[tdwg-content] TDWG 2016 Bioblitz - making it happen
joel sachs
jsachs at csee.umbc.edu
Fri Nov 4 21:26:35 CET 2016
Hi Everyone,
We are organizing a bioblitz-like activity at TDWG
this year. Rob Stevenson has volunteered to coordinate. Over the course of
the week, meeting participants will be encouraged both to post ad hoc observations, and to lead or attend
organized observing sessions (e.g. birding outings, moth lighting
evenings, etc.). This will culminate in a visit to the Soltis Centre [1],
which the organizing committee has arranged for Thursday afternoon.
One goal is to finish the meeting with a nice "biodiversity snapshot of TDWG 2016". Another is to shepherd the data into
GBIF. Here are some details, and some requests:
i. We will create an iNaturalist project for the bioblitz, and encourage
the use of iNaturalist to make observations. You can browse through some
iNaturalist-based bioblitzes at
http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/bioblitz+guide. It's straightforward to
browse by taxon or by observer, and by observations for which help with
identification has been requested.
ii. eBird and Pl at ntNet are also great apps, and we will also support (in
the sense described below) their use for recording observations. Steve
Kelling (eBird) , and Pierre Bonnet (Pl at ntNet), are participating in the
meeting and even though iNaturalist co-director Scott Loarie can not be
with us, he has agreed to help us on line. Pl at ntNet's Central American
project is not yet public, but Pierre has offered to give us access.
iii. It would be great to have a data team, similar to the one we put
together in Woods Hole in 2010, that interacts with the APIs of the
observation apps to harvest, integrate, and present/visualize the data.
One of the purposes of this exercise will be to gain some insight
regarding citizen science app interoperability.
REQUEST 1: Would anyone like to volunteer for the data team?
iv. Rob has compiled a list of taxa and associated experts who will either
be at the meeting, or who are resident in Costa Rica, and who may be able
to join for bioblitz activities. He's in the process of contacting people
on this list. But Rob doesn't know everyone. This brings us to
REQUEST 2: Can anyone volunteer to lead an observing session, or to liaise
with a local colleague or guide who can do so? With the exception of
the trip to the Soltis Centre, which is on the program, opportunities to
observe will need to be carved out of free time in and around La Fortuna (where
most of us are staying) and San Carlos (site of the conference).
REQUEST 3: This is for people both attending and not attending the
meeting. If you can assist in identifying observations in specific
taxonomic groups, please volunteer to do so. You can use iNaturalist to
monitor observations of your group, and to weigh in on unidentified or
mis-identified images.
v. This is very important. Unless you have a permit, don't collect
anything, and don't kill anything.
This email's main purpose is to motivate everyone to start thinking, and
some people to start planning. More, better details will follow in the
coming days and weeks. In the meantime, please chime in with questions and
ideas.
On behalf of Rob Stevenson and the TDWG 2016 program committee -
All the best,
Joel.
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1. http://soltiscentercostarica.tamu.edu/
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