Lehigh University - CSE:Davidson09

Dr. Susan B. Davidson

"Provenance and Scientific Workflows "

Wednesday, November 4, 4:00 PM

Neville Hall room 002

Reception prior to talk in Neville Lobby

Abstract: We live in a world where data, information, and knowledge can be quickly and easily created, and the justification for its existence as quickly and easily forgotten. Nowhere is this more problematic than in e-Science, where the development of high-throughput technologies and the ability to rapidly perform ''in-silico'' experiments using scientific workflows has led to a tidal wave of data whose provenance is unknown.
In this talk, I will discuss challenges in managing and querying the provenance of data through scientific workflows and some emerging solutions to efficiently answering provenance queries, focusing user attention on meaningful provenance, and understanding the difference in provenance.

Bio: Susan B. Davidson received the B.A. degree in Mathematics from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 1978, and the Ph.D. degreein Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University in 1982. Dr. Davidson is the Weiss Professor and Chair of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has been since 1982. She also served as Deputy Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science from 2005-2007.

Dr. Davidson's research interests include database and web-based systems, and bioinformatics. Within bioinformatics she is best known for her work with the Kleisli data integration system (joint work with Drs. Buneman, Tannen and Overton), which was subsequently commercialized in the company GeneticXChange. Her more recent work has centered on XML technologies for data sharing, data integration and data curation, as well as scientific workflow systems.

		Dr. Susan B. Davidson "Provenance and Scientific Workflows " Wednesday, November 4, 4:00 PM Neville Hall room 002 Reception prior to talk in Neville Lobby Abstract: We live in a world where data, information, and knowledge can be quickly and easily created, and the justification for its existence as quickly and easily forgotten. Nowhere is this more problematic than in e-Science, where the development of high-throughput technologies and the ability to rapidly perform ''in-silico'' experiments using scientific workflows has led to a tidal wave of data whose provenance is unknown. In this talk, I will discuss challenges in managing and querying the provenance of data through scientific workflows and some emerging solutions to efficiently answering provenance queries, focusing user attention on meaningful provenance, and understanding the difference in provenance. Bio: Susan B. Davidson received the B.A. degree in Mathematics from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 1978, and the Ph.D. degreein Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Princeton University in 1982. Dr. Davidson is the Weiss Professor and Chair of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has been since 1982. She also served as Deputy Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science from 2005-2007. Dr. Davidson's research interests include database and web-based systems, and bioinformatics. Within bioinformatics she is best known for her work with the Kleisli data integration system (joint work with Drs. Buneman, Tannen and Overton), which was subsequently commercialized in the company GeneticXChange. Her more recent work has centered on XML technologies for data sharing, data integration and data curation, as well as scientific workflow systems.