Battelle Announces Paula Mabee as NEON’s Chief Scientist and Observatory Director; Mike Janus Quoted

Battelle announced on Thursday that Paula Mabee, professor with the University of South Dakota (USD), has been appointed as chief scientist and observatory director for the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). She will assume her role on Feb. 3rd once her responsibilities to USD have been fulfilled. 

In her new position, Mabee will be charged with leading NEON, which Battelle manages on behalf of the National Science Foundation (NSF), to better understand how ecosystems are changing across the U.S. 

“Paula has been a strong advocate for NEON and brings experience from a long and successful academic career in the life sciences and big data,” said Mike Janus, vice president for Environment and Infrastructure at Battelle.

Mabee has served the University of South Dakota as a professor in the Department of Biology since 1997. Throughout her decorated tenure with USD, she’s received numerous accolades and awards, including the President’s Award for Research Excellence and the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship. 

She has authored more than 60 research publications and received nearly $7 million in research grant awards from the NSF and National Institutes of Health (NIH). In addition, Mabee has served as president of the Society of Systematic Biologists, and the Board of Governors for the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

“It’s an exciting time for the program with new and more ecological data being generated every day now that the observatory is fully operational,” Mabee said regarding her new position. “The complex environmental challenges of our time require exactly the type of data that NEON is producing and the convergent scientific approaches that the broader science and engineering community brings,” she added. 

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