Chandler Elected Co-Chair of International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange
March 25, 2015
Cyndy Chandler, an Information Systems Specialist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has been elected to serve a two-year term as co-chair of the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE). Established in 1961, the IODE is part of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
IODE’s purpose is “to enhance marine research, exploitation and development, by facilitating the exchange of oceanographic data and information between participating Member States, and by meeting the needs of users for data and information products.” Chandler’s co-chair is Yutaka Michida (Japan). In its announcement, IODE recognized the new co-chairs “bring with them an extensive career and experience in oceanography and data management.”
“Cyndy has shown tremendous leadership and has been instrumental in developing data info systems and helping WHOI push forward into new areas of informatics systems,” said WHOI President and Director Susan Avery. “I’m delighted the community has recognized her capabilities.”
Chandler, who first became involved in IODE in 2006, has a passion for marine data and information management, data management best practices and effective integration of modern cyber-information technologies into the marine research infrastructure. She has participated in several influential international data management committees and has led numerous data projects at WHOI including Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R), the NSF EarthCube OceanLink and GeoLink, the Ocean Data Interoperability Platform (ODIP) project, and is co-PI of the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) at WHOI.
“This is an exciting time to be an information and data manager in the marine research community. As advances in communication, computer technology, and marine science progress at a rapid pace, data managers are challenged to match their activities to keep pace with changing expectations,” said Chandler. “Evolving changes in expectations for open data access, near real-time access, and machine-to-machine interoperability are all causing shifts in the way data managers curate content in repositories, data centers and archives. The other notable change is the transition from isolated storage systems to federated systems designed to enable open exchange of data and information. Clearly we must work together to achieve these rapidly evolving goals.”
Chandler believes the IODE is well-positioned to contribute to and lead in several essential areas: data quality, standards promotion and adoption, data publication and citation, data preservation, and promoting open exchange of data and information. “All of these activities will be important as marine research programs become more global and cross-domain in scope,” she said.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment. For more information, please visit www.whoi.edu.
Cyndy Chandler, an Information Systems Specialist at WHOI, has been elected to serve a two-year term as co-chair of the "International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange" (IODE). (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)