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FULL PROPOSAL: ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SCIENCE INNOVATION AND INCLUSION LAB (ESIIL): ACCELERATING DISCOVERY BY FOSTERING AN OPEN AND DIVERSE EARTH DATA REVOLUTION -THE ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SCIENCE INNOVATION & INCLUSION LAB (ESIIL) IS A NEXT-GENERATION NSF SYNTHESIS CENTER LED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER IN COLLABORATION WITH NSF?S CYVERSE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA AND THE UNIVERSITY OF OSLO. ESIIL ENABLES A GLOBAL COMMUNITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SCIENTISTS TO LEVERAGE THE WEALTH OF ENVIRONMENTAL DATA AND EMERGING ANALYTICS TO DEVELOP SCIENCE-BASED SOLUTIONS TO SOLVE PRESSING CHALLENGES IN BIOLOGY AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES. ESIIL HOLDS INCLUSION AS A CORE PRINCIPLE AND METHOD FOR DIVERSIFYING ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SCIENCE AT A TIME WHEN SOCIETY NEEDS ALL PERSPECTIVES, AND SCIENCE NEEDS TO SERVE ALL. ESIIL?S RESEARCH COMMUNITY GENERATES DISCOVERIES AND NOVEL APPROACHES THROUGH: 1) CUTTING-EDGE TEAM SCIENCE, 2) INNOVATIVE TOOLS AND COLLABORATIVE CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE, 3) DATA SCIENCE EDUCATION AND TRAINING, AND 4) BUILDING INCLUSIVE PARTICIPATION AND DIVERSE GROUPS. THESE ACTIVITIES ADVANCE THE FRONTIER OF ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SCIENCE, A RAPIDLY EVOLVING DISCIPLINE BRIDGING THE COMPUTATIONAL, BIOLOGICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES. ESIIL?S OPEN COLLABORATIVE AND SCALABLE ENVIRONMENT (CASE) CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE LOWERS BARRIERS TO SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION THROUGH TAILORED USER EXPERIENCE, SEAMLESS CONNECTION TO CRITICAL DATA SOURCES, AND PREMIER CLOUD COMPUTING. ESIIL?S EDUCATION PROGRAM FACILITATES BROAD ACCESS TO ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SCIENCE SKILLS AND HELPS DEVELOP THE NEXT-GENERATION DATA-CAPABLE WORKFORCE. PARTNERSHIPS WITH TRIBAL COLLEGES AND MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS INCREASES DATA SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING AMONG UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS. THE ESIIL NETWORK, A DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF OVER 2,000 RESEARCHERS AND STUDENTS, IS A 21ST-CENTURY TEAM COMMITTED TO GENERATING DATA-INSPIRED DISCOVERIES THAT ENHANCE SOCIETAL AND ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE. ESIIL?S VISION IS THAT CULTIVATING A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE IS NEEDED TO PRODUCE INNOVATIVE BREAKTHROUGHS IN ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SCIENCE. INNOVATION SUMMITS EXPLORE GRAND CHALLENGES SUCH AS CONTINENTAL-SCALE ECOLOGY, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THE EARTH, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND BIG DATA, AND ADAPTING TO OUR CHANGING WORLD. INCUBATOR WORKING GROUPS, POSTDOCS, AND LARGE-TEAM COLLABORATIONS GENERATE NEW DISCOVERIES, AND CROSS-SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS CATALYZE USE-INSPIRED RESEARCH THROUGH INNOVATION SUMMITS AND EARTH HACKATHONS. ESIIL COLLABORATIONS INCLUDE INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT, AND NON-PROFIT PARTNERS, FACILITATING THE CO-PRODUCTION OF SCIENCE THAT HAS ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, MANAGEMENT, AND TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS. THE NATIONAL ECOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY NETWORK (NEON), LONG TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) NETWORK, AND THE CRITICAL ZONE COLLABORATIVE NETWORK (CZ NET) ARE STRATEGIC DATA PARTNERS. ESIIL FACILITATES BEST PRACTICES IN TEAM SCIENCE AND CONDUCTS BASIC RESEARCH ON THE CORRELATES OF SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTIVITY AND CREATIVITY WITHIN DIVERSE SCIENTIFIC TEAMS. ESIIL ACCELERATES SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY BY SUPPORTING COMMUNITY-DEVELOPED AND HIGH-VALUE SOFTWARE AND DATA CUBES BRIDGE, FOR EXAMPLE, GROUND, AIRBORNE, AND SATELLITE DATA FROM DIVERSE OBSERVATORIES AND PLATFORMS. THESE TOOLS, CURATED DATASETS, AND REPRODUCIBLE AND REUSABLE WORKFLOWS ARE DEPLOYED ON ESIIL?S OPEN CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE. THE ESIIL STARS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM SUPPORTS STUDENTS AND FACULTY MEMBERS FROM INSTITUTIONS THAT PROMOTE UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS IN STEM, PROVIDING DATA SKILLS TRAINING, RESEARCH EXPERIENCE, AND CAREER MENTORSHIP. INITIAL PARTNERS INCLUDE OGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE, UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE, AND METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER. THE ESIIL LEADERS PROGRAM SUPPORTS EMERGING SCIENTISTS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES BY FOSTERING LEADERSHIP SKILLS IN ENVIRONMENTAL DATA SCIENCE AND TEAM SCIENCE. CULTURALLY-RELEVANT CURRICULA INFORM TRAINING MODULES ALONG WITH AN OPEN TEXTBOOK THAT INTRODUCES NOVEL ANALYTICS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DATA. BY HOSTING OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES ON AN EXISTING LEARNING PORTAL, WITH A FOLLOWING OF OVER 200,000 USERS PER MONTH, ESIIL EDUCATION SCALES TO A GLOBAL AUDIENCE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.

Cooperative Agreement (B) · National Science Foundation · to The Regents of the University of Colorado (UEI SPVKK1RC2MZ3) · data as of 2026-09-30

Source: USAspending.gov prime award transactions and FSRS subaward reports, as loaded by SpendQuery (data as of 2026-09-30). Amounts are obligations (money committed), not outlays. The official record on USAspending.gov ↗