Critical Zone Exploration Network

The study of the Critical Zone is by nature collaborative. We recognize that Critical Zone Observatories(CZOs) could greatly benefit from collaborating across CZOs and other ‘like’ projects. For these reasons, the Critical Zone Exploration Network (CZEN, http://www.czen.org) offers web hosting for research groups studying the Critical Zone with our Community Management System (CMS).

Participation accomplishes four things;
1) brings Critical Zone Observatories (CZOs) into close cyber-proximity,
2) provides economy of scale in technology overhead,
3) makes web resources available to researchers from day one, and
4) allows CZOs the resources to build project specific web products as the web-based community-management system (CMS) is extendable and flexible.

The CZEN.org website already provides many communication tools like event scheduling, file upload, forums, list serves, and literature databases.

The CZEN CMS is built with open source freeware called Drupal (http://drupal.org). Drupal is flexible, allowing you to extend the existing CMS with your own web products (Drupal modules). Drupal already provides the core functions like security, user management and search functions. As you do not have to invent these functions you can generate modules quickly. Drupal module creation is highly documented and standardized (http://drupal.org/handbooks). This also gives you a single logon to all your group content and products available any where there is internet access.

My personal goal is to facilitate the creation of database systems that cross CZO projects. I work with any group that wishes to create database systems that will ultimately be available to the public.

Request a "new group".