Panchromatic properties of galaxies in wide-field optical spectroscopic
  and photometric surveys
  The past 15 years have seen an explosion in the number of redshifts recovered
via wide area spectroscopic surveys. At the current time there are
approximately 2million spectroscopic galaxy redshifts known (and rising) which
represents an extraordinary growth since the pioneering work of Marc Davis and
John Huchra. Similarly there has been a parallel explosion in wavelength
coverage with imaging surveys progressing from single band, to multi-band, to
truly multiwavelength or pan-chromatic involving the coordination of multiple
facilities. With these empirically motivated studies has come a wealth of new
discoveries impacting almost all areas of astrophysics. Today individual
surveys, as best demonstrated by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, now rank
shoulder-to-shoulder alongside major facilities. In the coming years this trend
is set to continue as we being the process of designing and conducting the next
generation of spectroscopic surveys supported by multi-facility wavelength
coverage.
