RCN: Feedbacks between geological, climatological, and biological dynamics associated with the formation of the Galápagos Islands: The Island Systems Integration Consortium (ISIC)

The dynamic and changing nature of our planet has long been recognized by researchers in fields such as geology, climatology, and biology. Geological and climatological forces influence the formation and maintenance of biological diversity, and evidence from these disciplines is often used to understand these biological patterns. Yet, how signatures of current and past biodiversity patterns may inform geological and climatological models has often been overlooked.

This project establishes the Island Systems Integration Consortium Research Coordination Network (ISIC-RCN), a consortium of geologists, climatologists, and biologists focused on determining the potential for each field to inform the others in novel, previously unexplored ways. To do so, the researchers will focus on the Galapagos Archipelago, an oceanic island system for which ample data have been assembled and that is ripe for such cross-disciplinary analyses.

The ISIC-RCN participants will: (1) form a long-lasting community of researchers whose discipline-focused skills will spawn new interdisciplinary ideas and research directions; (2) quantify the current state of the knowledge about the geological, climatological, and biological understanding of these islands and of ocean islands around the world; and (3) move that understanding forward by addressing outstanding questions in new ways. Finally, the ISIC-RCN will extend its interdisciplinary framework to wider audiences in both the scientific and public spheres by maximizing the diversity of participants, conducting hands-on training in science communication, providing opportunities and tools to organize Galapagos outreach activities, and creation of a website to share Galapagos Research, ISIC-RCN scientific advances, outreach activities, and a student-led interactive learning app.

The ISIC-RCN will use the Galapagos Archipelago as a model to leverage the power of cross-disciplinary research to address fundamental questions too challenging or impossible to address through single disciplinary approaches. Activities will align along three primary axes: (1) fostering a unique interdisciplinary community around island systems, using the Galapagos Archipelago as a focal point, (2) creating new research directions through cross-disciplinary collaboration, and (3) facilitating training and educational activities for scientists and the general public.

To develop and maintain this novel scientific community, the ISIC-RCN will conduct a series of virtual and in-person meetings, facilitate data sharing and dissemination of scientific knowledge through a web-portal, and support the formation of working groups focused on specific cross-disciplinary scientific questions. Products of the ISIC-RCN include a new community focused on innovative research approaches, new collaborations, white papers on the state of the field and promising avenues of interdisciplinary research, and scientific publications.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.