USDA Agricultural Research Service creates Nutrient Uptake and Outcome Network (NUOnet)

T he USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) organized a workshop entitled, “Collaborative Research and Data Networking: Leveraging GRACEnet-REAP Successes,” that was held on June 14 to 16, 2016, in Fort Collins, Colorado. One of the primary workshop goals was to create and encourage development of multi-location database teams that can provide meaningful networks to collect, store, and make ARS data and other data more accessible to stakeholders, research partners, technology transfer personnel, and other users. This workshop was intended to be aligned with but not duplicate actions associated with the ARS big data effort or National Program (NP) goals. In fact, the workshop was organized to help advance cross-location activities associated with NP-212 (Soil and Air) and its 2016 to 2020 Action Plan. A direct workshop outcome was the decision to create a national Nutrient Uptake and Outcome Network (NUOnet), which had been under discussion by ARS scientists from several different national programs for several months. The Fort Collins workshop brought together an initial invited group of members, which was subsequently expanded during and after the meeting to develop a NUOnet steering committee. The steering committee has now developed a flexible roadmap outlining how to jumpstart coordinated, multi-location NUOnet efforts. The…