b Good News / Bad News for the Future of Modern Star Trek By www.scifistream.com Published On :: Fri, 12 Apr 2024 15:47:14 +0000 Strange New Worlds gets another season, but it's the end of the road for the animated hit Star Trek: Lower Decks. The post Good News / Bad News for the Future of Modern Star Trek first appeared on SciFi Stream. Full Article Star Trek Paramount+
b Is The Lazarus Project Coming Back? By www.scifistream.com Published On :: Tue, 30 Apr 2024 20:23:11 +0000 Season 2 of the sci-fi thriller premieres on TNT in the United States on Sunday, June 9. But there's a catch. The post Is The Lazarus Project Coming Back? first appeared on SciFi Stream. Full Article The Lazarus Project TNT
b Gallery: Doctor Who Double-Episode Premiere Is This Week By www.scifistream.com Published On :: Mon, 06 May 2024 22:16:29 +0000 Take a look at the first photos from Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson's first season in the TARDIS, streaming this Friday on Disney+. The post Gallery: Doctor Who Double-Episode Premiere Is This Week first appeared on SciFi Stream. Full Article Doctor Who BBC Disney+ Photos
b House of the Dragon: Watch The Brand New Trailer For Season 2 By www.scifistream.com Published On :: Tue, 14 May 2024 17:04:16 +0000 HBO's fantasy epic looks to be going even bigger with the second season, as war brews over the Iron Throne. The post House of the Dragon: Watch The Brand New Trailer For Season 2 first appeared on SciFi Stream. Full Article Game of Thrones HBO Max Trailers
b Five Ship-Based Shows You Should Watch By www.scifistream.com Published On :: Thu, 30 May 2024 07:29:01 +0000 If you are looking for an outer-space romp, here are five recommendations for your next sci-fi binge! The post Five Ship-Based Shows You Should Watch first appeared on SciFi Stream. Full Article Lists Video
b Star Trek: Prodigy Return Date Has Been Revealed By www.scifistream.com Published On :: Mon, 03 Jun 2024 19:38:06 +0000 Dal and the crew of the U.S.S. Protostar return for a second season of adventures this summer at its new streaming home. The post Star Trek: Prodigy Return Date Has Been Revealed first appeared on SciFi Stream. Full Article Star Trek Netflix
b Star Trek: Prodigy Has A Brand New Trailer By www.scifistream.com Published On :: Thu, 20 Jun 2024 23:50:45 +0000 The second season of the out-of-this-quadrant animated series finally arrives July 1 at its new home. The post Star Trek: Prodigy Has A Brand New Trailer first appeared on SciFi Stream. Full Article Star Trek Netflix
b Catalogna: l’insostenibile follia dello status quo By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Sun, 12 Nov 2017 17:15:00 +0100 affaritaliani.it 08-11-2017.- Alessandro Sahebi Cinismo e pugno di ferro. La ricetta di Mariano Rajoy per la Catalogna sembrerebbe, agli occhi di un osservatore esterno, avere avuto i suoi effetti: l'incarcerazione di sette ministri e la ritirata strategica di Carles Puigdemont in Belgio appaiono infatti ai più come il tramonto di una vicenda che per qualche giorno ha tenuto con il fiato sospeso l'intera Europa e i suoi assetti. Ciò nonostante la strategia del governo centrale spagnolo tutto può rivelarsi fuorché il frutto di un abile ingegno diplomatico e quella che sul campo di battaglia sembrerebbe poter essere letta come una travolgente vittoria potrebbe trasformarsi, in poco meno di due mesi, in un temibile autogol. Da una parte ci siamo noi, che osserviamo. Ridiamo, confezioniamo meme e ci godiamo i quotidiani sviluppi di una storia che sembra essere stata scritta sul copione di una tragi- commedia politica di serie B. Dall'altra, tuttavia, c'è un popolo. Un popolo che l'1 ottobre ha visto la ragion di Stato trasformarsi in abuso (come ammesso dallo stesso governo spagnolo), un popolo che vede i suoi rappresentanti incarcerati ed esiliati, ricordati come i numerosi eroi politici catalani di epoca franchista. C'è un popolo che ha vissuto sulla propria pelle la pressoché totale ottusità di Madrid e dei suoi rappresentanti, il furto della propria autonomia. Le aziende non fuggono dalla Catalogna, lo sanno bene i catalani. Scappano le sedi centrali ma qualsiasi buon economista sa che il capitalismo globalizzato, oggi, non ha confini se si tratta di profitti. E lo sa bene l'Europa, silenziosamente imbarazzata i primi giorni delle violenze a Barcellona, ben più decisa nelle settimane successive. Una presa di posizione fedele alla Spagna che a Bruxelles sanno bene di non poter tenere ciecamente se dalle urne, il 21 dicembre, i movimenti indipendentisti avranno la meglio. Mitizzazione del leader politico Puigdemont, assenza di