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Vacancy Announcement - Biodiversity Informatics - Brazil
by Eduardo Dalcin 04 Feb '14

04 Feb '14

This may be relevant in this list. Thanks -------------------- *POSITION INFORMATION* *Vacancy Announcement:* UNEP/ROLAC - Brazil Office Project: Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use *Type of Contract:* Service Contract *Duration:* 12 months *Duty Station:* Petropolis - Rio de Janeiro *Closing date for application:* February 9th 2014 *ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT* This announcement aims to hire a specialist in Biodiversity Informatics for being part of the team responsible for planning, development and maintenance of SiBBr, system of the project Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use, at the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC), in Petropolis - Rio de Janeiro. The initial contract will be for duration of 01 year, with possibility of extension. The contract will begin on March, 2014 and end on February, 2015. *FUNCTIONS / KEY RESULTS EXPECTED* The specialist will work as a member of the LNCC team that is responsible for implementing the Information System on Brazilian Biodiversity - SiBBr and its applications and tests in order to make it available to the public. This work will be carried out under the coordination of the LNCC and with other members of the SiBBr team - experts in databases, object oriented programming, web design and application development. The team will follow the following work plan: * Implement the development project SiBBr system; * Perform analysis of requirements: actors, scenarios, functional and non-functional properties, system constraints; * Set initial system specification; * Perform the initial implementation of communication tests; * Develop and enhance the SiBBr - emphasizing integration and data load; * Define detailed specification: use cases, data modeling and process and integration of data load; * Conduct implementation; * Database; * Interfaces; * Integration and processing of queries; * Web Services applications; * Perform testing and validation. The following activities shall be performed: * technical support in the implementation of models for integration of data on the biodiversity of Brazil in their different organizational levels and based on international models available; * technical support in the implementation of policies, guidelines and data management protocols to ensure quality and support the institutions associated with SIBBr in your scanning processes and publication of data and metadata on biodiversity; * technical support in the implementation of inter-institutional processes of elaboration and adoption of controlled languages in the national and international context; * participation and technical support in the preparation and adoption of guidelines for quality of the published data by SIBBR, as well as its clearance, settlement, publishing and development of learning materials on data quality; * technical support in building policies and guides on publishing, management, access and use of data on biodiversity in Brazil; * Technical support for the development, inclusion of content and administration of technological tools and controlled languages of SiBBr; * Work collaboratively with the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC) team in Petropolis - RJ; * Identify ways of adapting the information system and applications to better attend the aspects related to the biodiversity and ecosystems; * Permanent communication with the project team, at LNCC, MCTI and UNEP; * Participation in physical meetings or teleconferences with the technicians involved; * Make visits to SiBBr partnerships institutions to provide technical advice aiming to qualify, standardization and integration of databases; * Monitoring the packets of data and metadata that are integrated into SiBBr, checking quality and creating reports proposing improvements; * Any other functions related directly or indirectly to the office will be ordered by the LNCC, Project Management Unit or their representatives. The professional to be hired to carry out its activities and responsibilities under the supervision of the LNCC and the Project Management Unit composed by the Project Coordination ( MCTI ) and the UNEP Brazil office. *DELIVERY REMUNERATION SCHEDULE* Level: SB4 Payment will be made monthly. *REPORTING LINES* The