Presented at UCSD Science Studies Program Colloquium Series, January 30, 2006 San Diego, CA

1. Standardization in Ecology:Enacting the Ecological Metadata Language Florence Millerand Post-doctoral Fellow Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition / Scripps Institution of Oceanographyphy University of California, San Diego Presented at UCSD Science Studies Program Colloquium Series, January 30, 2006 San Diego, CA

2. Comparative Interoperability project NSF/Human and Social dynamics (2004-2007) interoperability.ucsd.edu Geoffrey C. Bowker Center for Science, Technology & Society Santa Clara University Karen S. Baker Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego Florence Millerand LCHC/Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego David Ribes Sociology/Science Studies University of California, San Diego SSHRC CRSH

3. Outline : • A Research Community in Ecology:The Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) The EML Standard • StorieS about a Standardization Process:“EML is a success” / “EML is not yet a success” • An Enactment Perspective:Trajectories alignmentFrom the Standard Adoption to its Enactment • Conclusion

4. Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER)

5. Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) Arctic - ARC -Biome: Arctic tundra Palmer Station - PAL -Biome: Pelagic marine Konza Prairie - KNZ - Biome: Tall grass prairie Luquillo - LUQ -Biome: Tropical rain forest Central Arizona - CAP - Biome: Urban/Desert Jornada Basin - JRN -Biome: Hot desert

6. California Current Ecosystem (CCE) -Biome: Coastal upwelling (located at Scripps Institution of Oceanography)

7. LTER: Diversity of disciplines Agronomy Animal Behavior Animal Ecology Animal Physiological Ecology Animal Population Biology Animal Systematics Anthropology Equatic Ecology Atmospheric Science Behavioral Ecology Biogeochemistry Biogeography Biological Diversity Biology Botany Chemical Ecology Climatology Community Ecology Computer Science Conservation Biology Disturbance Ecology Ecological Complexity Ecological Modeling Ecosystem Ecology Entomology Environmental Education Environmental Law Environmental Policy Environmental/Ressource Management Epidemiology Estuarine Ecology Forest Ecology Forestry Geography Geology GIS/Remote Sensing Habitat preservation/Restoration Human Ecology Hydrology Informatics Information Technology Invertebrate Biology Landscape Ecology Limnology Marine Ecology Microbial Ecology Microbiology Nutrient Fluxes Oceanography Paleoclimatology Paleoecology Plant Ecology Plant Physiological Ecology Plant Population Biology Plant Systematics Plant-Animal Interactions Population Biology Population Genetics Range/Grazing Ecology Sociology Soil Science Statistical Ecology Statistics Theoretical Population Biology Trace Gas Fluxes Vegetation Ecology Wetlands Ecology Wildlife Biology Zoology

8. Mission of the Long Term Ecological Research Network • Understanding general ecological phenomena that occur over long temporal and broad spatial scales • Conducting major synthesis and theoretical efforts • Providing information for the identification and solution of societal problems • Creating a legacy of well-designed and documented long-term experiments and observations for use by future generations

9. Mission of the Long Term Ecological Research Network • Understanding general ecological phenomena that occur over long temporal and broad spatial scales • Conducting major synthesis and theoretical efforts • Providing information for the identification and solution of societal problems • Creating a legacy of well-designed and documented long-term experiments and observations for use by future generations

10. LTER research covers time scales from months to centuries

11. CONTINENT Research over broad spatial scales • Comparisons between ecosystems across regional, continental, and global gradients LTER

12. Mission of the Long Term Ecological Research Network • Understanding general ecological phenomena that occur over long temporal and broad spatial scales • Conducting major synthesis and theoretical efforts • Providing information for the identification and solution of societal problems • Creating a legacy of well-designed and documented long-term experiments and observations for use by future generations

13. Mission of the Long Term Ecological Research Network • Understanding general ecological phenomena that occur over long temporal and broad spatial scales • Conducting major synthesis and theoretical efforts • Providing information for the identification and solution of societal problems • Creating a legacy of well-designed and documented long-term experiments and observations for use by future generations Data Management

14. LTER Science Trajectory

15. LTER Science Trajectory • 1980-1990 Decade of long-term research • 1990-2000 Decade of large scale research • 2000-2010 Decade of synthesis

16. LTER Science Trajectory The importance of cross-site synthesis: “The power of the network approach of the LTER program rests in the ability to compare similar processes (e.g., primary production or decomposition of organic matter) under different ecological conditions. As a result, LTER scientists should be able to understand how fundamental ecological processes operate at different rates and in different ways under different environmental conditions” (Risser Report, 1993). • 1980-1990 Decade of long-term research • 1990-2000 Decade of large scale research • 2000-2010 Decade of synthesis

17. LTER Science Trajectory The importance of cross-site synthesis: “The power of the network approach of the LTER program rests in the ability to compare similar processes (e.g., primary production or decomposition of organic matter) under different ecological conditions. As a result, LTER scientists should be able to understand how fundamental ecological processes operate at different rates and in different ways under different environmental conditions” (Risser Report, 1993). • 1980-1990 Decade of long-term research • 1990-2000 Decade of large scale research • 2000-2010 Decade of synthesis The need for a Network Information System: “Modern ecology requires increased access to data and metadata distributed across multiple sites for synthesis and integration across broad spatial and temporal scales.”

18. The development of information infrastructure at the intersection of ‘social worlds’ (Strauss) Trajectory refers to: “(1) the course of any phenomenon as it evolves over time and (2) the actions and interactions contributing to its evolution. That is, phenomenon do not automatically unfold nor are they straightforwardly determined by economic, political, cultural, or other circumstances, they are in part shaped by the interactions of concerned actors.” (Strauss, 1993, 53-54)

19. When implementing EML means more than doing ‘implementation’ work ENACTMENT From EML adoption to its implementation

20. To implement EML doesn’t only consist in upgrading a preexisting technical system; it also and mostly consists in redefining the sociotechnical infrastructure that upholds this tangle of technical, social and scientific practices. Yet these redefinitions have important consequences at the social and organization level. Because the technologies are intimately tied to the local structures of work, because the EML standard works in a specific configuration (technical, social and organizational), its enactment requires changes of infrastructural kind. - Millerand, F., and Bowker, G.C. (forthcoming). Metadata Standards. Trajectories and Enactment in the Life of an Ontology. In S.L.Star and M.Lampland (Eds), Formalizing Practices: Reckoning with Standards, Numbers and Models in Science and Everyday Life - Millerand, F. and Bowker, G.C. (forthcoming). Metdata Trajectoires et <<enaction >>. In C. Rosental (Ed.), Sciences socials et cognition. Paris: Editions de l”EHESS, Coll. Enquete.