Smarter Agriculture / Purpose & Agenda

Dialogue on Critical Data for Agriculture

Dates: Oct. 10 – 11, 2013

Location: Bolger Center, Potomac, MD (

Synopsis of Purpose:

Opportunities abound to advance the science and sustainable practice of agriculture through better use of the wealth of data collected by researchers, state and federal agency monitoring programs, public-private partnerships and farmer collaboratives. To date, however, the potential of these opportunities is largely unrealized reflecting a host of barriers that restrict data reuse for purposes beyond the intent for which it was originally collected.

The objective of this workshop is to coalesce the grass-roots efforts currently on-going across a broad array of projects and entities and to foster the dialogue on critical steps in the pathway from our present situation of short data lifecycles with limited return on investment to a data model featuring longer lifecycles and added value through data repurposing and aggregation. We have identified and invited broad representation with the intent of accelerating existing efforts through collaboration. The workshop format is designed to brainstorm, identify and foster beneficial linkages toward the broad goal of developing a functional data infrastructure for agriculture. A “Lightning Round” of four-minute presentations will set the stage by highlighting a subset of diverse data initiatives. We have identified several foci for panel discussions including: Evidence-based Clinical Agriculture, Data Literacy and Curricula, Data Publication and Preservation, and Funding Agency Roles and Responsibilities. Small breakout groups will brainstorm solutions to critical infrastructure gaps. Outputs from the workshop are anticipated to include a summative statement of prioritized needs and opportunities as endorsed by participants; the potential for an on-going working group or project will be discussed and, if desired, a proposal based on the workshop will be developed for circulation among vested entities.

AGENDA

Arrival Bolger Conference Facility (please contact Workshop Conveners if you need to arrive on Oct. 9, 2013)

Thursday, October 10, 2013

12:55 to 1:00 pm / Welcome. Sylvie Brouder on behalf of the Convening Committee
1:00 to 1:40pm / Presentation 1~Opening Remarks:“A call to action.”Molly Jahn, Professor of Genetics, Univ. of WI – Madison & Special Advisor to the Chancellor & Provost for Sustainability Sciences
1:40to 2:35pm / Presentation 2 ~ Setting the Stage for the Workshop: “Medical Data and the grassroots effort to make it available for evidence-based,clinical use.”Kay Dickersin, MA, PhD, Director, US Cochrane Center at the Cochrane Collaborative, Professor and Director, Center for Clinical Trials, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
2:35to 3:15pm / Presentation 3 ~ Where we are: “Office of Science and Technology Policy Memo on Open Access: Review and impacts.”Convening Committee, Purdue Univ.
Presentation 3.5 ~ What we want to achieve: “Preview of breakout groups, goals and outputs.”Sylvie Brouder, Purdue Univ.
3:15to 3:35pm / Break
3:35to 5:15 / Lightning Round:8-min presentations on current, grassroots efforts to develop and implement infrastructure for data preservation, curation and reuse (invited presentations only).
Moderator: Ron Turco, Professor of Soil Microbiology and Director of The Purdue Univ. Water Center, Dept. of Agronomy, Purdue Univ.
Presentations:
  1. The On-Farm Network.Peter Kyveryga,Senior Research Associate & Operations Manager – Analytics, The Iowa Soybean Association.
  2. DataCite. Joanna Martin, Information Program Specialist,Department of Energy.
  3. USGS Water Data Infrastructure. Robert R. Mason, Deputy Chief, USGS Office of Surface Water and Acting Delaware River Master
  4. National Water Centers. JohnBartholic, Director, Institute of Water Research, Michigan State Univ.
  5. Data Infrastructure for the Corn Climate Change CAP & related projects. Lori Abendroth, CSCAP Project Manager, Iowa State Univ.
  6. AgGateway: A Collaboration for eConnectivity. Rod Conner, President and CEO, AgGateway Corporation
  7. Data Infrastructure for U2U Climate Change CAP & Linkages with the Research Data Alliance.Larry Biehl, Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, Purdue Univ.
  8. Purdue University Research Repository.Scott Brandt, Professor of Library Science, Purdue Univ.
  9. Controlled Vocabulary. Philip Herold, Research and Learning Director for Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Minnesota
  10. 4R Fund’s Data Repository Vision.Robert Mullen, Chair, 4R Fund’s Data Repository Committee, Director of Agronomy, Potash Corp.