ascolto e pugno di ferro in cabina elettorale potrebbero essere dei veri e propri boomerang per Mariano Rajoy e potrebbero riconfermare, nonostante tutto, le istanze indipendentiste dei catalani. A quel punto il nostro cinismo, la nostra ironia e il nostro pragmatismo non potranno fare altro che i conti con la loro volontà. La follia dello status quo sta nell’ignorare totalmente il cambiamento. Lo Stato è un concetto pre-democratico messo in discussione dalle spinte locali da una parte, dall’europeismo dall’altra. Ripensare gli assetti non è una pazzia, la pazzia è pensare che non siano soggetti al corso della storia. In questa ottica essere in grado di assorbire gli shock senza chiudersi in una cieca visione ancorata al passato è una sfida che, soprattutto in quest'epoca di sconvolgimenti politici e sociali, l'Europa deve affrontare con coraggio e con la consapevolezza che nel corso della sua storia, lunga o corta che sia, ne incontrerà con certezza in continuazione. La risposta, darwiniana se volete, è sapersi evolvere. Se non teniamo aperta la porta del cambiamento ci chiudiamo nello stagno delle nostre sicurezze. A quel punto i casi sono due: o la porta chiusa verrà sfondata, travolgendoci, o diventeremo stagno. E nello stagno tutto muore. Full Article
b INDIPENDENTISMO E LIBERTÀ D’ESPRESSIONE. Spagna: una questione di giustizia irrisolta e multiforme By www.collectiuemma.cat Published On :: Sun, 13 May 2018 19:15:00 +0200 AFFARI INTERNAZIONALI 3 Maggio 2018 ELENA MARISOL BRANDOLINI Da alcuni mesi, in Spagna la giustizia occupa la scena mediatica. È successo con la vicenda catalana, in cui il ricorso ai tribunali e alla legalità ha sostituito la politica fin dal principio. Poi si è compreso che si trattava solo della punta dell’iceberg e quello che c’era sotto è venuto a galla un po’ alla volta. Si è visto allora che la giustizia spagnola presenta vari problemi. Sul piano della legislazione, come dimostra il recente caso della sentenza nei confronti degli uomini della ‘Manada’, autori di violenza sessuale, ma puniti per il reato di abuso, differenza prevista nel codice penale. O nella legislazione anti-terrorista, che ha così tanto ampliato il campo di applicazione per cui ora “tutto è Eta”: una rissa da bar che coinvolge due poliziotti della Guardia Civil, la canzone di un rapper, l’interruzione del transito su un’autostrada. Sul terreno dell’ordinamento, con istituti come l’Audiencia Nacional erede del tribunale franchista e quindi inesistente altrove. Su quello infine della debole separazione fra i poteri dello Stato, con una tendenza alla ‘giudiziarizzazione’ della politica e con il rischio di farne il mezzo di competizione tra i partiti della destra spagnola. A farne le spese è la libertà d’espressione A farne le spese è la libertà di espressione che la sezione spagnola di Amnesty International segnala essersi ridotta. Perciò la censura si allarga, rasentando il ridicolo nel sequestro di fischietti e magliette di colore giallo nella finale di calcio della Copa del Rey. A farne le spese sono le persone che rischiano il carcere, stanno per finirci o ci sono da tempo, imputate di delitti che non hanno commesso. E’ il caso di rappers, utenti delle reti sociali, comici, militanti di movimenti. E’ il caso dei nove prigionieri politici catalani in regime di carcerazione preventiva: Oriol Junqueras, Dolors Bassa, Carme Forcadell, Quim Forn, Raül Romeva, Josep Rull, Jordi Turull, e i Jordis, Jordi Sánchez e Jordi Cuixart, leader del movimento indipendentista, in cella da oltre sei mesi per avere convocato una manifestazione sotto il dipartimento di Economia. Contro l’indipendentismo, il giudice istruttore Llarena del Tribunal Supremo ha costruito un vero e proprio teorema accusatorio, teso a dimostrare l’uso della violenza nei fatti occorsi nell’autunno 2017, per cui 13 dei 25 imputati nella macro-causa lo sono per ribellione, delitto punito con 25-30 di carcere. La violenza, pur se non esercitata direttamente dagli accusati, sarebbe quella da questi indotta nel comportamento della polizia spagnola il giorno del referendum per farne rispettare il divieto, o quella che si sarebbe potuta determinare per la presenza intimidatoria di un grande assembramento di persone il 20 settembre. Un’imputazione per un delitto inesistente, a detta di diversi giuristi stranieri e di alcuni spagnoli; contestata da Amnesty International che critica il regime di carcerazione preventivo in cui si trovano i Jordis. Per la semplice ragione che è mancante del suo presupposto, la violenza appunto, poiché il movimento indipendentista catalano è sempre stato pacifico e di massa. La