I have been considering the NSF’s requirements for data management plans in recent proposal renewals and wanted to seek your insights and experiences. Specifically, I am interested in the presence of physical sample archive content in the data management plans for proposals that were successfully renewed over the past three years (2021-2023).
If your site has been successful in obtaining NSF renewal grants during this period, could you kindly share whether your data management plan included a section on physical sample archiving? I’m curious to know whether this aspect was addressed and, if so, whether any reviewers raised concerns or provided feedback in this regard.
If you have such information available, would you be willing to share the relevant section of your data management plan with us, by posting it in this discussion thread so that everyone in our group can benefit from the insights.
we have this paragraph in our proposal(s):
NTL zooplankton samples, phytoplankton slides, fish scales, and benthic invertebrate samples are stored at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoology Museum. Periodic maintenance is performed to prevent drying out of wet samples. An electronic catalog on our website provides information on this collection which is available for checkout to the research community.
And a detailed description of out physical sample collection is here: Physical Samples – NTL-LTER – UW–Madison
We did not receive any comments from reviewers on this.
HBR has a long-standing sample archive and we include something about status and project in each renewal proposal. Below is the section from our DMP. In the past we have also had a paragraph on the archive in the main body of the proposal, but not in 2022.
There were several reviewer comments:
“The sample archive at HBR is legendary and continues to generate new analyses and publications.”
“The sample archive that HBR maintains is a valuable component of the HBR program. I’m sure there are some questions about long-term stability and usefulness of things like water samples, but just the fact that HBR has invested in collections-based research this way is a very nice example for the LTER network.”
-Mary
From the HBR DMP:
Sample and Document Archives
For more than 30 years, HBR has maintained a commitment to the permanent storage of physical samples collected at the site (e.g., streamwater, precipitation, vegetation, soil). A dedicated building on-site serves as the archive facility, and now houses approximately 100,000 samples. Samples are preserved, barcoded, and cataloged with associated metadata in a MYSQL database; a process that ensures the discoverability and access to samples for future research. A sample archive subsampling policy has been developed to 1) maintain the chemical integrity of the samples; 2) preserve sample volume for future analysis; 3) document the use of the samples, and any resulting changes; 4) inform principal investigators of interest in sample use; and 5) acknowledge the appropriate funding sources for their original collection. Requests for analysis of archive samples (e.g., isotopic analyses, heavy metals) are received regularly, and have resulted in at least 37 publications (soils n=8 publications; water n=15; forest floor n=11; plant material n=3).
During this current funding cycle, LTER funds were used to 1) improve physical storage efficiency through sample reorganization and increased space efficiency, and 2) enhance sample discovery through a restructuring of sample collections and the associated database used for sample management and public-facing search capabilities. A physical sample and data entry station in the archive building incorporates bar-code scanning and direct scale-to-computer entry of sample weights and has facilitated the addition of 35,000 new samples to the archive in the past 5 years.
A new activity over the past five years has been the development of a document archive. Research at HBR, like many LTER sites, crosses the “analog-to-digital divide”, which creates a vulnerability that key documents and information (e.g., data sheets, field notebooks, strip charts, instrument manuals) could be lost. We have had a series of meetings to discuss the need for, purpose and uses of a document archive at HBR. Funds have been raised from private sources (~$100K) for construction of a building at HBR and we have organized a committee that will set the policies and practices of the document archive. Over the next few years the building will be constructed and we will begin to move materials stored elsewhere into the archive.
Our proposal was accepted this summer. I’m not aware of any reviewer comments regarding the physical samples part of our data management plan. Here’s the relevant paragraph.
BLE has identified three types of physical samples that could be shared with the public: specimen vouchers, genetic materials, and soil cores. Specimen vouchers are currently housed at The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute, genetic materials are housed at Oregon State University, and soil cores are housed at The University of Texas at El Paso. Interested parties should email the appropriate contact as described on the BLE website (Data > Find Data > Physical samples). Longer-term, BLE is partnering with The University of Alaska Museum of the North (UAMN) to archive specimen vouchers and make them discoverable via Arctos. BLE is also discussing the archival of genetic materials at UAMN, though capacity at UAMN and protocols are still evolving and so no formal arrangement has been made yet.
I don’t know about the proposal. To manage the flow of the plant and soil archive samples, we created a gen_barcode function in our PostgreSQL database. In that way, each plant and soil archive sample has a unique 21 digit barcode. We then trace the use of the archive samples when researchers use them for plant chemistry, soil quality, soil C and N, etc.
Apologies for the delayed response to this thread, but we do have some language on physical archive space in the data management plan section of our proposal and I am happy to share it! As follows:
We maintain a catalog of archived samples – primarily stored dried soil, plant, and seed material –
dating from project inception in 1988 and stored in two purpose-designed archive rooms in the LTER
field lab. The current collection holds approximately 18,000 plant and 13,000 soil samples. The
building has backup power and a C3HF7-based fire suppression system to protect the archive from
water damage. This building is currently nearing capacity, and we will be submitting a Building
Capacity proposal to support the needed expansion of the facility. Plant and soil samples destined
for archiving are dried, placed in rodent-proof containers, and cataloged before storage.