iDigBio and the University of Texas High-resolution X-ray CT Facility Team Up for Successful Short Course
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Paleobiology Database to Host API Hackathon March 20-22, 2015
The Paleobiology Database Executive Committee is running a hackathon with the goal of creating exciting tools (web applications, R code, data analysis tools, data visualization tools, integration with other web databases, etc.) that use the Paleobiology Database API for research, education, or outreach.
When and where? March 20th-22nd, 2015, on the campus of UC Santa Cruz.
Data Standards for Sharing & Hands-On Experience with the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT)
From Deb Paul, on twitter @idbdeb
Call for Participation: Hackathon on iDigBio APIs/Services and Interoperability
Goal: Design, develop, implement, test and/or document uses of iDigBio data via its APIs
Location: University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Dates and times: June 3-5, 2015; 8 am - 5 pm each day
To apply: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6Wr1womZuY7O5o1 deadline February 28, 2015. Invited applicants will be notified by March 9th.
Bringing Herbarium Workflows Up To Date
Updates from the Beyond the Box Digitization Competition
Potential entrants to the Beyond the Box competition have been asking questions regarding rules and other specifics to the competition. The Beyond the Box team have responded by creating a FAQ section on the website and sending out the following update:
The Sitch with the Stitch—The CITStitch Hackathon
iDigBio at BIS-TDWG 2014: some digitization, crowd-sourcing, and data use too
by Deb Paul, with Libby Ellwood and Greg Riccardi as Eds.
iDigBio and Entomological Collections Network Team for Successful ECN Annual Meeting
Nearly 200 collections professionals attended this year’s Entomological Collections Network (ECN) conference, 15-16 November 2014 in Portland, Oregon.
iDigBio Summit IV Report
Summary
The Entomological Collections Network (ECN) Partners with iDigBio for Upcoming Meeting in November
Pamela Horsley1, Christy Bills2, Floyd Shockley3, Katrina Menard4, Gil Nelson5
1Michigan State University/ECN, 2Natural History Museum of Utah/ECN, 3Smithsonian Institution/ECN, 4Sam Noble Museum, Oklahoma State University/ECN, 5Florida State University/iDigBio
GSA 2014 Digitization Symposium Attracts 33 Presentations, 4 Posters, and More than 75 Participants
Arguably the most important joint gathering of paleo and geo scientists in North America, the annual conference of the Geological Society of America (GSA) regularly attracts more than 5,000 participants, several hundred posters and presentations, and an array of vendors and exhibitors.
Santa Barbara Workshop Draws 50 Participants
Data Carpentry - Please can we have some more?!
iDigBio and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) co-hosted a Data Carpentry Workshop on Monday and Tuesday, September 29 – 30, 2014.
Workshop Opportunity: Strategies for Vertebrate Digitization
Florida Museum of Natural History ButterflyFest 2014
iDigBio staff participated in the Florida Museum of Natural History’s annual event ButterflyFest “A Celebration of Wings, Wildlife and Biodiversity”. The event was held Saturday, October 4, at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville Florida.
NSF's BIO Postdoctoral Program Has New Collections Research Area
NSF’s Directorate for Biological Sciences’ (BIO) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) Solicitation was recently published for 2015. The fellowships will be awarded to 40 recent recipients of their doctoral degree for research and training in three selected areas.
The three selected areas for fiscal year 2015 are:
A New Report of Recommendations for DNA Banking
The use of sequencing and other molecular data now plays a critical role in the majority of research across the fields of systematics, ecology, and evolutionary biology. In addition, DNA barcoding offers an efficient way to identify specimens for large efforts like biodiversity inventory projects or biological resource management.
iDig’dBio@ FSU’s Herbarium Imaging Blitz a Success!
By the numbers:
Short Course Announcement: Basics of CT Data Acquisition, Visualization, and Analysis
SHORT COURSE: Basics of CT Data Acquisition, Visualization, and Analysis
DATE: 22-26 February 2015 (22 and 26 are travel days)
Undergraduates Learn About Careers and Graduate Study in Biology at the Field Museum
About 50 undergraduates and recent graduates attended the Careers and Graduate Studies in the Biological Sciences workshop in Chicago, 6 September 2014.
iDigBio meets ESA
August 2014
Written by Libby Ellwood, iDigBio Postdoctorial Associate, Florida State University.
Deb Paul and I attended the Ecological Society of America conference in Sacramento, CA to represent iDigBio with an exhibitor booth. We set up our table with computers, brochures, posters, videos, newsletter sign-up sheets and, of course, enticing candy.
NSF awards $7.5 million to UF-led effort to digitize biodiversity collections
Florida Museum of Natural History research assistant Zachary Randall uses an imaging system to photograph a skin of Brandt’s Hedgehog, Paraechinus hypomelas, so the digitized specimen can be accessed online.
Florida Museum of Natural History photo by Rob Robins
New Initiative Will Improve Access to Biological Collections, Data
Scientists announce national effort to foster digitization of biodiversity collections
Writing a proposal for the ADBC program at NSF
August 2014
Often at iDigBio sponsored workshops, symposia, and outreach events, we are asked the question: “How can I write a successful ADBC proposal?”
Volunteering for the Summer at NYBG and AMNH
By Chelsea Fowler
iDigBio and NANSH Host Small Herbarium Digitization Workshop at Botany 2014
CPET Workshop Center for Pre-collegiate Educational Training
iDigBio Retreat 2014: Increasing Engagement and Strengthening Partnerships
Title: iDigBio Retreat 2014: Increasing Engagement and Strengthening Partnerships
Setting: Austin Cary Forest Campus
At the Helm: iDigBio's Project Manager, David Jennings
Members of the crew: iDigBio Staff
Out of the Darkness - Bringing Biological Collections into the 21st Century
Larry Page would like to get back to his fishes, the catfish and loaches he studies as a University of Florida ichthyologist, but first he and his colleagues have some work to do on plant, animal and fossil specimens — millions of them.
Page and an army of helpers are on year three of iDigBio, a 10-year, $12 million effort to digitize the biological specimens tucked away in museum collections across the country. He estimates there could be 1 billion nationally, representing the collected knowledge of biological diversity for vast swaths of the planet.
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