AI Ethics Advisory Board¶
The MESA project is governed by an External AI Ethics Advisory Board of 3–4 independent experts. The Board exists per the explicit recommendation of NSF Bridges reviewer comment #3 in the proposal review.
Charter¶
The Board meets twice per year (in person or virtual) to review:
- Data-governance policy decisions that affect community use of the MESA prototype.
- AI / agentic-AI deployment safety — sandbox design, prompt-injection resistance, model-output guardrails.
- Early-adopter community engagement and equity — who can access MESA, who is left out, what gaps exist.
- The evolving sustainability and follow-on-proposal plan — does the plan serve the public interest as well as it serves the funders.
The Board's recommendations are advisory; the PI and Change Control Board decide adoption and document rationale in the meeting minutes.
Membership¶
| Slot | Stipend | Travel | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 external experts | Annual honoraria | Annual meeting in Tucson + ~3 virtual meetings | Members selected from early-adopter and community collaborations |
The Board's budget covers honoraria and travel for the full 2-year award period.
Meeting cadence¶
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Month 3 | Charter meeting; review project plan, data-governance policy v1 |
| Month 9 | Mid-Phase-1 review |
| Month 15 | Phase 2 / use-case kickoff review |
| Month 21 | Sustainability / follow-on proposal preliminary review |
Annual in-person meeting in Tucson (covers ~4 quarterly meetings per advisor).
Minutes and public reporting¶
- Board meeting minutes are written by the Project Operations Manager and shared with the CCB.
- A public summary of recommendations (without privileged member attribution) is published on this site after each meeting (planned starting Month 6).
Conflict of interest¶
Board members disclose any consulting, funding, or research relationships that touch the MESA project, the early-adopter communities, or the cyberinfrastructure partners. Disclosures are recorded in CCB minutes.