In recent years, there has been significant attention on advancing data management in the region. PNAMP has recognized the importance of data management to regional monitoring activities and recognized the highly technical nature of data management discussions. Many groups throughout the region are discussing and working on data management and it has been difficult for PNAMP steering committee members and PNAMP partners to stay informed on details of these discussions and activities. In recent months, there have been many discussions regarding the role of PNAMP in assisting with the advance of regional data management. Partners have expressed interest in knowing what tools are available, initiating a review process for existing tools, and sharing lessons learned between existing development efforts. Others emphasize the importance of setting regional standards, inter -agency agreements, and executive mandates. Regardless of direction, most partners express the importance of engaging in dialog with staff at the local field offices.

The objective of the technology transfer task is to convene and participate in meetings with biologists, data management staff, and technical experts at local field offices to identify common problems, to share the lessons learned, to showcase and solicit review of existing tools, and to identify available resources for addressing highlevel strategic data management issues. The meetings will be organized by Sean Quigley (PNAMP Data Steward) and Steve Rentmeester (Environmental Data Services). Guidance and oversight will be provided by the PNAMP Data Management Leadership Team. The leadership team will provide guidance on prioritizing agencies and organizations to be included and key products to be reviewed. Input and guidance from the leadership team will be critical in refining the objectives of the technology transfer meetings during this initial six-month, pilot phase. Results of the meetings will be summarized for presentation to the leadership team and to identify opportunities for coordinating regional activities. The leadership team will review resulting products prior to forwarding to the PNAMP Steering Committee and partners.

The objective of the guidance document is to provide regional guidance on metadata standards. Metadata is required as documentation for field data. Additionally, detailed, well-formatted metadata can support validation, discovery, and analysis of field data sets. A comparison of the FGDC, NBII, Ecological Metadata Language, Protocol Manager, and other standards will be made to evaluate overlap in data elements and assess relative utility of increasingly detailed metadata standards. Additionally, a comparison of metadata tools including EPA metadata editor, USGS metadata editor, NOAA’s Mermaid, NASA’s Mercury, and NCEAS Morpho will be conducted. Environmental Data Services will lead this effort, however, the PNAMP Data Steward will support this effort by supporting identification of standards and tools to be reviewed, documenting feedback from PNAMP partners, and reviewing all recommendations