Program Manager

M.A. Candidate, University of Colorado
(planned graduation, 2009)
BSc., Cornell University, 1988

Specialties [top]

Data management processes; interdisciplinary data management; metadata; long-term data stewardship

Recent Highlights top]

Program Manager, International Polar Year Data Management at WDC, Glaciology, Boulder
Program Manager, Frozen Ground Data Center at WDC, Glaciology, Boulder
Project Manager, Cold Land Processes Experiment Data Management, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
Data Set Manager, NSIDC

Current Roles [top]

Mark currently leads several national and international data management projects at NSIDC. He is active in several international data committees and co-chairs the International Polar Year (IPY) Data Management and Policy Subcommittee. He is also leading an effort with many international partners to host the IPY Data and Information Service, endorsed by the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee for IPY.

Current Projects [top]

PI, International Polar Year Data and Information Service (IPYDIS)

The International Polar Year Data and Information Service (IPYDIS) is a global partnership of data centers, archives, and networks working to ensure proper stewardship of IPY and related data. The National Snow and Ice Data Center acts as a coordination office for the IPYDIS to ensure the long term preservation of broad, interdisciplinary, and non-expert access to IPY data.

Co-PI, Discovery, Access, and Delivery of Data for IPY (DADDI)

DADDI is a NASA supported project to improve the availability of Arctic coastal data. Our goal is to develop a system that can be readily extended to support the International Polar Year (IPY).

DADDI is a collaborative project between NSIDC, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center for Biogeochemical Dynamics (ORNL DAAC), the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) at Columbia University, and the Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN). We are also collaborating with the International Permafrost Association's Arctic Coastal Dynamics (ACD) project and the interagency Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH).

Co-PI, Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge in the Arctic (ELOKA)

ELOKA works to provide data management and user support to facilitate the collection, preservation, exchange, and use of local observations and knowledge of the Arctic.

Activities [top]

Associate Editor, Permafrost: Ninth International Conference 29 June - 3 July 2008.

Co-Chair International Polar Year Data Management and Policy Subcommitttee and corresponding CODATA Task Group, November 2005 – present

Member, American Geophysical Union Information Technology Committee, October 2006 - present

Member, National Academy of Sciences National Research Council Committee on Archiving Environmental and Geospatial Data at NOAA, February 2006 - November 2007.

Member, U.S. Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) Data Management Working Group, January 2006 – present

Member, International Permafrost Association Standing Committee for Data, Information and Communication (2003 – present)

Development of many data sets and collections. Notable examples:

International Permafrost Association Standing Committee on Data Information and Communication (comp.). 2003. Circumpolar Active-Layer Permafrost System, Version 2.0. Edited by M. Parsons and T. Zhang. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center/World Data Center for Glaciology. CD-ROM.

Cline, D., R. Armstrong, R. Davis, K. Elder, and G. Liston. 2002, updated 2003. CLPX-Ground: ISA Snow Depth Transects and Related Measurements. In situ data edited by M. Parsons and M.J. Brodzik. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital Media.

Cline, D., R. Armstrong, R. Davis, K. Elder, and G. Liston. 2002, Updated July 2004. CLPX-Ground: ISA Snow Pit Measurements. Edited by M. Parsons and M.J. Brodzik. Boulder, CO: National Snow and Ice Data Center. Digital Media

Designed and implemented NSIDC’s overall data management process.

Member, American Geophysical Union, European Geosciences Union, Association of American Geographers, United States Permafrost Association, and the American Society of Information Science and Technology.

Publications [top]

Ballagh, L. M., M. A. Parsons, and R. Swick. 2007. Visualising cryospheric images in a virtual environment: present challenges and future implications. Polar Record 43:305-310.

Duerr, R., M. Parsons, M. Marquis, R. Dichtl, and T. Mullins. 2004. Challenges in long-term data stewardship. Proc. 21st IEEE Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies. NASA/CP-2004-212750: 47-67.

Duerr, R., R. Weaver, and M. A. Parsons. 2006. A new approach to preservation metadata for scientific data: A real world example. In IGARSS 2006 IEEE International Conference on Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. pp 305-08.

Khalsa, S. J. S., and M. A. Parsons. 2006. Achieving semantic interoperability for the IPY. In IGARSS 2006: IEEE International Conference on Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, pp. 3835-37.

NRC (National Research Council). 2007. Environmental Data Management at NOAA: Archiving, Stewardship, and Access. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

Parsons, M. A. et al. 2006. Report of the International Polar Year Data Management Workshop, 3-4 March 2006. Glaciological Data 33. Boulder, CO:  National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Parsons, M. A. and R. G. Barry. 2006. Interdisciplinary data management in support of the International Polar Year.” EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union 87: 295. 25 July 2006.

Parsons, M. A., M. J. Brodzik, and N. J. Rutter. 2004. Data management for the Cold Land Processes Experiment—Improving hydrological science. Hydrological Processes. 18: 3637 - 3653. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.5801.

Parsons, M.A. and R. Duerr. 2005. Designating user communities for scientific data: challenges and solutions. Data Science Journal. 4:31-38. 24, August 2005.

Parsons, M. A. and B. E. Wilson. 2007. User-driven design of a data system for the International Polar Year. Eos 88:8 20, February 2007.

Parsons, M. A., T. Zhang, and R. G. Barry, J. Brown. 2003. Frozen ground data and information: Advances in the IPA Global Geocryological Data (GGD) system. Permafrost: International Conference on Permafrost, addendum.

Related Resources [top]

Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)

IPY at NSIDC

Frozen Ground Data Center

NSIDC Presentations and Posters

Contact NSIDC User Services for more information.