Building transdisciplinary partnerships for data synthesis to advance ecological understanding

Kimberly Komatsu, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, Meghan Avolio, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD and Kevin Wilcox, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY

Building transdisciplinary partnerships is a non-trivial exercise. Here I will discuss the challenges in building transdisciplinary partnerships, and several mechanisms to overcome these barriers, using the CoRRE working group as a case study example. Through CoRRE, we brought together a diverse group of scientists with complementary expertise, in particular empiricists and modelers, who are not often incentivized to work together. We aimed to increase incorporation of plant community data into ecosystem models. Through extensive discussion, we were able to identify common goals and identify future directions across disciplines to promote accurate forecasting of ecosystem responses to global change drivers.