Blog

Since we are virtual again this year we created a way to digitize some of that organic mentoring magic that happens at every conference through the virtual Digital Data Mentorship Program.

Draba verna flowering. Image taken from: https://awkwardbotany.com/2018/05/23/tiny-plants-draba-verna/

Every year around this time I think about Aldo Leopold’s ode to Draba, a tiny, inconspicuous plant that can serve as an early sign of spring in some areas for the extra observant. 

Synopsis of Program:

Ghost Jelly (Cyanea nozakii)

Contributed by Lauren Bradley (University of Florida Student and 2021 iDigBio Summer Intern)

Dead Leaf Butterfly! (Kallima inachus)

Contributed by: Lauren Bradley

Autumn is right around the corner, and what a beautiful season it is! Here in Florida, we see the occasional red or yellow leaf during the autumn months, but really, all we can hope for is some cooler weather, and even that isn’t guaranteed. The Kallima inachus seems to agree with us humans in admiring the beauty of autumn, as they have evolved to imitate dead leaves! (Thus giving them their common name, the dead leaf butterfly). 

Contributed by: Molly Phillips 

TDWG 2021, the annual conference of Biodiversity Information Standards, will be held virtually October 18-22, 2021, hosted by the University of Florida.  The theme of this year’s conference, Connecting the world of biodiversity data:  standards uniting people, processes, and tools, will build on lessons learned during the preceding 18 months of virtual interaction and collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic.  TDWG 2021 will be held on the virtual platform Whova, and the schedule will include keynote lectures, symposia, workshops, demos, contribut

Thoreau still contributes to climate change research
New study uses Henry David Thoreau’s observations of fruiting times

Digitized museum specimens, such this bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis), were used to determine the time of fruit ripening. © Consortium of Northeast Herbaria.