my role in the ATOL grant, future ToLWeb
David Maddison
but I thought you should see it too.
There seems to be some uncertainty about my role in the ATOL proposal,
in part because I haven't been explicit enough, and that, along with a
desire to spur the group to think more about how the "outreach" part
of this should be structured in terms of institutions and CoPIs and
who will do what, leads me to say a bit about what my ideas are about
this portion of the proposal and my role.
[In passing, I should say that Arlin's confusion about the outreach/
synthesis discussion during Tuesday's teleconference is completely
understandable - as the synthesis part is fully within the long term
vision of the community of a grand, synthetic ToL interconnected with
databases, analysis tools, presentation modules, etc., with is what
the ToLWeb 2.0 people have been talking about as well as within their
vision. So, to them, this entire grant falls within ToLWeb 2.0's
territory. It's always troubled me that ToLWeb has always been viewed
only as an outreach thing, as I've viewed that as only a small part of
its eventual mission.]
OK, to cut to the chase: I will step down as ToLWeb leader on 31 Dec
2010. I've been murmuring about stepping down for a while, but it is
clear the only way it can happen is if I set a date. That's the
date. And, it doesn't matter if there is no one to step in and guide
the ship. I am serious enough about this for my own personal health
that it will happen even if it means the project will die.
Given that, I would like to see this ATOL fashioned to give it or some
successor a future beyond that date. My role in these discussions is
to help that happen. It does *not* mean that I will necessarily be a
CoPI on this grant, or even the leader of the outreach component. I
am somewhat reluctant to be a CoPI, but am considering it. However,
if I am CoPI, it will be only to look after a portion of the ToLWeb
stuff, and NOT to look after the whole thing. [I could more readily
imagine being a "light-weight CoPI, with just a little bit of funds.]
I think there are three major pieces to the "outreach" portion of this
proposal:
(1) improvement of source code, turning it open source, adopting
standards, EOL API, better interoperability with other systems, input
systems. Funds needed: programmers, servers.
(2) tree visualization improvements. Funds needed: programmers.
(3) managing content, including new text, images, media, etc., and
interacting with scientific contributors. Funds needed: Managing
editor, perhaps other folks for content.
I would like to see a ToLWeb 2.0 person be CoPI for goal 1, and
ideally the ToLWeb servers would be best at their institution. Hilmar
and NESCENT would be an excellent choice. I'm mentioning Hilmar not
to put him on the spot, or to dissuade someone else from expressing an
interest, but rather to point out one very viable possibility. I am
not willing to be CoPI on this portion.
I would like to see someone associated with ipToL/ToLWeb 2.0/BioSync
be CoPI for goal 2. Obvious candidates to me are Karen Cranston, Mark
Westneat, Mike Sanderson. I am not willing to be CoPI on this
portion.
As for managing content & interacting with scientific contributor.
The person who takes on this task has to be someone who is a capital-S
Systematist: someone who has worked hands-on doing systematics of a
group, ideally both morphologically and molecularly, and who is viewed
by the community of systematists as one of them. They also have to
have an appropriate personality. This is the portion of ToLWeb where
I think choosing a new leader will be most critical. This is the only
part of the grant that I could consider being a more serious CoPI - I
might be willing to supervise the managing editor. But we should look
for someone else, as I may not be willing to do even this.
FYI, I am willing to help write the proposal even if I am not a CoPI.
And, of course, if I am not a CoPI, I will be more than happy to help
with the transfer of source, data, etc.
David
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David R. Maddison
Department of Zoology
3029 Cordley Hall
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331 USA
david.m...@science.oregonstate.edu
http://david.bembidion.org
http://mesquiteproject.org
http://macclade.org
http://tolweb.org