Dr Nina Welti1, Lian Flick1, Regina Campbell1, Dr Jagoda Crawford3, Dr Geoff Fraser2, Steph Hawkins2, Dr Cath Hughes3, Dr Fabian Kohlmann5, Dr Wayne Noble5, Dr Yanfeng Shu1, Dr Tim Stobaus4, Dr Axel Suckow1, Dr Moritz Theile5, Dr Kathryn Waltenberg2
1CSIRO, Australia, 2Geoscience Australia, Australia, 3Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Australia, 4National Measurement Institute, Australia, 5Lithodat Pty Ltd, Australia
Biography:
Dr. Nina Welti is a Senior Research Scientist within the Agriculture and Food Research Unit of CSIRO. As an environmental scientist and biogeochemist, Nina is driven by a passion for solving real-world environmental problems. Throughout her career, her research has focused on understanding and quantifying the impact of human choices and actions on ecosystem function. Her current work focuses on driving transparent and effective supply chain traceability in the agricultural industries. She leads research integrating stable isotope dynamics and agriculture management practices to develop data-driven evidence solutions. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9966-5915
Lian Flick is a Technical Program Manager at CSIRO. She has over 20 years’ experience in bringing new technologies from concept to production in research and commercial organisations. Lian has extensive experience in managing large, multi-disciplinary, geographically dispersed teams, programs of work, and complex research and development projects. She is highly skilled in translating business requirements to digital applications to enable technology solutions for customers and internal operations. She has a proven ability to build strong relationships with partners and build consensus across multiple organisational levels and functional areas. https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8539-2319
Abstract:
Background
The goals of this effort were to create greater usability and availability of publicly held data, increase collaboration across research infrastructure, and realise greater value from public data. Environmental stable isotope data contributes to many disciplines and, as a result, has a high potential for re-use. Custodians of public data in Australia share a common purpose to ensure the quality, integrity, security, discoverability, accessibility, and useability of data assets.
Methods
The key design criteria were a simple and easy to use tool that facilitates the harmonisation and integration of disparate stable isotope datasets while retaining data integrity and sovereignty. Using a standard flat-file structure, the ontology was co-developed by mapping each organisations data systems and identifying the common attributes.
Results
By mapping from existing, disperate data systems the ontology design can be used across multiple science domains, whilst providing a defined scope of stable isotope information. The ontology uses a simple vocabulary, enabling federation of various data collections into a cohesive structure. A dedicated web-based platform, www.isotopes.au, applies this ontology, creating a single-point access to harmonised stable isotope data.
Conclusion
The ontology design creates a structured, formatted file that simplifies sharing data and facilitates data management. The platform and common ontology enable existing stable isotope datasets and repositories to become cohesive, interoperable and discoverable. This demonstrates how national science organisations can federate their data collections to promote interoperability, compatibility, and accessibility across multiple science domains and applications.