Fossil 0’s and 1’s: Databases, Standards, & Mobilization
Blog
International Congress of Entomology
iDigBio had a blast at ICE XXV International Congress of Entomology, held September 25-30, in Orlando, Florida.. The event brought together thousands of scientists from around the world under the theme “Entomology without Borders.” iDigBio staff participated in two symposia, the Insect Expo, and hosted the iDigBio booth in the ICE Exhibit Hall.
Ghost Towns in MyCoPortal I:Nuttallburg and Lawrence William Nuttall
Contributed by: Teresa Iturriaga, Rhianna Baldree, Alex Kuhn, Andrew N. Miller
University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6970
We forget because remembering everything is impossible.
We also forget because remembering can be painful and raise too many questions that have no clear answers.
Such is the case regarding many ghost towns. They remind us of the transience of everything.
iDigBio Joins OBFS for a Workshop at its Annual Meeting
Research Spotlight: November 2016
Mapping Life – Quality Assessment of Novice vs. Expert Georeferencers
-- Contributed by Elizabeth R. Ellwood, Florida State University, with Henry L. Bart, Jr., Michael H. Doosey, Dean K. Jue, Justin G. Mann, Gil Nelson, Nelson Rios, Austin R. Mast
Citizen scientists participate in a host of activities that advance scientific research. These individuals are not trained scientists, but their contributions to research enable scientists to scale up their research across taxa and geographies. Read more here.
Research Spotlight: October 2016
Bees, bees and more bees - or are there? Monitoring the status of US bee populations using biological collections.
-- Contributed by Jillian Goodwin, iDigBio, interviewing Sam Droege, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Sam Droege heads the USGS Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab based at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Maryland, and is working with other researchers to assess the status of bees nationwide.
ESA 2016: Leveraging the Power of Biodiversity Specimen Data for Ecological Research
This was originally a guest post from PLOS Ecology Reporting Fellow, Caitlin McDonough, on research from the Ecological Society of America Scientific Meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, August 7-11, 2016 on the PLOS Ecology Community blog.
Research Spotlight: September 2016
Using island biogeography to investigate a weird and scenic landscape in southern Idaho
-- Contributed by Katie Peterson, PhD Student, Parent Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho
I am currently a third year PhD student at the University of Idaho in the Parent Lab. The Parent Lab studies the biodiversity and evolution of organisms that have recently colonized novel, “blank slate”, environments on islands....read more here.
iDigBio Hosts Workshop on Biodiversity Research Methods at Botany 2016 in Savannah, GA
For the third straight year, iDigBio hosted a full-day workshop on research methods using digitized herbarium specimen data at the annual Botany conference (Botany 2016, Savannah, GA), sponsored by the Botanical Society of America and its affiliated societies. After successful workshops on Georeferencing (Bo
Researchers Use MyCoPortal to Track Down Specimens Lost for Over 100 Years
Specimens collected in Nicaragua by American mycologist Charles Leonard Smith in the late 19th century were thought to have been lost for over 100 years.Through records created on the MyCoPortal, Gregorio Delgado and Ondřej Koukol of EMLab P&K (Phoenix, AZ) and Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic), respectively, were able to
Island Biology and iDigBio - expanding the role of biological specimens in evolution, ecology, and island conservation research
Research Spotlight: August 2016
Preserving historic bee specimens to protect future bee biodiversity
-- Contributed by Joan Meiners, PhD Student, Ernest Lab, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Florida
For my PhD research in Dr. Morgan Ernest's lab at the University of Florida, I am using large datasets of occurrence records of native bees and their habitat associations to try to understand native bee biodiversity and foraging patterns...read more here.
iDigBio at Flora Malesiana 10
Who could resist a conference where the mascot is a giant bright red Rafflesia flower, where bagpipes serenade the participants, and kilt-wearing and traditional folk dancing are encouraged, along with stimulating science? The 10th International Flora Malesiana Symposium was hosted by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland between 11-15 July 2016.
PSC2016 - iDigBio at the 23rd Pacific Science Congress
The 23rd Pacific Science Congress, successfully hosted by Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan brought together scientists from a broad range of fields to discuss progress being made towards a sustainable future in Asia and the Pacific.
Research Spotlight: July 2016
Jointweeds and Their Many Mating Systems!
-- Contributed by Lauren Gonzalez
I’m currently a graduate student in the Soltis Lab in the Florida Museum of Natural History, working on Polygonella(Polygonaceae), sometimes called the jointweeds....read more here.
