The Open Parks Grid at Clemson University

1. The Open Parks Grid at Clemson University Cyberinfrastructure for Achieving Excellence in Management of Parks and Protected Areas

2. Overarching Goal of the OPG To integrate parks and people who use, manage and study them through a far-reaching computing network called the Open Parks Grid

3. Clemson University and Parks Clemson University has been a leader in park management and education for over 40 years

4. Parks • in-situ conservation of biological diversity • protection of ecosystem services • protection of threatened cultural and historic sites • centers for education • opportunities for recreation • economic engines • places for enhancing community cohesion and building social capital

5. Parks National

6. Parks State

7. Parks Marine

8. Parks Cultural and Historical

9. Parks NGO

10. Parks Urban

11. Problem • Parks are highly dispersed geographically • Parks tend to function as isolated management units • Parks are integral to a healthy environment and society and yet their resources are being degraded • Small scale parks, and parks in the developing world do not have necessary training in park management

12. Problem (contd.) • Opportunities for collaboration and solving management problems are not always clear • Current research documentation is not coordinated, and leads to inefficient use of resources • Research funding for parks is limited

13. Opportunity Park Mangers (National, state, local) Education and interpretation Public Behavioral science Park administration and policy Arts and humanities Cultural and historical science Biological and ecological science

14. Opportunity Park Mangers (National, state, local) Education and interpretation Public OPG Behavioral science Park administration and policy Arts and humanities Cultural and historical science Biological and ecological science

15. Hartzog Institute and the OPG • The Open Parks Grid will serve as the communication backbone of the George B. Jr. and Helen C. Hartzog Institute for Parks • The Institute is a collaborative venture between PRTM, FNR and other partners • One of goals being grounded research

16. Bridging the Gaps

17. Gaps Between: • researchers and practitioners; • funding entities and protected areas; • local parks, national parks, and NGO managed lands; • researchers at different institutions and in different departments; • cultural and natural resources; and, • parks and protected areas and citizens, particularly children.

18. Purpose The purpose of the OPG is to unite the highly distributed parks community of practitioners, academics (natural and social scientists, arts and humanities researchers), policy-makers, and citizens to

19. Use Scenarios • Integrated research gaps • Park Managers and University Researchers • Private protected land owner/manager and larger state or national park manager • University Researcher with Research Site • Training gaps • The Parks and People

20. CI and the OPG Unlike the Open Science Grid, the OPG consortium members represent far more constituencies than academia and private research; with this diversity of users comes challenging complexity that will advance grid computing generally.

21. Contributors • Dr. Brett Wright, Chair, PRTM • Dr. Elizabeth Dennis Baldwin, PRTM • Dr. Sebastien Goasguen, School of Computing • Dr. Rob Baldwin, FNR • Dr. Christopher Post FNR • Dr. Pat Layton, Chair FNR • Fran Mainella, PRTM, Past director of the National Park Service

22. Questions