EcoData Retriever - automates the tasks of fetching, cleaning up, and storing available data sets

Ecology often relies on data that has already been collected, and an ever-increasing amount of biological and environmental data is now available online. However, it can be difficult and time consuming to compile synthetic datasets from data files stored in various online repositories or research web sites. The EcoData Retriever is a community-centered tool that automates discovering, cleaning up, and organizing ecological data into the format of your choice. I'll speak about problems solved by the Retriever and touch on future directions aimed at further utilizing community effort and the web to automate ecological data access.