recruited specialist will perform his or her duties and responsibilities under Project Coordination and UNEP Brazil Office supervision. *IMPACT OF RESULTS* All the activities to be developed under this term of reference will have direct impact on the development and implementation of the Information System on Brazilian Biodiversity - SiBBr being developed under the "Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use." The result of the services provided by this specialist will be the implementation of the Information System on Brazilian Biodiversity - SiBBr and its elaboration, tests and implementation in order to be available to the public. This work will be carried out under the coordination of the LNCC and with other members of the SiBBr team. *COMPETENCIES AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS* *Professionalism:* Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and approaches relevant to the area of work; good research, analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to apply judgment in the work environment; the capacity to plan own work and manage conflicting priorities. *Commitment to Continuous Learning*: Willingness to keep abreast of new UN procedures and rules and developments in the field of information technology. *Communication: *Good verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to draft/edit variety of written texts, documents, reports, correspondences and to articulate ideas in a clear and concise style. *Technological Awareness:* Ability to make effective use of required computer software and other equipment relevant to the post (MS Word, Excel, etc.). *Teamwork:* Good interpersonal skills such as initiative, responsibility, teamwork, flexibility and capacity to work under pressure. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations in a multi-cultural organization. Ability to provide effective support in relation to work conducted by colleagues; *Travel:* Candidate must have availability to travel. *RECRUITMENT QUALIFICATIONS* *Education:* Degree in Natural Sciences as Biology, Ecology and related fields; Desirable Master in informatics related to biodiversity issues. *Experience:* * Minimum of 3 (three) years of experience in biological collections, trusteeship, digitization and management of biodiversity data in excel or other programs; * Experience in computer technology applied to biology or environmental and / or ecosystem data; * Knowledge of metadata standards for biodiversity, such as EML, Dublin Core and Darwin Core; * Desirable knowledge of systems for managing metadata catalogs as MetaCat; * Desirable knowledge of standards for data management TDWG biodiversity; * Good management of informatics tools, such as Excel; * Pro-activity, assertive communication, responsibility and ability to work in a team and under pressure; * Availability to undertake occasional travel. *Language Requirements:* Fluency in Portuguese. Intermediate proficiency in English and / or Spanish. Qualified candidates may submit their applications by e-mail, in English, including: Detailed curriculum vitae (Personal History format - P11<http://www.pnud.org.br/arquivos/P11_English.doc> ); Application letter containing the remuneration expectation. *FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE ACCESS FULL VERSION OF THE TERMS OF REFERENCE AVAILABLE IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.* Applications must be sent to the address mentioned below by no later than February 9th 2013, 23:59 UTC/GMT (Brasília time) quoting reference "*Specialist in Biodiversity Informatics* *- Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use*". E-mail: procurement.brazil(a)pnuma.org Eventual requests for information or doubt clarifications may be submitted to UNEP Brazil (to the email address above) byFebruary 3rd, 2013. The answers will be published on the UNEP webpage, below this ToR on February 5th, 2013. *Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.* *Only short-listed qualified candidates will receive an acknowledgement* -------------------------------- *Eduardo Dalcin* Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro Diretoria de Pesquisas Núcleo de Computação Científica e Geoprocessamento e-mail: edalcin(a)jbrj.gov.br Trabalho / Work: +55 21 3204 2116 -------------------------------- *e-mail alternativo / * *alternate email:** edalcin(a)jbrj.org <edalcin(a)jbrj.org>* --------------------------------