processione dei capi d’accusa Tanto che la giustizia spagnola starebbe meditando un’eventuale riconsiderazione di questa imputazione attribuita ad alcuni degli esiliati, fino a sostituirla con l’accusa di sedizione, che prevede pene inferiori. Questo, in attesa di riuscire a dimostrare il delitto di malversazione di fondi pubblici, di cui sono accusati tutti i componenti dell’ex-governo per il referendum. Considerando che la Generalitat aveva il bilancio controllato dal governo spagnolo fin dal 2015 e commissariato negli ultimi giorni del settembre scorso. Contraddizione che ha aperto un inedito conflitto tra il ministro del Tesoro Montoro, che deve mostrarsi commissario efficiente, e il giudice Llarena, che teme di vedere compromesso l’altro aspetto del suo impianto processuale. Per entrambi i delitti la giustizia spagnola ha infatti chiesto l’estradizione degli imputati esiliati: di Carles Puigdemont, prima a Bruxelles e ora in libertà condizionata in Germania, di Clara Ponsatí in libertà condizionata nel Regno Unito, di Toni Comín in libertà condizionata a Bruxelles e di Marta Rovira rifugiatasi in Svizzera, imputati di ribellione; di Lluís Puig e Meritxell Serret a Bruxelles accusati di malversazione; mentre per Anna Gabriel non c’è richiesta di estradizione dalla Svizzera, perché imputata di disobbedienza. Il movimento indipendentista si è sempre appellato a una mediazione europea senza successo, perché la Commissione ha continuato a sostenere che si tratta di una questione interna allo Stato spagnolo. La strategia di Puigdemont è stata quella d’internazionalizzare il conflitto, per evidenziare il carattere politico della persecuzione giudiziaria. Il suo arresto in Germania e quello successivo di altri cinque dirigenti dell’indipendentismo hanno suscitato più di una perplessità nelle opinioni pubbliche europee e sui media internazionali. Il tribunale tedesco non ha riconosciuto gli estremi di violenza per l’estradizione di Puigdemont; la giustizia britannica si è presa del tempo per esaminare le carte relative all’imputata Ponsatí; in Belgio, la giustizia sta istruendo la richiesta relativa agli altri imputati; la Svizzera ha già detto che non concederà estradizioni per ragioni politiche. E il Comitato dei Diritti Umani dell’Onu, sollecitato da Jordi Sánchez perché era stato impedito a presentarsi come candidato a president della Generalitat, raccomanda che ne siano garantiti i diritti politici. Una vicenda tutta spagnola su cui peserà il giudizio di almeno altri quattro paesi europei. Full Article
b Symposium: Nature and Governance – Biodiversity Data, Science, and the Policy Interface By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Sun, 16 Dec 2012 16:34:44 +0200 The EU BON project which is coordinated by the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin/Germany has started on 1 December and will continue for 4.5 years. The EU BON Kickoff Meeting will be held in Berlin from 13 to 15 February 2013. With respect to EU BON’s objectives the International Symposium "Nature and Governance – Biodiversity Data, Science, and the Policy Interface" will be held prior to the EU BON Kickoff Meeting from 11 to 12 February in Berlin with high-ranking speakers. You are most welcome to attend the Symposium. The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is pleased to host this international symposium and will bring together high-ranking speakers and guests from worldwide to talk and discuss about these Major Topics: What (data) policy needs The future of biodiversity information: new ways for generating, managing, and integrating biodiversity data How new approaches / models can link scales and disciplines Broadening the base and opening up: new ways to engage the public and stakeholders in biodiversity monitoring and assessments Résumé / conclusions For more details, please have a look at the programme page. The 1st day of the Symposium and the reception will be held "under the dinosaurs" in the central exhibition hall of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. The 2nd day will be held in the Seminaris Conference Center in the quiet south-west of Berlin. The closing of the Symposium will be celebrated as "Come together & Ice-Breaker for EU BON Kickoff Meeting" in the nearby beautiful Large Green House of the Botanic Garden Berlin. If you want to take part, please register at the registration page. Full Article News
