ESIIL (Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab)

What ESIIL (Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab) does

ESIIL (Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab) is an NSF-funded data synthesis center established in 2022-2023 at the University of Colorado Boulder, operating within the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Its core function is to enable a global community of environmental data scientists to apply emerging analytics — including AI/ML, remote sensing, and synthesis methods — to pressing ecological and climate challenges. The center operates through a structured program model: self-organized Working Groups across three cohorts (20+ teams cumulatively, with a third cohort of 10 teams announced in March 2026), weekly EDS Seminars, annual Innovation Summits, and open Learning Resources including a 2026 Data Short Course.

The underlying technology stack is the ESIIL Portal, built on CyVerse computational infrastructure and branded as OASIS (Open Analysis and Synthesis Infrastructure for Science). The portal exposes specialized VICE applications — JupyterLab with PyTorch GPU, RStudio with the ecocomDP package for NEON data, VS Code Server, Ubuntu/QGIS for geospatial work, and Datahog for data management — alongside a CyVerse-integrated Data Store hosting 30+ working group datasets. Science of Team Science practices are embedded operationally via a dedicated lead and decision-making frameworks, and integration with NEON, LTER Network, Imageomics, and Earth Lab extends the data and partner footprint.

ESIIL does not sell commercial products or services; all infrastructure, training, and collaborative resources are provided free of charge. Revenue is grant-driven, primarily from NSF award #2153040, with supplementary institutional support from Earth Lab (CU Boulder Grand Challenge) and CIRES. The go-to-market motion is community-led and event-driven, combining open digital channels (website, social, mailing list, self-serve portal), annual summits, weekly seminars, and cohort-based working-group applications to attract and retain academic environmental researchers worldwide.

Name

ESIIL (Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab)

Legal name

Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab

Website

https://esiil.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NSF-funded environmental data science synthesis center at CU Boulder that provides cloud-based computational infrastructure (OASIS/CyVerse portal), working-group cohorts, and training programs to a global community of academic environmental researchers tackling ecological and climate challenges.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Data Science Research Infrastructure

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

ESG Data Platforms, Controls & Audit Readiness (Data quality, internal controls) (EUAHAJAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Infrastructure, Networking & Systems Administration Training (BPAEANAJ), Data Engineering, Integration & ETL/ELT Services (BPAEAHAB)

Keywords

• Environmental data science
• Research cyberinfrastructure
• Data synthesis center
• Cloud computing research
• Team science collaboration

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. NSF Grant Funding: ESIIL is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant #2153040. As an NSF-funded synthesis center, the organization operates on government research grants rather than commercial revenue.
2. Institutional Support: Additional support provided by Earth Lab through CU Boulder's Grand Challenge Initiative and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). CyVerse receives NSF support under Grant Nos. DBI-0735191, DBI-1265383, and DBI-1743442.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

ESIIL operates a cloud-based environmental data science platform (the ESIIL Portal / OASIS) that provides computational infrastructure, training resources, and collaborative research tools to environmental scientists worldwide. The center funds and coordinates self-organized Working Groups across multiple cohorts, hosts weekly seminars and annual Innovation Summits, and delivers open educational resources including the free Data Short Course. All infrastructure, tools, and training are provided at no cost to users.

Product overview

ESIIL is a next-generation NSF data synthesis center operating as a unified platform-plus-modules architecture. The core product is the ESIIL Portal (https://portal.esiil.org), which provides access to OASIS (Open Analysis and Synthesis Infrastructure for Science) — a unified digital hub centralizing computational resources and collaboration tools. The platform offers specialized VICE Applications including Jupyter Lab environments (with PyTorch GPU support), RStudio with ecocomDP for NEON ecological data, VS Code Server, QGIS for geospatial analysis, and Datahog for data management. Supporting the core platform, ESIIL provides complementary services including a Learning Portal with training resources, Working Groups (self-organized research teams across multiple cohorts), an EDS Seminar Series, and Science of Team Science resources. The platform integrates with CyVerse computational infrastructure for scalable, cloud-based analytics enabling environmental data scientists to develop science-based solutions to pressing environmental challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OASIS (Open Analysis and Synthesis Infrastructure for Science): A unified digital hub centralizing critical resources and collaboration tools for Environmental Data Science teams, integrating diverse systems into a single platform supporting data-driven decision-making.

