January 10, 2012 —The Assembly of the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation) elected seven new partner organizations, bringing total membership to more than 135 organizations. (See below for a complete list of new members).  Partnership in the ESIP Federation is open to organizations that work with Earth science data and who wish to work across communities to expose, gather and enhance in-house capabilities in support of their organization’s own mandates.
 
The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) is a broad-based, distributed community of science data and information technology practitioners that leverage collaboration and coordinate interoperability efforts across the Earth science community. As an organization, the ESIP Federation optimizes collaboration through in-person meetings and virtually through collaboration space on the Web. Partners utilize these neutral forums for knowledge exchange and collaboration – an intellectual commons – where practitioners solve common challenges.
 
“The ESIP Federation has become the go-to place for practitioners looking to expose their technical work and to learn about the work of their peers as they work collectively effort improve interoperability among data systems, regardless of who created them,” said Annette Schloss, ESIP Federation Vice President and immediate past Partnership Committee Chair. “Through its independent community venue, the ESIP Federation connects people and organizations from across agencies, sectors and domains to leverage expertise and technologies for use at one’s home institution.”  
 
ESIP Federation membership is strictly voluntary and the continued growth of its membership reflects the recognition that the ESIP Federation is a dynamic and collaborative forum where data providers, researchers and users gather to exchange valuable information.  According to Karl Benedict, ESIP Federation President, “The continued growth of our membership during the past decade and the growing interest from non-traditional partner communities affirms our long-held belief that community solutions to data systems interoperability is the best way to solve the complicated challenges that comes from inter-disciplinary science research. The ESIP Federation’s community of practitioners openly shares their knowledge and products for the good of the community.”
 
The new member organizations include (member type in parenthesis):
Global Emissions InitiAtive (GEIA) (Type II Research)
Information International Associates, Inc (IIa) (Type III Applications)
In Situ Experience (Type III Applications)
Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA) (Type I Data Center)
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) (Type II Research)
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) (Type II Research)
USGS Community for Data Integration (Type II Research)
 
The ESIP Federation is a consortium of Earth science data and technology professionals spanning government (NASA, NOAA, EPA, USGS, NSF), academia and the private sectors (both commercial and nonprofit). The organization is dedicated to transforming research data and information into useful and usable data and information products for decision makers, policy makers and the public. Initiated by NASA in 1997, the ESIP Federation provides data, products and services to decision makers and researchers in public and private settings. The Foundation for Earth Science provides administrative and staff support to the ESIP Federation.



Contacts:

Karl Benedict
President
ESIP Federation

Carol Meyer
Executive Director
Foundation for Earth Science
Tel.:919.870.7140