b Bringing big data to biodiversity By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:20:00 +0200 EU-funded project EU BON will build the European gateway for integrated biodiversity information On 1st December 2012, 30 research institutions from 15 European countries, Brazil, Israel and the Philippines, and more than 30 associated partners started EU BON - "Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network". This €9 million, EU-funded research project aims to advance biodiversity knowledge by building a European gateway for biodiversity information, which will integrate a wide range of biodiversity data – both from on ground observations to remote sensing datasets – and make it accessible for scientists, policy makers, and the public. The project plans to advance the technological platform for GEO BON (Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network) to improve the assessment, analysis, visualisation and publishing of biodiversity information, and to enable better linkages between biodiversity and environmental data. EU BON will ensure a timely provision of integrated biodiversity information needed to meet the global change challenges and to contribute for next generation environmental data management at national and regional levels. "Global problems arising from rapidly changing environmental conditions and biodiversity loss require internationally coordinated solutions" said the project coordinator Dr. Christoph Häuser from the Museum für Naturkunde – MfN, in Berlin, Germany. "Current biodiversity observation systems and environmental data are unbalanced in coverage and not integrated, which limits data analyses and implementation of environmental policies. A solution seems impossible without real integration of biodiversity data across different spatial, temporal, and societal scales", added Dr Häuser. EU BON will deliver several important products, including a European integrated biodiversity portal, a roadmap for EU citizen sciences gateway for biodiversity data, an open data publishing and dissemination framework and toolkit, a policy paper on strategies for data mobilisation and use in conservation, a prototype of integrated, scalable, global biodiversity monitoring schemes, strategies for EU-integrated national and regional future biodiversity information infrastructures, and a sustainability plan for regional and global biodiversity information network. The cooperation for data integration between biodiversity monitoring, ecological research, remote sensing and information users will result in proposing a set of best-practice recommendations and novel approaches with applicability under various environmental and societal conditions. A key task of EU BON is to harmonise future biodiversity monitoring and assessments and to engage wider society groups, such as citizen scientists and other communities of practise. Although focussing primarily on European biodiversity and collaborating with major EU initiatives (e.g. LifeWatch and others), EU BON will also collaborate closely with worldwide efforts such as GEO BON, GBIF, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and others. EU BON will be a valuable European contribution to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), and be built on the GEO principles of open data sharing. The kick-off meeting of EU BON will take place on 13-15 February 2013 at the Museum für Naturkunde – MfN in Berlin, Germany and will be preceded by a symposium "Nature and governance: biodiversity data, science and policy interface" on 11-12 February 2013. ### Additional information EU BON (2012) stands for "Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network" and is an European research project, financed by the 7th EU framework programme for research and development (FP7). EU BON seeks ways to better integrate biodiversity information and implement into policy and decision-making of biodiversity monitoring and management in the EU. GEO BON stands for "Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network". It coordinates activities relating to the Societal Benefit Area (SBA) on Biodiversity of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Some 100 governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations are collaborating through GEO BON to organise and improve terrestrial, freshwater and marine biodiversity observations globally and make their biodiversity data, information and forecasts more readily accessible to policymakers, managers, experts and other users. Moreover, GEO BON has been recognized by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. More information at: http://www.earthobservations.org/geobon.shtml. GEOSS stands for Global Earth Observation System of Systems, built by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). GEO is constructing GEOSS on the basis of a 10-Year Implementation Plan for the period 2005 to 2015. The Plan defines a vision statement for GEOSS, its purpose and scope, expected benefits, and the nine "Societal Benefit Areas" of disasters, health, energy, climate, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity. Full Article News