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Semantics for Biodiversity special issue (updated submission date Feb. 28)
by Ben Adams 27 Jan '14

27 Jan '14

*Semantics for Biodiversity -- call for papers* *February 28, 2014 - Paper submission deadline (updated)* The study of biodiversity examines the richness and variety of life on Earth across multiple organizational and spatial scales, ranging from genomic to organismal through populations and ecosystems; and from local to global scales. Presently, biodiversity observational data are collected by scientists around the world using a diverse set of methods and stored in a variety of formats. Because the problems that biodiversity scientists are investigating are time-critical, societally-relevant, and often global in scale, there is a pressing need to enable scientists to better share, discover, and synthesize biodiversity data from multiple sources. Modern semantic technologies provide a promising way to accomplish this, by capturing rich representations of biodiversity data in ways that afford maximum interoperability and detailed description for re-use. The goal of this special issue is to bring together a collection of papers on biodiversity semantics - to present current state-of-the-art semantic efforts in representing biodiversity data, to spur advances in semantic technologies for biodiversity research, and to help define a common strategy for advancing semantic approaches for describing biodiversity, including considerations about the broader ecological and environmental contexts that inform biodiversity investigations. Semantic approaches for describing biodiversity data are currently being explored on several fronts. The international-scope Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) group has developed metadata standards such as Darwin Core (specimen data), ABCD (biological collections), the Taxonomic Concept Schema (names and concepts), and the proposed Audubon Core (biodiversity multimedia). Darwin Core is very broadly accepted as a transfer schema for sharing biodiversity data, and is the standard adopted by GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility - that currently aggregates over 400 million biodiversity records from collections around the world. However, all current TDWG standards are lacking in semantic expressivity and compatibility with reasoning requirements for effective knowledge representation and reasoning (KRR), and tend to focus on observations of specimens without descriptions of their environmental context. In parallel, the Earth and environmental science community, through emerging efforts like NSF's EarthCube, will be developing semantic models for describing environmental systems and processes. The genomics community also has a growing interest in linking biodiversity information to genetic samples. For example, metagenomics research often involves collection of aggregate samples of biodiversity, such as an amount of soil or ocean water, where genetic sequencing then provides a characterization of the variety of microbial and other life forms that are in the sample. Under the banner term of phenotype ontologies, research communities focusing on model organisms and (increasingly) broader taxonomic groups have assembled structured vocabularies for anatomical features that permit reasoning and integration with genomics and evolutionary analyses. Clarifying the semantics of biodiversity will provide an essential linchpin among investigations that enable us to understand how environmental factors, both biotic and abiotic, influence phenotype, community composition, and species' ranges and viability, as well as provide insights into the evolutionary relationships among Earth's life forms. This special issue calls for original papers describing the latest developments, trends, and solutions for biodiversity semantics and its applications. The topics of interests include, but are not limited to: - Formal models of biodiversity - specimens, occurrences, samples, etc. - Taxonomic and nomenclatural semantics, classification representation and provenance - Field observation and measurement semantics - Semantic approaches for enhancing discovery of biodiversity data - Interoperability of biodiversity with Earth and environmental science data - Linking taxonomic with trait and genomic data - Semantic representations of phylogenetic data - Semantic descriptions of biodiversity models and semantic approaches to support model-data confrontation - Integration of species, ecosystems, and genetic level data - Semantics of populations, communities, and ecosystem services - Data integration for critical zone studies - Geospatial semantics for biodiversity - locations, ranges, co-occurrences, etc. - Software for semantic annotation of biodiversity data - Bottom-up biodiversity ontology development - Ontology design patterns and methods for ontology evolution for biodiversity - Linked Open Data (LOD) for biodiversity - Representing provenance of biodiversity data - Limitations of, alternatives to, and extensions to Semantic Web languages and methodologies to serve biodiversity research needs *Submissions* *February 28, 2014 - Paper submission deadline (updated)* Submissions shall be made through the Semantic Web journal website at http://www.semantic-web-journal.net. Note that you need to request an account on the website for submitting a paper. Please indicate in the cover letter that it is for the *Semantics for Biodiversity* special issue. Submissions are possible in all standing paper type of the journal, see http://www.semantic-web-journal.net/authors for descriptions: full research papers, surveys, linked dataset descriptions, ontology descriptions, application reports, tool/systems reports. *Guest editors* Benjamin Adams (The University of Auckland, New Zealand) Nico Franz (Arizona State University) Birgitta König-Ries (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) Deborah McGuinness (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Mark Schildhauer (NCEAS, University of California, Santa Barbara)

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Call for speakers (deadline March 20): Taxonomy Boot Camp 2014, Washington DC, November 4-5
by DCMI Announce 18 Jan '14

18 Jan '14

*** Apologies for cross-posting *** ————————————————————————— *10th annual Taxonomy Boot Camp* November 4-5 as part of KMWorld Washington, DC *Website:* http://www.taxonomybootcamp.com/2014/ *Call for Speakers:* http://www.taxonomybootcamp.com/2014/CallForSpeakers.asp *Deadline:* March 20, 2014 ————————————————————————— The 10th annual Taxonomy Boot Camp will be held again in Washington DC from November 4-5 as part of KMWorld. The call for speakers is now open, deadline for proposals is March 20. Proposals for individual sessions, panels and workshops are all welcome, covering any aspect of taxonomy/ontology/vocabulary design, management, integration and use. See full details at http://www.taxonomybootcamp.com/2014/, or submit your proposal online at http://www.taxonomybootcamp.com/2014/CallForSpeakers.aspx . Taxonomy Boot Camp brings together practitioners and experts in taxonomy, vendors who have created tools to help manage your taxonomies, and novices who are starting out in the world of information management. Two parallel tracks on the first day provide those new to the field with the nuts and bolts they need to get up to speed, and expert practitioners with insights into how other professionals have made their organizations more successful through better use of taxonomies. On the second day of the Boot Camp, everyone shares in case studies, practical sessions on taxonomy tools and their use, and cutting edge developments in the field. Don't miss this unique opportunity to learn about tools and techniques you can use to bring your information clouds together, and meet the people who can help you be successful in your efforts. Michael Crandall, Conference Chair Senior Lecturer and Director, iAffiliates Program and Chair, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) The Information School Box 352840 University of Washington Seattle, WA 98105-2840 (206) 897-1798 mikecran(a)uw.edu http://ischool.uw.edu/people/faculty/mikecran http://ischool.uw.edu/iaffiliates

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CfP DC-2014, Austin, Texas
by DCMI Announce 07 Jan '14

