I am intrigued by the bold statements that are made about the ways that cyberinfrastructure, access to data, networks of scientific instruments, and large-scale interdisciplinary collaborations will positively and dramatically change the way that science is conducted and knowledge is produced. In many cases, very little empirical research exists to test or support these assumptions and numerous obstacles stand in the way of these visions. I also believe, however, that we are at a unique moment in time in which significant changes–whether or not they happen as predicted–are likely to occur. My research is motivated by the opportunity to study and learn from these processes. To date, these interests have taken my research in three interrelated directions.

• Collaboration in Ecology: A Workshop
  In 2004, I co-organized an NSF-funded workshop with Bonnie Nardi that brought together ecologists, social scientists, computer scientists, librarians, and information scientists to discuss the work practices and information needs of ecologists.
  
  
• Learning from TeraGrid: An Evaluation of a Large-Scale Cyberinfrastructure Project
  TeraGrid is a national, comprehensive, and distributed infrastructure that integrates high-performance computing resources at nine resource provider facilities. This NSF-sponsored study is investigating the high-performance computing needs of current and potential TeraGrid users in multiple disciplines.
  

• Zimmerman, Ann S. 2003. Data sharing and secondary use of scientific data: Experiences of ecologists. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan.
  
  
• Zimmerman, Ann. (2008). New knowledge from old data: The role of standards in the sharing and reuse of ecological data. Science, Technology, and Human Values. Published online February 5, 2008
  
  
• Zimmerman, Ann and Finholt, Thomas A. (2007). Growing an infrastructure: The role of gateway organizations in cultivating new communities of users. Pages 239-248 in Proceedings of the International ACM SIGGROUP Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP ’07), ACM Press, New York, NY.
  
  
• Zimmerman, Ann. (2007). Not by metadata alone: The use of diverse forms of knowledge to locate data for reuse. International Journal on Digital Libraries.
  
  
• Cragin, Melissa H., MacMullen, W. John, Wallis, Jillian C., & Zimmerman, Ann. (2006). Managing Scientific Data for Long-term Access and Use. (Panel at the 2006 ASIS&T Annual Meeting.) Presentation: Many challenges, multiple solutions: Facing the barriers to data sharing and re-use.

• Planning for the Next Generation TeraGrid
  I am Principal Investigator on this NSF-funded grant to facilitate a planning process for the future evolution of TeraGrid.
  
  
• Science of Collaboratories (SOC)
  The SOC project was funded by NSF and led by Gary M. Olson. SOC studied distributed collaborations across multiple scientific disciplines. It aimed to define, abstract, and codify the underlying technical and social mechanisms that lead to successful collaboratories.
  
  
• National Ecological Observatory Network
  NEON is one of several U.S. environmental observing systems being designed to help predict and solve environmental challenges. In 2005, I participated in the planning process for NEON as a member of the Information Technology and Communication Subcommittee.
  

• Olson, Gary M., Zimmerman, Ann, and Bos, Nathan. (2008). Scientific Collaboration on the Internet. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
  
  
• Zimmerman, Ann & Nardi, Bonnie A. (2006). Whither or whether HCI: Requirements analysis for multi-sited, multi-user cyberinfrastructures. Proceedings CHI 2006, ACM Press, New York, 1601-1606.
  
  
• Zimmerman, Ann & Faniel, Ixchel. Stakeholders at a distance: User participation in the development of cybeinfrastructure. Unpublished manuscript.
  
  
• Zimmerman, Ann, Nardi, Bonnie A., & Sim, Susan. (2005). Technology rules: Understanding and supporting emerging practice in ecology. Presentation at the Society for Social Studies of Science Conference, Pasadena, California, October 21, 2005. (abstract)

• Preparing the LTER Network for Collaborative Science, Education, and Synthesis: A Planning Proposal
  
  
• Science of Collaboratories (SOC)
  

• Bos, Nathan, Zimmerman, Ann, Olson, Judith, Yew, Jude, Yerkie, Jason, Dahl, Erik, & Olson, Gary. (2007). From shared databases to communities of practice: A taxonomy of collaboratories. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12, 2..
  
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  Zimmerman, Ann. (2007). Rapid network evolution prompts changes to LTER governance. LTER Network News 19, 2, 4-5.