b The Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre joins EU BON By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:40:00 +0200 The news about the new partnership has been officially disseminated through the website of the Norwegian Biodiversity Centre. The news piece discusses the importance of EU BON in the classification of biodiversity data and the experience and technology that the new partnership brings to it.The article quotes the EU BON project as "the only EU project of its kind with a main purpose is to build an infrastructure that improves the exchange and dataflow throughout Europe." More can be found at: http://www.biodiversity.no/ArticleList.aspx?m=34&amid=11718The news about the partnership has been also picked up by the English language Norwegian Source for science news ScienceNordic.Earlier on the visibility and the popularity of the EU BON project have been also enhanced by a publication of the first newsletter by the Estonian science news website eBiodiversity, with credit given to the ambitious project aiming to build an European gateway for integrated biodiversity information. Full Article News
b International biodiversity data symposium to mark the kickoff of the EU BON project By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:45:15 +0200 The EU BON project is pleased to announce the International Symposium "Nature and Governance – Biodiversity Data, Science, and the Policy Interface", which was held in Berlin from 11 to 12 February. The symposium aimed at clarifying and popularizing EU BON's objectives prior to the official EU BON Kick-off Meeting held from 13 to 15 February 2013. The symposium was hosted by the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and brought together high-ranking speakers and guests from across the world to talk and discuss the different aspects of the EU BON Project. Among the main issues covered was the future of biodiversity information, the challenges in front of new data policies, new approaches in collecting information, and ways to engage the public in biodiversity monitoring and assessments. The EU BON project was started on 1 December, 2012, and will continue for 4.5 years. The aim of EU BON is to build a substantial part and contribute to the Group on Earth Observation's Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON), through an innovative approach of integration of biodiversity information systems. The project, built as an answer to the need of a new integrated biodiversity data, will facilitate access to this knowledge and will effectively improve the work in the field of biodiversity observation in general. ### For more information on the symposium and the events planned, please visit our programme page. All interested parties are most welcome to attend the symposium or to follow it on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. Additional information EU BON (2012) stands for "Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network" and is a European research project, financed by the 7th EU framework programme for research and development (FP7). EU BON seeks ways to better integrate biodiversity information and implement into policy and decision-making of biodiversity monitoring and management in the EU. GEO BON stands for "Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network". It coordinates activities relating to the Societal Benefit Area (SBA) on Biodiversity of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Some 100 governmental, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations are collaborating through GEO BON to organise and improve terrestrial, freshwater and marine biodiversity observations globally and make their biodiversity data, information and forecasts more readily accessible to policymakers, managers, experts and other users. Moreover, GEO BON has been recognized by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. More information at: http://www.earthobservations.org/geobon.shtml. Full Article News