From iDigBio - About the Cisco Pit Stop: Digitising the Natural History Museum’s collections
For optimum results, digitization of collections needs to go faster, right? Of course, this includes addressing data quality and completeness.
Research Spotlight: May 2016
Playing with biological specimen data in iDigBio – limitations and solutions for research
-- Contributed by Shelley A James
Puerto Rico – warm Caribbean seas, high biodiversity, and coqui frogs. iDigBio was invited to NatureServe’s Biodiversity without Boundaries 2016 meeting in April 2016 to share ideas and resources with members of the conservation community....read more here.
Biodiversity without Boundaries 2016: iDigBio meets the NatureServe conservation network
Conservation. Endangered and rare species. Species distribution maps. Habitat and landscape integrity analysis. Observational data.
Can iDigBio be my research data repository?
Got research data? Need to submit your important data and media associated with biological voucher specimens to a data repository as part of your data life cycle best practices workflow? Are you thinking iDigBio would be the ideal repository for your data?
Although iDigBio is a repository for recordsets of primary biodiversity data of vouchered natural history collections, it is not a "data repository" as defined by most journals. Accepting individual researcher datasets, even those consisting of vouchered, natural history specimen digitized data and media, currently falls outside of the Scope of iDigBio.
Software Carpentry: an iDigBio staff perspective
Ever wondered where to start with analyzing a large biodiversity data set you've downloaded from iDigBio's portal or the iDigBio API? Wondering what software tools are available for cleaning your collections dataset or running some interesting queries? Finding a local Software Carpentry course is an excellent first step.
Research Spotlight: June 2016
Polyploidy in ferns: biodiversity data documenting speciation!
-- Contributed by Blaine Marchant
My research for iDigBio addresses ecological and evolutionary questions by utilizing the enormous dataset provided by digitized natural history specimens from across North America. My current project is aimed at investigating the ecological differentiation of polyploid plant species from their diploid progenitor species....read more here.
Research Spotlight: March 2016
Using herbarium specimen data to understand native mint distribution, evolution, and ecology
-- Contributed by Andre Naranjo
I am a graduate student at the University of Florida, and a member of the Soltis Lab, working on a genus of scrub mints found only in the southeastern United States....read more here.
iDigBio @ the League of Environmental Educators (LEEF) Conference
iDigBio's Jillian Goodwin and Molly Phillips traveled to St. Marks, Florida, to participate in the League of Environmental Educators (LEEF) Conference at COAST Charter School from March 18-20, 2016.
iDigBio @ the FSUS STEAM Day Festival
PHOIBOS2 at Biosphere 2 - practical hacking on identifiers
Permanent, globally unique identifiers are increasingly critical for the efficient analysis, publishing, tracking and reuse of dig data, including biological, geological and ecological information. Practical Hacking On Identifiers at BiOSphere2 (PHOIBOS2) took place at The University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2, Oracle, Arizona, from Feb 17-19, 2016. The Biosphere2 was an ideal location for a workshop - remote, spiny vegetation,
Call for Abstracts for iDigBio Symposium at the Pacific Science Congress 2016
iDigBio is pleased to announce the upcoming Symposium "Data and digital images: progress, tools and scientific need for digitizing Pacific biological specimen collections" at the 23rd Pacific Science Congress: Science, Technology and Innovation, June 13-17, 2016 in Taipei, Taiwan.
We invite presentations from students and professionals about the digitization of natural history collections data in the Asia-Pacific region and the use of mobilized collections data for research.
Call for student abstracts for iDigBio workshop at Island Biology 2016
Are you a student attending the Island Biology 2016 International Conference on Island Evolution, Ecology and Conservation, to be held on Terceira Island, Azores, from 18-22 July 2016? Do you have a research project which involves the digitization of vouchered natural history collections data from island communities, or utilizes published natural history collections data to better understand island ecosystems?
WeDigBio 2016 Call for Participation
During its inaugural year, the Worldwide Engagement for Digitizing Biocollections Event, WeDigBio 2015, engaged thousands of citizen scientists from >50 countries in transcribing specimen labels over four days.
Research Spotlight: Using Museum Specimens to Refine Models of Species Distribution
Using museum specimens to refine models of species distribution
-- Contributed by Charlotte Germain-Aubrey
Using distribution models are crucial for estimating levels of biodiversity at the landscape level. Museum specimens are a significant source of information for these models as they witness current but also past habitats...read more here.
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