Changing the Nature of Scientists: Participating in the Long-Term Ecological Research Program

Abstract

From the outside looking in, scientists are often characterized as old men in white laboratory coats, working in splendid isolation, usually within the confines of rather sterile looking laboratories. Of course, this image was never quite accurate for ecologists, who abandoned white laboratory coats for more field-appropriate boots and khaki pants, but who nonetheless typically worked alone or with the benefit of a faithful field assistant (Figure 1.1a). The late 1900s was a time of rapid change in the way in which ecological research was conducted, in part because of opportunities for support from governmental agencies. Especially critical in effecting these changes was grant support that would allow scientists to comprehensively investigate the intricate and complex ecological interactions between organisms and their environment from a long-term and site-based perspective. Such efforts often involved large and diverse groups of scientists representing multiple disciplinary perspectives and investigative approaches (Figure 1.1b). The US Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program, with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), was one of the first governmental programs to catalyze long-term, site-based, multidisciplinary, and collaborative research. The scientific research arising from such support has been broad and deep, resulting in thousands of publications. The research insights have been integrated into a number of synthetic books, each dedicated to long-term research at a particular site in the LTER program (Knapp et al. 1998; Bowman and Seastedt 2001; Greenland, Goodin, and Smith 2003; Schachak et al. 2005; Magnuson, Kratz, and Henson 2005; Foster and Aber 2006; Chapin et al. 2006; Havstad, Huenneke, and Schlesinger 2006; Redman and Foster 2008; Lauenroth and Burke 2008; Brokaw et al. 2012). In contrast, the effects of the LTER program’s many innovations on the participating scientists have not been explored in a comprehensive or systematic fashion. This book provides a window into how scientists have changed as a consequence of participation in the LTER program. The LTER network of sites, begun in 1980, effectively implemented the first effort by the NSF to systematically fund long-term, site-based environmental research.