Kerstin Lehnert
Columbia University, NY·Earth & Environmental Science
Earth scientists produce huge amounts of data on rocks, minerals, samples and volcanic deposits, but much of it is scattered, inconsistently formatted or hard to find. This makes it difficult to reuse old results or run large data-driven analyses.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Computer Science
- Topics
geoinformatics
data infrastructure
cyberinfrastructure
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Modernize EarthChem, an open geochemistry data repository, by re-engineering its systems for scale and building better human- and machine-readable tools for data discovery, visualization and analysis.
- Connect the LEPR and traceDs experimental phase-equilibria databases to EarthChem, and expand the SESAR sample registry into a multidisciplinary sample-registration infrastructure.
- Build the Tephra Information Portal, linking EarthChem, SESAR, StraboSpot, GeoDIVA and TephraBase into a central catalog and single access point for curated volcanic ash data.
- Develop a reusable Framework for FAIR Data Communities, using tephra research to set consistent data formats, rich metadata and disciplinary standards that other communities can adopt.
More about the research
The work builds shared data infrastructure that makes geoscience data FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable (able to work together across systems) and Re-usable by both people and computers. One project runs and modernizes a national geoscience data facility. The other uses that facility to prototype a portal for a single research community.
Why it matters
Better-organized, openly accessible Earth science data could speed research on volcanic hazards, magma processes and global environmental change. Researchers, educators and students would spend less time hunting for and cleaning data. Machine-readable data could also support new computational analyses. The tephra portal could become a model that other specialized research communities adapt for their own data.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
David Elbert
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Materials Science
Coordinate data producers, users, repositories and publishers through the Materials Research Coordination Network (MaRCN) to make depositing materials data in trusted repositories the norm under FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) principles.
Daven Quinn
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Earth & Environmental Science
Build data pipelines that move geologic maps, stratigraphic columns and cross-sections from the StraboSpot field app into Macrostrat's multiscale crustal model, keeping supporting records such as photos and measurements.
Noah Daniels
University of Rhode Island, RI·Computer Science
Develop the MEDFORD language and parser as a human-readable layer that converts researchers' metadata into popular machine-readable metadata standards and FAIR databases.
The school
Columbia University: 89 labs on PI Pages, $1.4B a year on research, 625 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.