07 Jan '14

*[image: Inline image 1]* *Metadata Intersections: Bridging the Archipelago of Cultural Memory* DC-2014 International Conference and Annual Meeting of DCMI 8-11 October 2014 AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center The University of Texas at Austin *Call for Participation: http://purl.org/dcevents/dc-2014/cfp <http://purl.org/dcevents/dc-2014/cfp>* *Researchers, practicing professionals and students* with broad interests in principled metadata design and best practices have gathered annually since 1995 under the DCMI banner to exchange ideas, to discover important common ground, and to work on shared problems. As one of the first broadly inclusive efforts at crowdsourcing expertise on the Web, the DCMI community has been a key player in the evolving information environment of the Web of documents and data. *DC-2014 CONFERENCE THEME:* Metadata is fundamental in enabling ubiquitous access to cultural and scientific resources through galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM). While fundamental, GLAM traditions in documentation and organization lead to significant differences in both their languages of description and domain practices. And yet, the push is on for "radically open cultural heritage data" that bridges these differences as well as those across the humanities and the sciences. DC-2014 will explore the role of metadata in spanning the archipelago of siloed cultural memory in an emerging context of linked access to data repositories as well as repositories of cultural artifacts. *BEYOND THE THEME:* Submissions of papers, reports, and posters are welcome in all areas of innovative metadata design and best practices. *IMPORTANT DATES:* *Peer-Reviewed Papers, Project Reports & Posters:* — Submission Deadline: 3 April 2014 — Author Notification: 12 July 2014 — Final Copy: 16 August 2014 *Special & Panel Sessions, Workshops:* — Submission Deadline: 3 April 2014 — Author Notification: 1 June 2014 *Best Practice Posters & Demonstrations* — Submission Deadline: 2 June 2014 — Author Notification: 30 June 2014 (All deadlines: Midnight, Pacific Standard Time) *Program Committee Chairs:* — William Moen, *School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, United States* — Amy Rushing, *University of Texas at San Antonio, United States*

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Announcement of TDWG 2014 conference and Call for Symposia and Workshops is open.
by Mergen Patricia 19 Dec '13

19 Dec '13

Dear all We are happy to announce the 2014 TDWG annual conference and the opening of the call for Symposia and Workshops. The 2014 TDWG Conference will be held 3-7 November at the Nairobi Crowne Plaza Hotel ( http://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/nairobi/nbocp/hoteldetail). Attendees will have the option of choosing accommodations at several other hotels within a short distance of the Crowne Plaza. Registration details will be provided early in 2014. The meeting website is under construction and will be available soon at http://www.tdwg.org/conference2014.<http://conference2014.>For planing your journey, note that it is foreseen to have trainings the week before the TDWG conference and that post conference excursions will be suggested for the week after the conference. Call for Symposia and Workshops open until January 15th 2014 at : www.tdwg.org/homepage-news-item/article/tdwg-conference-2014-call-for-sympo… We look forward to read your proposals and to see you next November in Nairobi. With my best wishes for end of year celebrations. Patricia Mergen General Secretary of TDWG on behalf of the Executive committee secretary(a)tdwg.org

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full-time position in Museum Informatics
by pdpolly 17 Dec '13

17 Dec '13

A final reminder… ------------------------------------- Full-time position in museum informatics ------------------------------------- The Center for Biological Research Collections at Indiana University invites applications for a full-time position in museum informatics. We seek a project coordinator for the development of digital resources from IU’s plant, animal, and fossil collections with skills in programing, biological nomenclature, and digital 3D data who will coordinate activities digitization and data processing activities. A graduate degree in museum informatics (or equivalent experience) is required, as are skills in computer programming and SQL databases. The appointment will be for four years pending satisfactory evaluation. Additional information is available at http://www.indiana.edu/~cbrc/search.html. For full consideration, candidates should review the application requirements and submit their application at: http://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/616. Questions regarding the position or application process can be directed to: Professor David Polly (pdpolly(a)indiana.edu). Indiana University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer; women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Review of applications will begin December 20, 2013. P. David Polly Professor, Geological Sciences Adjunct, Anthropology and Biology Director, Center for Biological Research Collections Indiana University 1001 E. 10th Street Bloomington, IN 47405-1405 pdpolly(a)indiana.edu +1 (812) 855-7994 http://mypage.iu.edu/~pdpolly/

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Full-time position in Museum Informatics
by pdpolly 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

