Speciation in Cicada Populations: Data Management in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Abstract

As undergraduate students, graduate students, and professionals in science continue to conduct research and produce incredible amounts of data by doing so, it has become more and more apparent that data management planning and implementation are of the utmost importance to the stewardship of scientific research data now and into the future. The case study approach to studying how data management occurs to any degree at a given institution is very useful for teaching librarians how to consult on data management and promote e-science in research institutions. The case study discussed here focuses on the research taking place in a ‘question-based’ ecology and evolutionary biology laboratory at a flagship research university in New England. This research is being conducted on live insect specimens and their flesh samples and utilizes various types of data collecting and producing instruments. The data products contribute to ongoing international research on cicadas. A qualitative interview was conducted to understand the lab’s practices and to write a narrative of the lab’s research story. This narrative was then used to write a data management plan (DMP) that addresses each of the seven standard modules of a DMP. The narrative and subsequent data management plan are beneficial teaching tools for consulting research lab teams on not only how to manage their data, but how to act as the stewards of it.