BioGeoSCAPES

Earth’s life support system is underpinned by microbial biogeochemical cycles. BioGeoSCAPES is a new global research program the international community is working together to create to study this system. The BioGeoSCAPES effort relies upon the interdisciplinary connections of omics approaches, biogeochemistry, processes and rates, and modeling. BioGeoSCAPES will involve multiple scales of study from regional processes to ocean basin-scale, and include transects, process studies, time-series, and laboratory studies. The program aims to combine interdisciplinary (bio)-analytical capabilities to provide a comprehensive understanding of biogeochemical dynamics and integration with computational biology and ocean biogeochemical modeling. This effort will be underpinned by intercalibration efforts and interoperable data standards to create an international, interoperable data system. A National Science Foundation AccelNet award currently supports efforts to build the network of networks needed to launch an international BioGeoSCAPES Program.