iDigBio Retreat 2014: Increasing Engagement and Strengthening Partnerships

Dr. Bruce J. MacFadden, Distinguished Professor and Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, and Dr. David L. Reed, Professor and Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, have announced a Graduate Course entitled “Broader Impacts of Science on Society.”
To be held at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, September 6, 2014.
Space for this workshop is limited and first-come, first-served. To register and ensure your spot, complete the online registration form at your earliest convenience.
by Deb Paul (on Twitter @idbdeb)
Have you used Specify? Or, are you looking for an easy way to install and try this collection management software?
guest blog by Talia Karim (University of Colorado) and Una Farrell (University of Kansas)
by Deb Paul, Joanna McCaffrey, Kevin Love
by Deborah Paul for Nelson E. Rios
If you need to georeference hundreds of thousands of localities for millions of specimens, how will you get it done? On May 1st, 2014, 88 people logged in to find out more about how to use CoGe, or Collaborative Georeferencing using a suite of tools developed at Tulane Biodiversity Institute.
“Those millions of bugs on pins, pressed plants, preserved animals and fossils hold a wealth of information about the adaptive abilities of our natural world, not to mention the DNA and curative uses yet to be discovered.”
The BIOSPEX Management System—Provision, Advertise, and Lead Crowdsourcing Projects
There may be no place better than the University of Texas to conduct a broad-based paleo imaging workshop. This certainly seemed the consensus the week of 29 April at the co-sponsored iDigBio and Jackson School of Geosciences imaging event.
Fifteen undergraduate students from seven Florida colleges and universities converged on the Florida Museum of Natural History April 17-19 for an all-expense-paid opportunity to shadow museum professionals and explore careers in the biological sciences.
by Abigail Hollingsworth
Studies show that as girls transfer from middle to high school, they can perceive science as ‘uncool’ and subsequently loose interest in scientific careers. iDigBio postdoctoral associate Dr. Charlotte Germain-Aubrey, external vice-president of the Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) at the University of Florida, created the WiSE Girlz Spring Science Camp to contradict this notion.
In a memorandum released today, OSTP Director John P.
The source materials associated with biodiversity collections often contain the most complete and sometimes most accurate descriptions of localities, collecting events, and even the collection objects themselves of any extant documentation.
iDigBio participates in several initiatives designed to serve, support, and connect small natural history collections.
iDigBio, Archbold Biological Station, Tall Timbers Research Station (TTRS), and the Godfrey Herbarium at Florida State University (FSU) teamed up the weekend of January 18th and part of the following week to image Archbold’s entire herbarium collection. Gil Nelson and Joanna McCaffrey hauled a carload of contributed technology, including camera stations and equipment provided by TTRS and FSU as well as iDigBio’s new OR Technologies light box to the south-central Florida field station for the event.
The Education and Outreach Workshop, held in Gainesville, FL from January 15-17, 2014, brought together representatives from each TCN to broaden our knowledge of E&O opportunities, resources, and strategies. Education and outreach are critical components of iDigBio TCNs. These activities are as wide-ranging and diverse as the TCNs themselves, and have likewise engaged a variety of students.
By Max Paris Environment Unit, CBC News Posted: Jan 05, 2014 9:00 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 05, 2014 12:21 PM ET