b EU BON featured in the January newsletter of the The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:36:18 +0200 The news about the International Symposium "Nature and Governance – Biodiversity Data, Science, and the Policy Interface" and the official EU BON Kickoff Meeting has been reflected in the January newsletter of the The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). GBIF only features high end biodiversity news and major projects. EU BON project summary is placed in the collaborations section of the newsletter and the two events are included in the Upcoming Events, pointed out to the readers' attention. To view the GBIF newsletter for January, please go to: http://www.gbif.org/communications/resources/newsletters/, or see the newsletter PDF attached below. Full Article News
b Stellenausschreibung: Wissenschaftliche/r Mitarbeiter/in für das EU BON Projekt am Museum für Naturkunde Berlin By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:21:00 +0200 Job alert: Research assistant at Museum für Naturkunde Berlin The Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin offers a job opportunity with the EU BON project (WP1+WP2 tasks) - fluency in German is a must! The position is set for a two-year contract with a possibility for further extensions. More information about the position, the application process and job requirements is available below and in the document attached.## Zur Unterstützung der Beteiligung des MfN an EU BON ist am Museum für Naturkunde Berlin zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt eine vorerst auf 2 Jahre befristete (mit der Option der Verlängerung)Position eines/einer Wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeiters/in mit 75% der regelmäßigen wöchentlichen Arbeitszeit Entgeltgruppe E13 TV-L Berlin zu besetzenAufgabengebiete:Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeit und eigenständige Durchführung spezifischer Aufgaben innerhalb des EU BON Projektes, vor allem innerhalb der Arbeitspakete 1 (Datenquellen) und 2 (Datenintegration), i.b.- Datenrecherche und Erstellung von Übersichten für EU BON relevanter Daten- und Informationsquellen;- Bewertung und Lückenanalyse bestehender Datenbanken und Informationssysteme zur Biodiversität;- Harmonisierung, Aktualisierung und Koordinierung taxonomischer Referenz-Datenbanken i.b. für Europa;- Unterstützung der Einführung und Verbesserung von Datenstandards zur Verbesserung der Integration und Interoperabilität unterschiedlicher Datenebenen- Mitwirkung bei Erprobung neuer Datenerhebungsansätze und –verfahren, auch im Gelände- Planung und Durchführung von Projekttreffen und -veranstaltungen- Erstellung von Ergebnisberichten und wissenschaftlichen Präsentationen / Veröffentlichungen. Bewerbungsschluss: 28.02.2013 Full Article News
b Data paper describes Antarctic biodiversity data gathered by 90 expeditions since 1956 By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:23:00 +0200 Huge data encompassed into a unique georeferenced macrobenthic assemblages database A new peer-reviewed data paper offers a comprehensive, open-access collection of georeferenced biological information about the Antarctic macrobenthic communities. The term macrobenthic refers to the visible-for-the-eye organisms that live near or on the sea bottom such as echinoderms, sponges, ascidians, crustaceans. The paper will help in coordinating biodiversity research and conservation activities on species living near the ocean bottom of the Antarctic.The data paper "Antarctic macrobenthic communities: A compilation of circumpolar information", published in the open access journal Nature Conservation, describes data from approximately 90 different expeditions in the region since 1956 that have now been made openly available under a CC-By license. The paper provides unique georeferenced biological basic information for the planning of future coordinated research activities, for example those under the umbrella of the biology program Antarctic Thresholds – Ecosystem Resilience and Adaptation (AnT-ERA) of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). The information collected could be also beneficial for current conservation priorities such as the planning of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).The expeditions were organised by several famous explorers of the Antarctic. The area covered by the paper consists of almost the entire Southern Ocean, including sites covered by a single ice-shelf. The vast majority of information is from shelf areas around the continent at water depth shallower than 800m. The information from the different sources is then attributed to the classified macrobenthic assemblages. The results are made publicly available via the "Antarctic Biodiversity Facility" (data.biodiversity.aq).A specific feature of this paper is that the manuscript was automatically generated from the Integrated Publishing