July 25, 2001 Research Subcommittee Committee on Science U.S. House of Representatives San Diego State University (SDSU) Field Station Programs Turning Data into Decisions San Diego County is a Testing Ground for Reconciling Biodiversity with Growth and Urbanization Global issues of environmental protection, quality of life, and economic growth in a rapidly urbanizing region are playing themselves out in southern California. The South Coast ecoregion, one of the 25 most biotically diverse areas on the planet, is also an area experiencing one of the most rapid growth rates and developmental pressures. The collision of these biotic, economic, and social factors have given San Diego County the dubious distinction of having more threatened and endangered species than any other county in the continental United States. It's surprising that a land now indelibly inscribed by freeways, shopping malls and planned communities remains one of the richest veins of biological and ecological diversity in the world. Yet this is the paradox -and the reality that motivates scientists, students and citizens to balance the needs of the South Coast ecoregion of California. This experiment in Southern California will serve the rest of the nation and the world as we face increasing pressures to balance quality of life issues with economic growth, human health, and urbanization. San Diego State Field Stations Are Providing Solutions to Regional Conflicts Much like a heart patient being monitored for vital signs, Field Stations are monitored with the aid of high performance data monitoring sensors. Our Field Stations support a variety of researchers who utilize in situ sensors for acquiring high-resolution time series measurements of physical, chemical, and biological variables. Field stations, marine labs, and agricultural research stations are focused environmental observation areas bringing together scientists, educators, students, and resource managers to work in a central area where various disciplinary studies collectively come to mean more than any one research or educational project. Field Stations lands provide a living laboratory and outdoor classroom for researchers and educators and provide a valuable information resource for a global public. The High Performance Wireless Research & Education Network (HPWREN) is pivotal for Aiding in the Development of Solutions SDSU efforts to collect and disseminate environmental monitoring data to a variety of users are significantly enhanced by the HPWREN wireless network and an integrated, real-time data management and delivery system. Each of these efforts involves significant IT research challenges including those associated with networking remote sensor arrays, integrating diverse monitoring platforms, acquiring data in real-time, and archiving it continuously. It is important to demonstrate on a regional scale that multidisciplinary environmental monitoring is both practical and scalable. As a prototype, SDSU's monitoring system will reveal the challenges involved in deploying more complete environmental monitoring systems on larger scales. Integrating Field sciences and High Technology to Provide Lasting Contributions to Environmental Challenges A major challenge for our society is to balance environmental issues with economic and social demands. To be effective, our decisions must include relevant, timely, and accurate information about the environment. Our successes or failures will enlighten other regions that will grapple with similar issues. Over 50 researcher projects are concurrently being conducted at just one of the four SDSU Field Stations, and include research on agriculture, threatened and endangered species, water quality and public health, global change, and basic ecology, geology, geography and environmental engineering. With real-time access to remote sensors, the best minds in the world can work on these problems from their desks by tying into the HPWREN network. New technologies enable these field sciences to be more effectively used in policy making, teaching and bringing a new awareness to difficult and complex systems. Training the Next Generation of Informed Citizens SDSU is reforming its science curriculum and merging innovative teaching methods with cutting-edge technology. Micrometeorological and carbon flux instrumentation at field stations are accessed via the Internet to bring real-time global change technologies, scientific methodologies, and field studies into the classroom. Integrated, real time data from a multiplicity of sensors will significantly expand the utility and range of these innovative educational tools and the role of environmental education. Information Age technology may seem an unlikely pathway into a wild and primeval land. But in fact, knowledge is a field station's unique gift to this and future generations. Bridging the Gap From Research to Policy The paucity of accessible environmental observations of sufficient duration, spatial extent, and resolution and the lack of real-time data telemetry, assimilation, and analysis are major impediments to the development of a predictive understanding of environmental variability and ecosystem change in southern California. Information collected at field stations often provides the needed bridge linking scientists, decision makers, students, resource managers, and citizens with the best available environmental information. We are working in collaboration and partnerships with state, federal, county, and city agencies as well as private organizations and other local, national, and international universities to share lessons learned in the field. Information management and information technologies are increasingly becoming the underpinnings to these partnerships and bringing sciences into decision-making. There is a national need to develop foci of environmental observation points that document ecological function, biogeochemical cycling, land uses and habitat alteration, and environmental stresses. These themes are important indicators in developing a report card on ecosystem health. New technologies integrating field sciences with high performance computing and advances in telecommunications will change the way we conduct science, the way we learn from our environment and make decisions, and the way we teach future generations. Sincerely, Sedra Shapiro Executive Director, Field Station Programs San Diego State University 5500 Campanile Dr. San Diego CA 92182-4614