The National Ecological Observatory Network provides an opportunity to transform ecological education by creating a platform that facilitates access to continental-scale ecological data for students and educators.  Educators can use NEON to engage students in research at different spatial scales within their own geographic region and to connect with research from other domains in the network.  An approach that involves students in hypothesis-testing and analysis of patterns in the data promotes ecological literacy at all educational levels.  This immersive approach emphasizes science as an active process and develops skill in critical thinking. The National Ecological Observatory Network also has the potential to transform educational outreach to ethnic, racial and socio-economic groups that are currently under-represented in the field of ecology through its democratic and widely accessible programs and products. We are challenged to develop a synergistic education and research model that is authentic and meaningful to the audiences involved. For example, a feedback loop in the NEON platform that introduces hypotheses, data and analyses from educator/student teams in diverse populations could produce new research perspectives.

Results/Conclusions

The research database developed by the EcoTrends Project is an excellent resource for development of prototype “pre-NEON” educational explorations. The EcoTrends database provides long-term ecological data from a variety of ecosystem types at fifty research sites across the continental US, Alaska and Antarctica. Interactive student-team activities that integrate EcoTrends data in a sophomore-level undergraduate Ecology and in an upper division Plant Ecology course were created and introduced to students at Howard University. These courses were re-designed nine years ago to incorporate a significant research component. In both courses, students work in teams to conduct, analyze and present an original research project during the semester. The EcoTrends activities were recently created to complement and extend the research focus adopted by these courses. Challenges related to motivating student learning through hands-on research and database analysis will be discussed.