EBVs have been introduced by the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), and are the measurements required for studying, reporting, and managing biodiversity change. By implementing EBVs at a global scale, the project supports the management of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development across the world.

Information infrastructure is critical to delivering data for EBVs, and that’s where the ALA as a leading global infrastructure in the aggregation and delivery of data is helping facilitate the improvement of biodiversity knowledge through the production of EBVs.

The ALA recently joined scientific, technical and legal experts from around the world at an EBV Workshop in Amsterdam on Species Traits.   At this workshop scientific experts discussed requirements for developing the EBV class ‘Species traits’. The details of designing and deploying scientific workflows to produce EBV data products were also discussed, along with the data policies that would support the use of data in the EBV process. You can find out more about this workshop at GLOBIS-B Essential Biodiversity Variables Workshop on Species Traits held in Amsterdam.

Find out more about this project and read the latest news on GLOBIS-B. You can find out more about ALA’s involvement by contacting Rebecca Pirzl (rebecca.pirzl@csiro.au).

In order to be accessible and effective, reference collections need to be digitised and their data and metadata made available to the research and education community, to policy-makers, and to the general public.  Digitisation in the most general sense is the association of an organism and its characteristics to a unique identifier that can be indexed for later searching and retrieval.  It can take several forms, ranging from digital capture of label data (date and place of collection, taxonomic identification) to digital image capture and even DNA sequencing.

As part of the 12th Pacific Science Association Inter-Congress, being held from the 08 – 12 July 2013 at the The University of the South Pacific, Laucala Campus, Suva, FIJI, a full day session is being offered which will include a half-day symposium of contributed presentations on DNA barcoding and a half-day instructional workshop on biodiversity informatics.  The DNA barcoding symposium will contribute toward development of a regional strategy for Oceania for  construction and use of standardised barcode libraries.  These libraries could serve basic research in ecology and evolution and/or applications such as the protection of endangered species and control of invasive alien species such as agricultural pests.

The biodiversity informatics workshop will showcase initiatives such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), New Zealand Organisms register (NZOR), and digitization initiatives such as iDigBio and Australia’s Virtual Herbarium (AVH).  This session will explore applications and network tools appropriate for the small and scattered countries and territories of Oceania. Participants will learn the latest approaches to the digitization of natural history collections and explore how these could be applied to their collections. The session will conclude with a round-table discussion on strategic development of, and support for, biodiversity informatics in the Oceania region.

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has expressed its support for this proposed workshop as a contribution to enhancing capacity in taxonomy (a goal of CBD’s Global Taxonomy Initiative, GTI) and strengthening informatics infrastructure in the Pacific region.   Academic collaborations on biodiversity facilitate achievement by CBD Parties in the region of Aichi Biodiversity Target 9 (invasive alien species) and Target 19 (Biodiversity science).

Please note that abstract submission is still open for this conference, as is registration to attend.

Posted on behalf of David E. Schindel (Consortium for the Barcode of Life, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA) and Beth Mantle (Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, Australia)

The Ebbe Nielsen Prize is an annual prize established by the GBIF Governing Board to honour the memory of Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen, who was an inspirational leader in the fields of biosystematics and biodiversity informatics and one of the driving leaders promoting the establishment of GBIF.

The prize is awarded annually to a promising researcher, usually in the early stages of his/her career, who is combining biosystematics and biodiversity informatics research in an exciting and novel way.

Nominations are submitted by GBIF Participants to the GBIF Science Committee, which selects the recipient. The prize is awarded at the GBIF Governing Board meeting and consists of 30,000 Euros, to be used by the recipient to further his/her research.

If you are interested in applying for this prize, please make note of the following conditions:

• Contact the GBIF Australia Head of Delegation (john.lasalle@csiro.au) as soon as possible to indicate your interest.

• Applications may only be submitted by the Head of Delegation on the applicant’s behalf.

• A maximum of two (2) applicants from each region are permitted.

• The deadline for nominations is the 15th February, 2013.

Please click on this link for more information on the Ebbe Nielsen Prize.