------------------------------------- Full-time position in museum informatics ------------------------------------- The Center for Biological Research Collections at Indiana University invites applications for a full-time position in museum informatics. We seek a project coordinator for the development of digital resources from IU’s plant, animal, and fossil collections with skills in programing, biological nomenclature, and digital 3D data who will coordinate activities digitization and data processing activities. A graduate degree in museum informatics (or equivalent experience) is required, as are skills in computer programming and SQL databases. The appointment will be for four years pending satisfactory evaluation. Additional information is available at http://www.indiana.edu/~cbrc/search.html. For full consideration, candidates should review the application requirements and submit their application at: http://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/616. Questions regarding the position or application process can be directed to: Professor David Polly (pdpolly(a)indiana.edu). Indiana University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer; women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Review of applications will begin December 20, 2013. P. David Polly Professor, Geological Sciences Adjunct, Anthropology and Biology Director, Center for Biological Research Collections Indiana University 1001 E. 10th Street Bloomington, IN 47405-1405 pdpolly(a)indiana.edu +1 (812) 855-7994 http://mypage.iu.edu/~pdpolly/

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Searching for grad students to fill FSU herbarium curator position
by Austin Mast 22 Nov '13

22 Nov '13

I would greatly appreciate it if you would pass this announcement on to individuals who might be interested in this opportunity. I am keen to find students who are interested in gaining experience as a curator of a biodiversity research collection (Florida State University's Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium; http://www.herbarium.bio.fsu.edu/) while working with me towards a graduate degree in plant diversity research (e.g., systematics, ecology, evolution, biogeography, or biodiversity informatics). Staff members of the herbarium have played leadership roles in digitization of biodiversity specimens locally (e.g., with the Deep South Plant Specimen Imaging Project and a collaboration that led to digitization of Tall Timbers Research Station's biodiversity collections) and nationally (e.g., with Morphbank and iDigBio). The herbarium curator is currently treated as a graduate research assistantship, and students have traditionally held the position for 1–3 years (see http://www.bio.fsu.edu/fin_sup_index.php for a description of financial support for our graduate students). Individuals filling the curator position would not be expected to fill the position during their entire time as graduate students, but would be encouraged to gain teaching and lab/field research experience as well. FSU has a strong ecology and evolution program (http://www.bio.fsu.edu/ and http://www.bio.fsu.edu/ee/ for more details), and the campus is situated in the beautiful Florida panhandle—one of the continent's biodiversity hotspots. Applications are due by Dec. 1, 2013 (for details see http://www.bio.fsu.edu/gradadmit.php). Interested individuals should also contact me directly (contact info in signature). Thanks! Austin Austin Mast ____________________________________ Associate Professor · Director, Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium · Associate Editor, Systematic Biology and Systematic Botany · Treasurer, American Society of Plant Taxonomists · Steering Committee Member, iDigBio, The National Resource for Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections Department of Biological Science · 319 Stadium Drive · Florida State University · Tallahassee, FL 32306-4295 · U.S.A. Office is King Life Science Building, room 4065 · Lab is King Life Science Building, rooms 4068 and 4084 · Herbarium is Biological Science Unit One, room 100 Voice: 1 (850) 645-1500 · Fax: 1 (850) 645-8447 · amast(a)bio.fsu.edu ____________________________________

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TR: Job offer : Senior Software Engineer / France
by Rovellotti olivier 21 Nov '13

21 Nov '13

Dear all Natural Solutions is looking into hiring a software developer to work on various Biodiversity Informatics projects. The Job is based in Marseille, and some French would be welcome. Full job description can be found here: http://natural-solutions.squarespace.com/job-senior-dev Kind regards Rovellotti Olivier Directeur Natural Solutions 00 33 (0)6 09 57 66 53 Twitt me: @orovellotti <https://twitter.com/orovellotti> <http://www.natural-solutions.eu> www.natural-solutions.eu

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Job offer : Senior Software Engineer / France
by Rovellotti olivier 18 Nov '13

18 Nov '13

Dear all Natural Solutions is looking into hiring a software developer to work on various Biodiversity Informatics projects. The Job is based in Marseille, and some French would be welcome. Full job description can be found here: http://natural-solutions.squarespace.com/job-senior-dev Kind regards Rovellotti Olivier Directeur Natural Solutions 00 33 (0)6 09 57 66 53 Twit me: @orovellotti <https://twitter.com/orovellotti> <http://www.natural-solutions.eu> www.natural-solutions.eu

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