Toolkit of the Antarctic Node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (AntaBIF IPT) and then submitted to the journal Nature Conservation through a novel workflow developed by GBIF and Pensoft Publishers. (see previous press release). Data are made freely available through the AntaBIF IPT, and sea-bed images of 214 localities through the data repository for geoscience and environmental data, PANGAEA- Data Publisher for Earth and Environmental Science (sample: http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.198682). Speaking from on board the research vessel 'Polarstern', the paper's lead author Prof. Julian Gutt of the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany commented: "The most important achievement of this paper is that data collected over many years and by various institutions are now not only freely available for anyone to download and use, but also properly described to facilitate future work in re-using the data. The Data Paper concept is certainly a great approach that multiplies the effect of funds and efforts spent by generations of scientists." The data will also be used for a comprehensive Biogeography Atlas of the Southern Ocean project to be released during the XI SCAR Biology Symposium in Barcelona July 2013. SOURCE: EurekAlert! Full Article News
b The Future of Botanical Monography: Report from an international workshop, 12–16 March 2012, Smolenice, Slovak Republic By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:42:00 +0200 Monographs are fundamental for progress in systematic botany. They are the vehicles for circumscribing and naming taxa, determining distributions and ecology, assessing relationships for formal classification, and interpreting long-term and short-term dimensions of the evolutionary process. Despite their importance, fewer monographs are now being prepared by the newer generation of systematic botanists, who are understandably involved principally with DNA data and analysis, especially for answering phylogenetic, biogeographic, and population genetic questions. As monographs provide hypotheses regarding species boundaries and plant relationships, new insights in many plant groups are urgently needed. Increasing pressures on biodiversity, especially in tropical and developing regions of the world, emphasize this point. The results from a workshop (with 21 participants) reaffirm the central role that monographs play in systematic botany. But, rather than advocating abbreviated models for monographic products, we recommend a full presentation of relevant information. Electronic publication offers numerous means of illustration of taxa, habitats, characters, and statistical and phylogenetic analyses, which previously would have been prohibitively costly. Open Access and semantically enhanced linked electronic publications provide instant access to content from anywhere in the world, and at the same time link this content to all underlying data and digital resources used in the work. Resources in support of monography, especially databases and widely and easily accessible digital literature and specimens, are now more powerful than ever before, but interfacing and interoperability of databases are much needed. Priorities for new resources to be developed include an index of type collections and an online global chromosome database. Funding for sabbaticals for monographers to work uninterrupted on major projects is strongly encouraged. We recommend that doctoral students be assigned smaller genera, or natural portions of larger ones (subgenera, sections, etc.), to gain the necessary expertise for producing a monograph, including training in a broad array of data collection (e.g., morphology, anatomy, palynology, cytogenetics, DNA techniques, ecology, biogeography), data analysis (e.g., statistics, phylogenetics, models), and nomenclature. Training programs, supported by institutes, associations, and agencies, provide means for passing on procedures and perspectives of challenging botanical monography to the next generation of young systematists. Source: Crespo, A., Crisci, J.V., Dorr, L.J., Ferencová, Z., Frodin, D., Geltman, D.V., Kilian, N., Linder, H.P., Lohmann, L.G., Oberprieler, C., Penev, L., Smith, G.F., Thomas, W., Tulig, M., Turland, N. & Zhang, X.-C. 2013. The Future of Botanical Monography: Report from an international workshop, 12–16 March 2012, Smolenice, Slovak Republic. Taxon 62: 4–20. Full Article News
