National Ecological Observatory Network

SEPTEMBER 2025

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

A Message from
Dr. Paula Mabee

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A message from Dr. Paula Mabee Chief Scientist and Observatory Director

Greetings,

September was a big month for NEON’s Airborne Observation Platform (AOP). We successfully completed another season of data collection, including additional efforts for NEON Research Support Services projects in collaboration with external researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Open Community eXperiment 2025 (ROCX 2025), as well as the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL). The RMBL project is part of a larger study to develop, test, and scale new methods for integrating remote sensing and ecological models into the management of vulnerable forest and water resources. In addition to the above work, construction of the NEON AOP laboratory at the Boulder hangar was successfully completed.

October promises to be an exciting month, highlighting NEON’s first ever Convergence Summit, Oct. 15-17. Make sure to look for a recap of the event in next month’s newsletter. We’ll kick off the month with the second of three fall seminars in the NEON Science Seminar Series. On Oct. 7, Dr. Tanya Berger-Wolf of the Imageomics Institute at The Ohio State University will give the talk "AI for Nature: From Science to Impact". Please register here to receive access to the virtual seminar link.

Sincerely,
Paula Mabee, Chief Scientist and Observatory Director at NEON, Battelle

Featured Expert

At the 2025 Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting , Corinne Vietorisz received the “Best NEON Presentation Award” for her research on how soil microbes drive nutrient cycling, a process critical to plant growth, carbon storage, and ecosystem health. Using NEON’s datasets, she uncovered surprising links between fungi, bacteria, and nutrient cycling processes across diverse ecosystems.

Note from a NEON Expert

As we recognize World Rivers Day on Sept. 28, and September being National Preparedness Month, it’s important to remind ourselves of the dynamic roles that rivers play in shaping resilient communities. At NEON, river sites provide critical data over various timescales which help support resilience during extreme weather events and enhance ecosystem response. The Lower Tombigbee River NEON (TOMB) field site on the Tombigbee River is one of our most complex locations, and our team faced extreme challenges working on site, from unstable riverbends to a reversal of the river’s current at times. As NEON’s largest river system, with managed flows and heavy commercial use, it highlights how data collected during floods and high-flow events can strengthen national preparedness. A key way in which we collect measurements on the river is through a buoy anchored in the water with sensors that continuously collect and report water quality and meteorology data.

We learned that our original pontoon-style buoy could not withstand Tombigbee’s extremes – flipping in high flows or when hit by debris, and anchors often failed as the sandy riverbed shifted. To address this, we introduced a new round buoy design (pictured below), resembling an oversized bobber with a stabilizing keel. This innovation deflects debris, resists flipping, and has remained secure through multiple high-flood events, ensuring that critical measurements continue without interruption.

Rivers are essential to ecosystems and communities. By adapting tools to withstand dynamic environments, NEON continues to deliver the data communities need to understand and prepare for the future of aquatic systems.

Nick Harrison
NEON Hydrologist