Community Announcements

Tell the iDigBio community about your upcoming events, projects or other items pertinent to biodiversity and biological collections.

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TORCH 2022 Summer Student Internship EXTENDED DEADLINE

The NSF-supported Texas and Oklahoma Regional Consortium of Herbaria (TORCH) makes the information contained in natural history collections readily available to researchers, educators, land managers, and the general public. The TORCH project is digitizing and serving online the data from ca. 2 million herbarium specimens from the South-Central United States, unlocking the information from these collections with an array of scientific and societal benefits.

 

The project seeks a total of 20 interns for the summer of 2022 (June 6-August 12). The interns will participate in all aspects of specimen digitization, learn about herbarium collections management and the type of research that is conducted in herbaria, and carry out their own research project using herbarium specimens.

 

These internships will take place at five of the institutions that are collaborating on the project:

 

    the Botanical Research Institute of Texas in Fort Worth;

    the University of Oklahoma in Norman;

    Oklahoma State University in Stillwater;

    Texas A&M University in College Station; and

    the University of Texas at Austin,

 

with four interns residing at each institution.

 

Working closely with a faculty/staff mentor at one of the five institutions, each intern will develop a scientific project utilizing digitized data, with 70% of their time devoted directly to digitization activities, including imaging specimens, transcribing specimen label data, and/or georeferencing. The remaining time will be spent on enrichment activities, including lectures and workshops about the technology and best practices of specimen digitization and curation, data collection and analysis, and poster preparation. Activities may also include field collection of plant specimens. The internship will culminate with the interns and their mentors attending the TORCH scientific meeting, in conjunction with the Texas Plant Conservation Conference, August 8-10 in Fort Worth, where the students will present the results of their projects in a poster session.

 

We particularly encourage applications from students whose participation will add to the diversity of researchers in botanical science, including students from underrepresented groups and first-generation college students.

 

For more information and for instructions on how to apply, please visit: https://www.torcherbaria.org/internship

 

The application deadline has been EXTENDED to Monday, February 14th, 2022 (from January 23rd).

 

DemoCamp Call for Abstracts at SPNHC 2022

We invite you to submit an abstract for presentation at the DemoCamp session of the SPNHC 2022 Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland hosted by the National Museums of Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Since its debut at SPNHC 2009, DemoCamp has provided a venue for software developers, biodiversity informaticians, digitization managers, and collection managers to convene and share innovative approaches for the use of technology to enhance the management and use of natural history collections.

Computer demonstrations are welcomed in any technologies relevant to natural history scientists, collections managers, or biodiversity information managers. Technologies demonstrated may include, among others, collection management software, georeferencing applications, programs for analysis of data, computer vision applications, natural language processing, data visualization, etc. Presentations should feature the latest developments and innovations in currently available products or software as well as ongoing research and prototypes (as long as they are functional and can be demonstrated live). The live demonstration aspect of DemoCamp helps provide focus on technologies which are currently functional and available to the community and will raise awareness of new and improved technologies. The DemoCamp session is an opportunity for technology creators to interact with existing or potential technology adopters and to exchange ideas with users and other technologists. Presenters are encouraged to present content and concepts that are relevant to the SPNHC community. DemoCamp abstracts will appear in the conference proceedings.

The DemoCamp session is strictly for the live demonstration of software technology. PowerPoint, slides, or other “canned” presentation formats are not permitted. The DemoCamp format gives each presenter 15 minutes for a presentation plus 5 minutes for questions. Demonstrators must provide their own laptops with all necessary software installed. A projector and internet connection will be provided.

Abstracts must be submitted by January 28, 2022 and should be prepared and submitted according to the guidelines defined on the conference abstracts website at https://spnhc2022.com/abstract-submissions/, with a copy sent to the session organizer, Jason Best at jbest@brit.org. Questions may also be directed to Jason via email.

For further information and deadlines, please visit the SPNHC 2022 website at https://spnhc2022.com/

We look forward to receiving your submission and seeing you at SPNHC 2022!

Regards,

Jason Best (session organizer)
Caitlin Chapman (session co-organizer)
Erica Krimmel (session co-organizer)

TORCH 2022 Summer Student Internship

The NSF-supported Texas and Oklahoma Regional Consortium of Herbaria (TORCH) makes the information contained in natural history collections readily available to researchers, educators, land managers, and the general public. The TORCH project is digitizing and serving online the data from ca. 2 million herbarium specimens from the South-Central United States, unlocking the information from these collections with an array of scientific and societal benefits.

The project seeks a total of 20 interns for the summer of 2022 (June 6–August 12). The interns will participate in all aspects of specimen digitization, learn about herbarium collections management and the type of research that is conducted in herbaria, and carry out their own research project using herbarium specimens.

These internships will take place at five of the institutions that are collaborating on the project:

  •     the Botanical Research Institute of Texas in Fort Worth;
  •     the University of Oklahoma in Norman;
  •     Oklahoma State University in Stillwater;
  •     Texas A&M University in College Station; and
  •     the University of Texas at Austin,

with four interns residing at each institution.

