MARINE SYNTHESIS CENTER

LUMCON is committed to providing opportunities for collaborative teams to explore complicated and important coastal and marine challenges and solutions. These gatherings might require the exploration of novel approaches, combinations of expertise, or simply require people being in the same room to talk through different perspectives on a issue or challenge. Several models for scientific synthesis centers exist and have proven successful for establishing collaborative networks and promoting synthesis for different disciplines (e.g., National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Fe Institute, National Humanities Center, Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine). LUMCON provides a similar synthesis center for addressing challenges, opportunities, and solutions in coastal and marine science, conservation, management, education and outreach, and community initiatives. The LUMCON Synthesis Center also provides opportunities for collaborative initiatives amongst our consortium member institutions.

What is ‘synthesis’?

In a broad sense, synthesis is the act of combining different elements or ideas to create a whole. Synthetic research in science takes many forms but includes integrating novel datasets and models to address important problems within a discipline, developing new analytical approaches and tools, and combining methods and perspectives from multiple disciplines to answer and even create new fundamental scientific questions (Sidlauskas et al. 2010). Synthesis integrates knowledge resulting in big picture perspectives critical to the generation of solutions to important questions and challenges.

LUMCON facilitates synthesis by providing a variety of meeting spaces, resources, and a supportive environment to accommodate the needs of collaborative teams. We offer different types of programs (see below) and accomodations at both LUMCON’s DeFelice Marine Center in Cocodrie and the Blue Works facility on the Maritime Campus in Houma to meet the needs of your specific collaborative team as you tackle large-scale questions and generate results and solutions to the challenges of interest.

Proposed meetings should align with LUMCON’s programs and strategic plan. Details on how to submit a proposal for a meeting are outlined below.

WORKING GROUPS

Working Groups involve small groups (~10-12) of participants collaborating intensively on the analysis or synthesis of data, models, or both, in order to address a major question or challenge. The working groups will typically meet 3-4 times over one to two years, with each meeting lasting either 1-2 days (typical for Houma) or 3-7 days (typical for Cocodrie). However, the number of participants, number of meetings, and duration of each meeting is flexible, depending on the needs and goals of the group. The Working Group is intended as a mechanism for teams to collaborate productively. Products could include software, databases, manuscripts, and/or education materials. Click here for information about the Working Group application process.

CATALYSIS MEETINGS

Catalysis Meetings involve large groups (> 20) of participants from varied disciplines focusing on a major question or challenge. Catalysis meetings are one-time meetings that occur over 1-3 days. They are intended to increase the scale and ambition of scientific vision, to define avenues for scientific synthesis, to identify classes of primary data that must be collected before grand-scale synthesis is possible, and to facilitate the assembly of networks to realize large-scale synthesis. Click here for information about the Catalysis Meeting application process.

SHORT-TERM EVENTS

LUMCON also welcomes meetings by groups looking to have events that are one to two days. The meetings can include staff retreats, professional or workforce development workshops, symposiums, and conference-style meetings.  Contact the Associate Director of Education & Outreach for more information, scheduling, and coordination.

SHORT-TERM VISITOR PROGRAM

LUMCON’s Short-Term Visitor Program supports collaborations and invites experts to see things from our perspective. Short-Term Visitors receive funding to cover room and board at our facility in Cocodrie, LA for a minimum of 2 nights and a maximum of 21 nights. Experts from any background, including for example artists or journalists, are eligible to apply. This program is currently unavailable. More details will be provided shortly.

HOW TO SUBMIT A MEETING PROPOSAL

Send an email to education@lumcon.edu with the following information.

  • Point of contact (name, email, phone number)
  • Organization
  • Billing address
  • Contact phone number
  • Event name?
  • What is the purpose of the event?
  • Expected number of attendees
  • Event start time
  • Event end time
  • What LUMCON facility are you interested in for your event? Marine Center (Cocodrie) or Blue Works (Houma)
  • What type of meeting space do you need? (lecture hall, conference room, informal meeting/collaboration space)

PREVIOUSLY FUNDED PROJECTS

Click here for information about funded projects.