The Environmental Science and Informatics section combines the resources and services of the former  Environmental Science and Environmental Informatics sections.  Our mission is to provide support for environmental research for OIST and for the broader research community.  This includes managing field sites, equipment, and data sets, as well as helping to coordinate permissions with local stakeholders and agencies.  We also provide experienced field teams for research support as well as statistical support services with particular expertise in GIS, phylogenetics, and macroecology.

• Provide support for terrestrial fieldwork in Okinawa
• Maintain and manage use of common equipment for terrestrial fieldwork
• Maintain the Okinawa Environmental Observation Network (OKEON)
• Maintain biological collections for use in research
• Help users obtain permissions required for terrestrial field sampling in Okinawa Prefecture
• Coordinate with the local community to conduct field surveys in Okinawa Prefecture
• Promote outputs from our work to Okinawa society and abroad
• Process geospatial and field data stream into research-ready data products.
• Assist in experimental design and data analysis
• Train students and other users in relevant data analysis methods
• Curate datasets and integrate them into online portals
• Develop custom statistical reports and packages 

At this meeting we will present the organization of the new section, our plans for the future, and our progress on improving and expanding the services we provide.  These include initiatives to develop a centralized hub of environmental and ecological data for OIST, expanding permissions at field sites, and the development of an institutional natural history collection.  We will also be holding a separate meeting the following day (March 21, 2 PM, in C700) to focus on details of the proposed natural history collection.