Working closely with a faculty/staff mentor at one of the five institutions, each intern will develop a scientific project utilizing digitized data, with 70% of their time devoted directly to digitization activities, including imaging specimens, transcribing specimen label data, and/or georeferencing. The remaining time will be spent on enrichment activities, including lectures and workshops about the technology and best practices of specimen digitization and curation, data collection and analysis, and poster preparation. Activities may also include field collection of plant specimens. The internship will culminate with the interns and their mentors attending the TORCH scientific meeting, in conjunction with the Texas Plant Conservation Conference, August 8–10 in Fort Worth, where the students will present the results of their projects in a poster session.

We particularly encourage applications from students whose participation will add to the diversity of researchers in botanical science, including students from underrepresented groups and first-generation college students.

For more information and for instructions on how to apply, please visit: https://www.torcherbaria.org/internship

The application deadline is Sunday, January 23rd, 2022.

ASU Job: Assistant Research Professional in Biodiversity Data Systems Administrator and Programmer

 

Arizona State University: Office of the University Provost Tempe: The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: School of Life Sciences Administration and Faculty

Location: Tempe, AZ

Open Date: Aug 30, 2021

Apply Here

Description

The Arizona State University School of Life Sciences and Biodiversity Knowledge Integration Center (BioKIC) are seeking an Assistant Research Professional who will serve as the Biodiversity Data Systems Administrator and Programmer for the iDigBio Phase 3 project. iDigBio, the Integrated Digitized Biocollections, supports the National Science Foundation's Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections and related programs. The iDigBio Phase 3 project will extend from 2021-2026 to facilitate the digitization, use, and impact of biocollections data for more than 1,600 collections.

BioKIC will provide a Symbiota Support Hub serving all Thematic Collections Networks and portals that make use of the Symbiota software platform. The Hub will provide daily Symbiota support to hundreds of collections; implement novel Symbiota tools; promote cross-network collaborations and training; host and manage data networks and their associated images; and offer an entry into digitization and data publication for new iDigBio collections.

Prospective candidates with outside-of-domain backgrounds in systems administration and programming, are nevertheless strongly encouraged to apply. Our team is dynamic and communicative, with domain-specific strengths that match up well with members who have more generalized IT infrastructure management skills. This a full-time, academic-year (9 month), benefits eligible position allowing candidates to make themselves available for additional summer salary through other funded projects. Experience or a strong interest in developing innovative biodiversity informatics software and services, are highly sought but not required.

The Assistant Research Professional can be located in Tempe, Arizona, or work remotely.

Apply Here

iDigBio Jobs: Systems Programmers

 

JOB 1

JOB NO:514317
WORK TYPE:Staff Full-Time
LOCATION:Main Campus (Gainesville, FL)
CATEGORIES:Information Systems/Technology
DEPARTMENT:19050000 - EG-ELECTRICAL / COMPUTER ENG

Apply Here

Assist in maintaining existing computer, networking, and software infrastructure in ACIS laboratory. Integrate infrastructure developed as part of the iDigBio project into the overall resource offerings of the ACIS laboratory. Act as liaison between the iDigBio project's and lab's hardware and software infrastructure and the other computer services or centers at UF and elsewhere. Manage and coordinate work done by undergraduate and graduate students that affects the functioning of the iDigBio project's and lab's computing infrastructure. Document best practices and develop technical support materials for ACIS hardware and software.

Other significant activities are as a systems programmer and technology implementer for collaborative projects with scientists from application domains. The incumbent will help the team design, implement, and maintain storage, infrastructure, platform, and software clouds including software and hardware selection. Integrate external cloud and distributed data resources with resources developed as part of the projects. Maintain expertise in cloud software and hardware.

Develop software for cloud middleware and/or web portals using modern front-end web technologies and frameworks. Collect and report performance and quality metrics to ensure resources are meeting project goals. Create documentation and software packages to make work usable by other institutions. Train collaborators and end users in the cloud and software resources created.

Design, implement and support complex ETL mappings to migrate large data volumes from heterogeneous source systems into a central data store. Participate in the design of new or changing data mappings and workflows, evolving the iDigBio data model as data standards are updated and data growth need arises. Produce technical specification and documentation to effectively communicate with data providers and consumers. Develop and maintain data visualization workflows and tools to communicate with peers, leadership, and research partners.

JOB 2

JOB NO:517962
WORK TYPE:Staff Full-Time
LOCATION:Main Campus (Gainesville, FL)
CATEGORIES:Information Systems/Technology
DEPARTMENT:19050000 - EG-ELECTRICAL / COMPUTER ENG

Apply Here

Job Description 

Develop software for cloud middleware and web portals. Collect and report performance and quality metrics to insure resources are meeting project goals. Create documentation and software packages to make work usable by other institutions. Train collaborators and end users in the cloud and software resources created.

The majority of the activities are as a systems programmer and technology implementer for collaborative projects with scientists from application domains. The incumbent will design, implement, and maintain storage, infrastructure, platform, and software clouds including software and hardware selection. Integrate external cloud and distributed data resources with resources developed as part of the projects. Create and distribute virtual appliances and other virtual resources to collaborators and end users. Maintain expertise in cloud software and hardware.

Assist in maintaining existing computer, networking, and software infrastructure in ACIS laboratory. Integrate infrastructure developed as part of the project into the overall resource offerings of the ACIS laboratory. Act as liaison between the project's and lab's hardware and software infrastructure and the other computer services or centers at UF and elsewhere. Manage and coordinate work done by undergraduate and graduate students that affects the functioning of the project's and lab's computing infrastructure. Document best practices and develop technical support materials for ACIS hardware and software.

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