CSSI Elements: <i>Science-</i><i>i</i> Cyberinfrastructure for Forest Ecosystem Research 2025
<p dir="ltr"><b>Science-i</b> is a global cyberinfrastructure initiative designed to accelerate forest ecosystem research by addressing critical challenges such as data scarcity, lack of computing access, and limited collaboration platforms. Led by PI Jingjing Liang and Co-PI Rajesh Kalyanam at Purdue University and funded by the National Science Foundation (Award #2311762), Science-i provides a comprehensive solution through a combination of robust data governance, cloud-based analytics, high-performance computing, and a global research collaboration network.</p><p dir="ltr">The platform was developed in response to urgent global issues like deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate change. It enables researchers to access and harmonize large-scale forest datasets—including over 53 million tree specimens—while ensuring consistent data ingestion, quality control, and metadata standardization. A dynamic governance framework supports these processes, and the platform also features tools for trait translation, machine learning modeling, and global-scale data visualization.</p><p dir="ltr">Science-i brings together more than 70 participants from 22 countries and supports collaborative, interdisciplinary research through its "Global Big Ideas" program. Ten flagship projects have been launched, covering topics such as forest turnover in South Africa, climate adaptation strategies in Brazil, carbon storage comparisons between urban and natural forests in China, and quantum edge detection for forest remote sensing in Germany. These diverse projects demonstrate Science-i’s capacity to support innovative, data-driven forest science across ecological, technological, and geographic boundaries.</p><p dir="ltr">Importantly, Science-i has enabled the publication of influential studies in <b>high-level journals</b>, reinforcing its scientific impact. Research from the Science-i network has appeared in <i>Science Advances</i>, <i>Nature Climate Change</i>, <i>Nature Communications</i>, <i>Nature</i>, and <i>Nature Plants</i>. These publications cover a wide array of topics, from tree species richness and forest productivity to climate resilience and ecosystem modeling, highlighting the platform’s value in producing transformative insights that inform global conservation and sustainability strategies.</p><p dir="ltr">In summary, Science-i serves as a powerful, inclusive, and scalable infrastructure that empowers forest researchers worldwide to collaboratively address some of the most pressing ecological challenges of our time through data, computation, and shared scientific vision.</p>
