Figure 2. Map of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s network of 28 Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites (as of 2017). Based on our research in 2013, the majority of sites (21 of 24 LTER sites in existence at that time) hosted some form of arts or humanities activities. The ITOC arts-humanities-science program emerged through Bonanza Creek LTER (BNZ) in Interior Alaska, nested within this larger ecosystem of LTER-based environmental arts and humanities activities. During the Microbial Worlds project, artists took field trips both to Bonanza Creek LTER and to Arctic LTER (ARC) located at Toolik Field Station on the North Slope of Alaska.
Map of North America and surrounding oceans with an inset box showing a portion of Antarctica. There are 25 orange dots scattered across the United States including Alaska and Puerto Rico and 2 dots located in Antarctica. One more dot is located far offshore to the lower left of North America in Moorea, French Polynesia. The dots are labeled with 3-letter codes that are abbreviations for the names of long-term ecological research sites active in those geographic locations.
Map credit: lternet.edu.