Coming up: LENS workshop
The Landscape Exchange Network for Socio-environmental systems (LENS) will have its first workshop in May. LENS is an NSF Research Coordination Network that hopes to support research that integrates the high-resolution remotely sensed data from the NEON Aerial Observation Platform to address socio-environmental research questions. If you want to learn more about LENS visit our website and consider subscribing to our newsletter.
The first LENS workshop will be held at SESYNC in Annapolis, MD, USA from 4–6 May 2022.vRegistration is now closed, but we’ll be posting parts of the event to our website. The workshop will allow participants to take a deep dive into translational ecology, identify data and methods relevant to socio-environmental systems, all while networking and sharing their passion for the interaction between the natural and social worlds.
1st LENS workshop
The Landscape Exchange Network for Socio-environmental systems (LENS) had its first workshop May 4–6 at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) in Annapolis, Maryland. This is the first in-person workshop hosted by the Integration and Application Network since the pandemic started, although some joined us virtually for the presentations.
On the first day of the meeting, participants from various institutions across the U.S. visited a stream restoration project and a managed field within the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) site at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). Back at SESYNC, participants heard from various speakers and took part in breakout sessions to discuss translational ecology approaches, identify data and methods relevant to socio-environmental systems, and to discuss the future of LENS. Having only met virtually for the past two years, the kitchen at SESYNC bubbled with conversation as participants had coffee and shared their passion for the interaction between the natural and social systems. Parts of the event will be posted to the LENS website. LENS is an NSF Research Coordination Network that hopes to support research that integrates the high-resolution remotely sensed data from the NEON AOP to address socio-environmental research questions. If you want to learn more about LENS visit our website and consider subscribing to our newsletter.
Second LENS workshop held in Tennessee
From April 18 to 23, Andrew Elmore, Ann Foo, and Katie May Laumann facilitated the second Landscape Exchange Network for Socio-Environmental Systems (LENS) workshop in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hosted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the workshop included hands-on data tutorials and talks on remote sensing, archetype analysis, and stakeholder engagement. The workshop included two visits to National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) remote sensing sites, one in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with history and background provided by National Parks Service researchers, and the second on the Oak Ridge campus. Participants also received tours of Oak Ridge’s supercomputers and historic graphite reactor. We look forward to seeing what everyone from the workshop does with what they learned!