Products and services

• ESIIL Portal Unified digital platform providing access to CyVerse computational infrastructure including JupyterLab, RStudio, VS Code Server, QGIS, and specialized data science applications for environmental researchers worldwide.

Quantifiable outcome

• Three cohorts of working groups established with 20+ total research teams
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability11 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CyVersecoreTechnology or IntegrationCyVerse provides the underlying computational infrastructure for ESIIL, including the data store, VICE applications, and cloud-based analytics platforms. ESIIL Portal is built on CyVerse technology. CyVerse is funded by NSF under Grant Nos. DBI-0735191, DBI-1265383, and DBI-1743442.
• University of ArizonacoreTechnology or IntegrationHome institution of CyVerse. Provides the computational infrastructure hosting ESIIL's cloud-based tools and data storage capabilities.
• Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIRES is a cooperative institute between CU Boulder and NOAA. ESIIL operates as part of CIRES, with many team members (including Director Jennifer Balch) having CIRES affiliations. Provides institutional support and research collaboration.
• University of OslominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a collaborator institution. Researchers from University of Oslo participate in ESIIL working groups and collaborative research.
• Earth Lab (CU Boulder)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarth Lab is part of CU Boulder's Grand Challenge Initiative. Provides additional support for ESIIL and collaborates on EDS Seminar Series hosting and event programming.
• National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNEON, operated by Battelle, co-organizes hackathons with ESIIL including the HDR ML Challenge. NEON provides ecological observation data used by ESIIL working groups for synthesis research.
• Imageomics InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with ESIIL on the HDR ML Challenge hackathon events, bringing interdisciplinary expertise in biological and environmental data analysis.
• iHARPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Research Alliance contributing to the HDR ML Challenge hackathon collaboration with ESIIL.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• iDigBio (Integrated Digitized Biocollections): NSF-funded national cyberinfrastructure for digitization of biodiversity specimens. Similar non-profit, NSF-funded, academic-cyberinstructure model serving adjacent biodiversity and environmental research communities.
• Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network: NSF-funded network of 26 long-running ecological research sites producing foundational environmental datasets that ESIIL working groups consume and synthesize. A more established incumbent in environmental data with deeper historical datasets.
• Microsoft Planetary Computer: Microsoft's environmental data platform providing petabytes of global environmental data with hosted Jupyter notebooks. Competes for the same researcher audience as ESIIL but offers hyperscaler-scale infrastructure and datasets.
• Google Earth Engine: Google's commercial-scale geospatial analytics platform offering petabyte-scale environmental datasets and cloud computing for free to researchers. Comparable audience (environmental data scientists) but vastly larger scale and broader dataset catalog.

Direct peers

• DataONE: NSF-funded data network providing access, search, and preservation for environmental and ecological data. Comparable in mission around enabling open environmental data science and serving similar researcher audiences with shared cyberinfrastructure.
• National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS): UCSB-based NSF-funded data synthesis center focused on ecology and environmental data. Direct peer as both organizations serve as NSF synthesis centers enabling working groups and synthesis science on environmental data, with overlapping funder (NSF) and target community.
• National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON): NSF-funded continental-scale ecological observatory operated by Battelle that provides standardized open ecological data. Active hackathon and data partner of ESIIL, serving overlapping researchers and datasets in macroecology.
• CUAHSI (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science): NSF-supported cyberinfrastructure organization providing data services, computing resources, and training to the hydrology community. Operates with a similar academic consortium model, NSF backing, and community-driven training focus.
• CyVerse: NSF-funded cyberinfrastructure platform providing the underlying compute, data store, and VICE applications that power ESIIL's OASIS. Functions as both core infrastructure partner and a comparable open science platform serving life and environmental science researchers.
• Earth Lab — University of Colorado Boulder: CU Boulder's environmental data science hub that co-hosts the EDS Seminar Series with ESIIL and provides institutional support. Closely overlapping scope in environmental data analytics, training, and the same Boulder research community.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CU_ESIIL
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/esiil
• Instagraminstagram.com/cu_esiil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ESIIL (Environmental Data Science Innovation and Inclusion Lab)