On October 19-20, iDigBio was represented by iDigBio project staff Cathy Bester, Kevin Love, Joanna McCaffrey and David Jennings along with post doc Charlotte Germain-Aubrey and graduate student Claudia Segovia at the Florida Museum of Natural History’s “ButterflyFest” in Gainesville Florida.
Space for this workshop is limited.
This is a support position for the Advanced Computing and Information Systems (ACIS) laboratory. The Director of the ACIS laboratory, Dr. Jose Fortes, is leading the IT component of a large multi-university project titled “National Resource for Digitization of Biological Collections” (iDigBio). The iDigBio project is an exciting initiative to provide software and infrastructure to digitize the nation’s biological collections and disseminate that infrastructure to other institutions. The ACIS laboratory is responsible for designing and developing the middleware, supporting storage, and cloud infrastructure for the project. iDigBio’s data integration expert will develop or utilize tools and techniques to automate data transformation tasks required by iDigBio’s mission. The expert will work closely with the rest of the iDigBio team to document and redistribute these tools and techniques, including the potential development of data transformation, cleaning, and analysis appliances. The expert will be a contact person for new data sources of iDigBio’s systems. In addition to jointly developing data-management IT components with other ACIS experts, the expert will work with data providers on determining effective methods for the representation and transmission of data from source databases into iDigBio’s global schema. The expert will also work with data consumers to address their needs for additional data sources and types, or for establishing more effective data representations for iDigBio’s global schema.
To apply and for more details, go to: https://jobs.ufl.edu/postings/45214
More than 60 paleontologists representing 41 institutions assembled in New Haven, CT the week of September 23rd, 2013 to share ideas, protocols, preferences, and strategies. This was iDigBio’s most populous workshop to date, with an assortment of excellent presentations and ample opportunities for rich discussion.
Faculty Position in Evolutionary Ecology and Systematics
Northern Arizona University
The Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University invites applications for a tenure-track teaching and research position in the area of Evolutionary Ecology and Systematics at the assistant professor level, to begin August 2014. Preference will be given to applicants with experience using molecular techniques, informatics, and phylogenetics to study arthropod biodiversity at regional and global scales. The successful candidate will develop a research program to attract extramural funding, have a strong commitment to undergraduate education, and contribute to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses including systematics, evolution, ecology and entomology. Minimum qualifications include a PhD in the biological sciences with an emphasis in arthropod systematics, evolutionary ecology, or a related field and one year post-doctoral experience. Preferred qualifications include experience and commitment to excellence in teaching at the undergraduate level, outstanding oral and written communication skills, evidence of a strong scholarly record (i.e., publications and/or grants), experience in collections curation, and experience working with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Northern Arizona University has a student population of about 25,000 at its main campus in Flagstaff and at about 30 sites across the state. Committed to a diverse and civil working and learning environment, NAU has earned a solid reputation as a university with all the features of a large institution but with a personal touch, with a faculty and staff dedicated to each student’s success. All faculty members are expected to promote student learning and help students achieve academic outcomes.
While undergraduate education is our primary emphasis, our faculty contribute to wide range of graduate programs and are involved in diverse research areas. While our emphasis is undergraduate education, we offer a wide range of graduate programs and research. The Department of Biological Sciences offers Bachelor's degrees in five emphasis areas, and also has both Masters and doctoral degree programs. Our institution has carefully integrated on-campus education with distance learning, forming seamless avenues for students to earn degrees.
Flagstaff has a population of about 67,000, rich in cultural diversity. Located at the base of the majestic San Francisco Peaks, Flagstaff is 140 miles north of Phoenix at intersection of Interstate 17 and Interstate 40.
Applications must include: (1) a cover letter highlighting your particular qualifications for this position; (2) a curriculum vitae; (3) a statement of teaching philosophy; (4) a statement of research interests; and (5) names and contact information for three references. Save all items, in the order stated, as a single PDF and send to: BiologyFacultySearch@nau.edu. Only complete application packets sent electronically to this address will be reviewed. The search will remain open until the position is filled or closed; however, the screening committee will begin reviewing applications on October 15, 2013.
NAU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and is responsive to the needs of dual-career couples. We are committed to a diverse faculty and seek individuals with interest in teaching and working in diverse communities. Minorities, women, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Please see http://www.cefns.nau.edu/ for further information about the college, NAU or the Flagstaff area.
Eve S. McCulloch
There was no dearth of enthusiasm or expertise at the recent Fluid-preserved Arthropod and Microscopic Slide Imaging workshop held at the University of Michigan September 16-18, 2013. For those whose interests span the gamut of cameras, lenses, microscopes, and the myriad gadgets and creative solutions that make it possible to capture images of difficult subjects, this workshop was the place to be.
Austin Mast interviews Libby Ellwood, our newest postdoctoral scholar.
Mast: It's my pleasure to welcome you as iDigBio's newest postdoctoral scholar, Libby. Your research focus will be on broadening public participation in the digitization of biodiversity research specimens. This is a goal to which your previous research background is well suited. What do you see as the most relevant aspects of your previous graduate and postdoctoral research for this new position?
Ellwood: Thanks, I’m thrilled to be a part of iDigBio’s dynamic team. I learned quickly in my graduate career that there is a wealth of information contained in museum specimens and that they are extremely useful in contemporary scientific research.
I earned my PhD in Biology from Boston University where my research focused on the effects of climate change on plants and animals. The metric I used to assess how much plants and animals were affected was phenology, the timing of biological events. Phenology includes the timing of when plants flower, when insects emerge and when migratory birds arrive, and many of these annual activities are impacted by temperature. In order to evaluate whether an organism’s phenology has changed, I first needed to understand the historical phenology—the date that a certain plant was flowering a hundred years ago, for example. Old journals, including those of Henry David Thoreau, were invaluable for this research. Some of these resources I found digitized online, while many others were tucked away deep in the special collections of museums and libraries. These records, combined with modern-day observations of the same plants and animals, allowed me to track phenology over 160 years. Several interesting discoveries came from this research, including the finding that many plant species are now flowering up to three weeks earlier now than they were in the 1850’s when Thoreau was observing them!
Amateur naturalists, such as the fossil club participants pictured here (Friends of the Calvert Marine Museum) are potential downstream users of iDigBio.
On Friday, September 6th, Nelson Rios from Tulane University and the FishNet2 project, presented a lecture covering advanced use of GEOLocate software and services available through the web-based Application Programming Interface (API). Using Adobe Connect meeting software, over 30 people came to find out what they can do with GEOLocate tools and services beyond the online public user-interface. The recorded meeting was IT-oriented, but those new to "just what is a service?" were also welcome. Many of the participants were from the recent iDigBio 2nd Train-the-Trainers Georeferencing Workshop and they were eager to pick-up where the TTT2 GEOLocate material ended. (TTT2 Workshop) (TTT2 Blog)
