Sep 24, 2018

Tyson staff headed to the Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park for the 53rd annual meeting of the Organization of Biological Field Stations, September 19-21. With a theme of “Partnerships and Collaboration”, several sessions were dedicated to developing relationships, engaging community, and building networks.

Staff scientists Solny Adalsteinsson and Beth Biro spent much of the conference focused on discussions of research infrastructure, data initiatives, and long-term monitoring. They came away with many ideas and a great connection with Trevor Hebert at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Trevor has expertise in setting up and maintaining an outdoor wireless mesh network allowing for data transfer between sensors and other networked devices.

Education coordinator Susan Flowers attended sessions on undergraduate research experiences, non-science student engagement, and community outreach. She presented a poster on the Humans of Tyson project and talked with many people about integration of the arts and humanities at field stations. Susan also met up with collaborators on the NSF AISL project investigating informal learning at field stations.

Director Kim Medley met with other station leaders during a mini-course dedicated to financial planning, strategic stakeholder analysis, and guidance for success during innovation. The variety of field stations in attendance provided multiple unique perspectives and lessons learned. Kim made plans to provide a Tyson site visit for the Ozark Research Field Station staff as they move forward with the new station for Missouri S&T.

Breaks during the OBFS meeting allowed for exploration of Acadia National Park. Hiking and birding in Maine was a bit different than in Tyson’s Crescent Hills.