In the Earth Sciences, many researchers are striving to address larger environmental challenges. From understanding our changing climate, to surface processes that result in water issues, deforestation, biodiversity loss - these earth science questions can be framed at various spatial scales, ranging from local to global. These complex earth systems are best understood not just through any one disciplinary approach, but through an interdisciplinary lens. Research on these complex, systems science problems, then, is often better organized around the site (geographic location) instead of by discipline. This has implications for: Data collection and management: sampling sites must be well documented and contextualized, and data must be collected in a way that is usable and interpretable for researchers in a range of fields Data sharing and archiving: repositories must take steps to avoid becoming disciplinary silos, and researchers must take additional steps in their metadata creation Data analysis: researchers must be careful in scaling up the understanding / knowledge from site-specific to regional or global levels This is especially true when considering that many environmental challenges within the earth sciences have a human/social component, often bringing social-science research (economics, psychology, decision-making) into the interdisciplinary fold. There are organizations, such as SESYNC, addressing social-environmental problems via case studies and interdisciplinary data analytics, and this Session is intended to bring the ESIP community into the conversation. This Session will look at specific case studies and discuss ways in which the ESIP community might be able to offer insights into the data management and analytics necessary for addressing interdisciplinary research more broadly. Case Studies: Yellowstone: geobiology at Mammoth Springs Los Angeles, California: paleontology and paleoecology research at the La Brea Tar Pits Agricultural Sites: Ecosystem Services (Climate, Water Quality and Farmer Livlihoods) Vermont Vermont Monitoring Cooperative (present brief series of Case Studies or general overview) Possible Speakers: Andrea Thomer Lindsay Barbieri Jim Duncan, Vermont Monitoring Cooperative Steve Posner, works with COMPASS - http://www.compassonline.org/staff/StephenPosner Hoperful Collaborations with ESIP Clusters: Data Stewardship Interoperability Data Analytics
