Complex interactions among the atmosphere, the ocean, the land, the biosphere, and human behavior pose daunting challenges in understanding the causes of observed phenomena such as climate change and its associated impact on biodiversity and urbanization. Through collection, preservation, and semantic integration of data that are now very difficult to assemble and analyze, the Data Conservancy will transform the ability of scientists to answer grand challenge questions that are important to the nation and the world.
 
The Data Conservancy will research, design, implement, deploy, and sustain data curation infrastructure for cross-disciplinary discovery with an emphasis on observational data. Initial efforts of the project will highlight astronomy, earth sciences, life sciences, and social sciences.