Collaborative Research: Sustained Resources: Prototyping a Framework for FAIR Data Communities: The Tephra Information Portal (TIP)

Observations and data are the foundation of science. Scientists produce new data and build upon previous information as they work to expand the boundaries of human knowledge. But, inefficiencies in data management, access, and integration continue to pose major barriers to both scientific progress and public data availability. Scientific researchers need to ensure that the data which they generate are made openly accessible, well-integrated, and maintained for the long-term. That data also needs to be re-usable for further research, education, and public benefit. Researchers need systems which streamline the currently labor-intensive tasks of data curation and help to make data more accessible to other potential users. In this project, the lead institutions and collaborators will build upon several existing Earth science data systems to create a prototype platform that will enable better curation, integration, sharing, and discovery of Earth science data. This will make it easier for anyone to discover and access in a single location previously fragmented, disconnected, and inaccessible Earth science information.Making the world’s data more readily Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable (FAIR), is a goal shared by governments, scientists, and the public alike. This project will lead to the development of a sustainable Framework for FAIR Data Communities to address the lack of standardized, machine-readable, FAIR compliant data in the Earth sciences that are needed for new computational and data-driven research expected to deliver next-generation discoveries and breakthroughs. Using the global volcanic ash or “tephra” research community as a test case, the project will utilize an inclusive, bottom-up strategy to create the Tephra Information Portal (TIP) as a customizable prototype platform to support specialized research communities and advance the broader adoption of FAIR data practices. The project will build on existing cyberinfrastructure at the IEDA2 data facility (EarthChem, SESAR) and integrate and connect other geoinformatics resources and data, including StraboSpot, GeoDIVA, TephraBase and others. Objectives include: (a) helping researchers select a data repository; (b) ensuring consistent formats and rich metadata; (c) creating a central catalog and integrated critical mass of curated tephra data; (d) serving a single point of discovery, access, and use of distributed datasets; (e) providing protected workspaces with user authentication and management; (f) incorporating disciplinary standards; (g) supporting a next-generation toolkit and data access mechanisms; and (h) responding directly to identified community needs. The tephra research community provides an ideal test case due to its interdisciplinary and multifaceted nature which spans a wide array of scientific and societal interests such as deep Earth processes, volcanic hazards, and global change and which utilizes similarly diverse data types spanning physical properties, stratigraphy, geochemistry, and geochronology among others. This project will leverage a decade of international tephra community-building and consensus-development and the strong engagement and education program of IEDA2. These efforts are designed to engage students and early career geoscientists, broaden participation, and enhance equity and inclusion in the Geosciences through workshops, outreach, training materials, education, and accessible research tools and data. The TIP development process will involve deep collaboration between geoscientists, data scientists, and software developers and will proceed under the guidance of a steering committee constituted as a formal commission of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior. This project is supported by co-funding from the Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) to support EPSCoR jurisdictions, as well as the Education and Postdoctoral Fellowship programs in EAR.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.