NSF Expeditions of Computing award funds CompSustNet

In January 2016, the National Science Foundation announced the $10 million, 5-year Expeditions of Computing award for CompSustNet, to support a research network in computational sustainability led by Cornell University, and including Oregon State University, Bowdoin College, California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Howard University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Southern California, and Vanderbilt University.

CompSustNet is “a transformative computational sustainability network, bringing together computer scientists, environmental and social scientists, biologists, physicists and material scientists to expand the nascent field of computational sustainability,” says Carla Gomes, the Principle Investigator on the lead Cornell award.

This is the second Expeditions of Computing award led by Gomes on Computational Sustainability, a testament to how important it is that computer scientists and researchers in related disciplines take up the challenges of environmental and societal sustainability.

In addition to the funded network nodes referenced above, there are many other collaborating network members from the United States and across the world.

  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) – Land and Water Flagship
  • Data61 (formerly NICTA), Australia
  • Delft University of Technology, Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO)
  • Distributed Sun LLC
  • Earth Networks Inc.
  • International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – Materials Measurement Laboratory
  • Nature Trust of British Columbia
  • Northwest Watershed Research Center
  • Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ)
  • Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL)
  • Technical University of Dortmund
  • Technical University of Lisbon
  • The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
  • United States Geological Survey – Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
  • Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Instituto de Ecología Aplicada (ECOLAP)
  • Università di Bologna
  • University College Cork, Insight Centre for Data Analytics
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of British Columbia,
  • University of Idaho,
  • University of Lleida – Artificial Intelligence Research Group
  • University of Maryland
  • University of Oxford
  • University of Sydney
  • University of Washington, Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST)
  • USDA Forest Service – International Programs
  • World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

The research leadership and contacts from all institutions are listed on the CompSustNet website.

In the coming weeks, months, and years, look here and to the CompSustNet website, for updates on CompSustNet activities, as well as for opportunities for participation with the network. Please tell us about computing research in computational sustainability, whether previously called by that name or not, and please tell us of efforts to effectively communicate computational sustainability research to the public.

Douglas H. Fisher is the Director of Outreach, Education, Diversity, and Synthesis for CompSustNet, and is an associate professor of computer science at Vanderbilt University.

Twitter: @compsust #compsustnet