the proposed LTER research will be evaluated based on the following principles: 1.Formulation of a conceptual framework that integrates across ecosystem components. 2.Use of this framework to develop predictions that link processes and observations across levels of organization or across temporal or spatial scales. Where appropriate, projects among sites or with collaborators outside of the LTER network may be included. 3.Identification of important, general ecological questions that a) derive from key theories, b) are motivated by the analysis of long-term data, and c) require additional, long-term data collection to be answered 4.Development of predictive models

3. LTER issues – May 2015: Writing strong proposals: – Conceptual models – Quantitative analyses and prediction – Theory – Long-term data – Leadership transitions – Internal review (concerns about conflicts of interest) Network offices: – National Communications Office – Data Center What is the nature of our network? – Removal of cross-site or network-level activities as a review criterion. – Focus on facilitation of scientific advancement.

4. LTER issues – May 2015: New sites: – Arid or semi-arid – Coastal Supplements and new opportunities: – Equipment – FEW – NEON – Early-career scientist involvement in LTER projects – SESYNC synthesis postdocs Interactions with other networks: – LTER and NEON – LTER and CZO – LTER and LTAR