5:15to 6:15 pm / Panel 1:Evidence-Based,“Clinical” Agriculture, Data-driven solutions for agriculture including development and delivery of knowledge to stakeholders and policy makers.
Moderator: Scott Murrell, Northcentral Director, International Plant Nutrition Institute
Panelists:
Paul Fixen, Senior Vice President, Americas and Oceanic Group, and Director of Research, International Plant Nutrition Institute.
Deanna Osmond, Professor and Soil Science Department Extension Leader, North Carolina State Univ.
Sylvie Brouder, Professor and Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research, Dept. of Agronomy, Purdue Univ.
6:30to 8:45pm / Reception (cash bar) and Dinner w/Presentation4:“Large Scale Data Analytics Infrastructure for Making Smarter Prescriptive Decisions.”ChidApte, Ph.D., Director, Analytics Research, Business Analytics and Mathematical Sciences, IBM. Introductory comments,Ron Turco

Friday, October 11, 2013

8:25 to 8:30 am / Welcome to Day 2. Sylvie Brouder on behalf of the Convening Committee
8:30 to 9:20 am / Panel 2:Educating Tomorrow’s Scientist for Critical Data Literacy, What are the critical education deficits in graduate and undergraduate programs and what learning objectives and competencies must be introduced into curricula to achieve data literacy in agriculture?
Moderator: Miriam Davis, Center for Information and Communication Studies,Univ. of Tenn.
Panelists:
Sarah Wright, Life Sciences Librarian, Cornell Univ.
Marianne Stowell Bracke, Agricultural Sciences Information Specialist,
Associate Professor of Library Science,Purdue Univ.
Leslie Delserone, Assistant Professor, University Libraries,Univ. of Nebraska
Elizabeth Trybula, Graduate Research Assistant, ESE-IGP, Purdue Univ.
9:30 to 10:20 am / Panel 3:Publishing Data, Perspectives from professional society publishers, and collaborators with novel/emerging infrastructure.
Moderator: Jeff Volenec, Professor of Agronomy, Dept. of Agronomy, Purdue Univ. and Crop Science Society of America, Past President
Panelists:
Cliff Duke, Director of Science Programs, Ecological Society of America
Susan Skomal, President and CEO, BioOne
Laura Wendell, Project Manager, Dryad Digital Repository, National Evolutionary Synthesis Center
10:20 to 10:40 am / Break /
10:40 am to 11:30 / Town Hall Meeting (formally Panel 4): Agricultural Research, capturing and using data. Solicit feedback / commentary on the stakeholder perspective on needs, challenges and opportunities to meeting the OSTP memo for open access research data.
Moderator: Karen Plaut, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs, College of Agriculture, Purdue Univ. and concerned citizens
11:30 am to 11:55 pm / Organize and deploy breakout groups:Convening Committee. Clarify tasks, group composition and deliverable for the final session.
11:55 to 1:10 pm / Working Lunch: Breakout groups will be given separate tables to begin their discussions over lunch.
1:10 to 2:30 pm / Breakout Groups discuss opportunities and next steps
2:30 to 3:20 pm / Breakout Group Presentation: (5-10 min. synopses on next steps for each working group)
3:20 to 3:30 pm / Discussion of a need/plan for on-going quarterly meetings and closing remarks

Explanatory Notes:

Lightning Round:Workshop invitees presenting synopses during the Lightening Round will be given four formatted slides to help structure presentations and ensure consistent information is conveyed across all projects. Presentations will be collated and provided to the breakout groups for Day 2 discussions.

Panels: Each panel will have a designated Moderator and 3 to 4 panelists. The Moderator will be invited to make a short, prefacing statement. Panelists will each be given 7 to 10 minutes (maximum) for prepared comments. These comments may be oral only or supported by a few slides. Following these short comments, the Moderator will start with prepared questions allowing other participants time to formulate additional questions. The Moderator will be responsible for keeping the panel on-task and on-time.

Breakout Groups: Specific topics for breakout groups are currently under refinement. Breakout groups will be pre-assigned; prior to the meeting all invitees will be contacted for their preferences for group participation so that individuals can be situated for their best contribution.

Free Meeting Registration: All on-site costs for attending this meeting including food (during Workshop hours) and housing (Thursday night) are covered by a grant from NIFA-AFRI. Limited additional monies are available to support travel to the venue. Additional information is available from Workshop Conveners.

Workshop Convening Team: For more information, please contact any one of the Workshop Conveners; for logistical and travel details, please contact Bill Bogan ().

Ron Turco ()

Jeff Volenec ()

Marianne Stowell Bracke ()

Jacob Carlson ()

Bill Bogan ()

Sylvie Brouder ()

Support:This workshop is made possible by a NIFA-AFRI planning grant “Environmental and productivity benefits of ecological intensification of US maize-based production systems” (NIFA Award No: 2010-85208-20411).