Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology awarded $1,052,202 in Project Grant funding to the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Inc. (effective August 1, 2026 through July 31, 2030) under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) to support collaborative research on lake ecosystem metabolism. The primary deliverable is the Global Lake Metabolism Repository (GLAMR), a large-scale public data repository that will synthesize daily metabolism estimates and associated metadata from at least 300 globally distributed lakes, spanning 1,500 lake-years and 400,000 lake-days. This infrastructure will integrate long-term data from at least six Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites and seven National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) sites.

The research team will analyze the assembled data to characterize and explain metabolic regimes across lake ecosystems—the balance between primary production and respiration—using machine learning, time series clustering, spatial statistics, and other analytical tools. Beyond the data synthesis and repository development, the project will deliver research outputs evaluating drivers of lake metabolism, seasonal patterns, temperature effects, and spatial clustering of metabolic regimes. The initiative also aims to build transformative research infrastructure and workforce development by providing cross-training in biology and data science to strengthen the Nation's scientific competitiveness in ecosystem research.