b Job alert: Two positions at Estación Biológica de Doñana (Spain) By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 01 Mar 2013 17:28:00 +0200 Estación Biológica de Doñana seeks applicants for two positions with the following profiles. 1. Telecommunication Engineer or similar to work in the EU project Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON) The main tasks will be: To validate the application of data architecture to data from testing sites, looking for accessibility to stakeholders. To assist validate EUBON tools for the analysis and interpretation of data from the web server. Candidate should catalyze the understanding between informatics and biologists, understanding data architecture, protocols for data warehouse and metadata registry and catalogue while keeping the ability of understanding requirements from both scientist and managers. Previous professional experience on biodiversity datasets, systematic protocols of data entrance (e.g. cybertracker software), data management (e.g. mysql), data mining and data patterns (e.g. Clementine software, neural networks) and web portals will be valued. Period: Abril 2013- December 2016 Salary: 40000-45000 € per year before taxes Candidates should send a curriculum vitae and contact details of two referencence persons to Carlos Rodríguez before March 15th. 2. Informatics engineer or similar to work in the EU project Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON) He/she will be the person in charge of data architecture that will guide the development, integration, and interoperability efforts within the project starting from the information architectures of relevant infrastructures such as GBIF; LTER, GOESS, GEOBON, LifeWatch, and INSPIRE. The architecture will highlight the relevant components of registry, portal, semantic mediation, workflows, and e-services. The task will address heterogeneity of projects and networks by ensuring that the developments of the project can be migrated to permanent infrastructures. He/she will be leading the creation of the European Biodiversity Data portal as the main GEOBON information hub. It is required to be fluent in English, being able of attend several international meetings and report the activity of the team. Period: April 2013-February 2015 Salary: 40000-45000€ per year before taxes Candidates should send a curriculum vitae and contact details of two reference persons to Carlos Rodríguez before March 15th. Full Article News
b The European Biodiversity Observation Network By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:03:00 +0200 The European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON), a European project on biodiversity data, was launched in December 2012. The Belgian Biodiversity Platform attended the symposium connected to the EU BON kick-off meeting in Berlin, Germany, on 11-12th February 2013.The symposium entitled ‘Nature and Governance: Biodiversity Data, Science, and the Policy Interface’ highlighted the importance of biodiversity data for policy-making and research. The complexity of producing and collating data on an international scale involving different methods and disciplines was well illustrated. The importance of the accessibility of biodiversity data within an integrated system was well demonstrated - the sum of all contributions will in the end enable monitoring, forecasting and policy-making.EU BON will create a substantial part of the Group on Earth’s Observation’s Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) and will operate in support of biodiversity sciences and policy initiatives, such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).EU BON will build on existing components, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), LifeWatch infrastructures and national biodiversity data centers. As Belgian GBIF node, the Belgian Biodiversity Platform can provide an important support to the development of EU BON. The Belgian partners in the EU BON project are the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), and the National Botanic Garden of Belgium (Botanic Garden).We will follow with interest the development in the EU BON project and will continue publishing data through GBIF. If you would like to support this initiative by having your data published on GBIF, please contact André Heughebaert (GBIF node manager), Dimitri Brosens or Kristina Articus (Biodiversity Experts). Full Article News
b Future Brief of the EC By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:33:00 +0200 Science for Environment PolicyEarth Observation’s Potential for the EU Environment http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/FB6.pdf Full Article News
b The large-scale EU project EU BON: Towards integration with its global counterpart GEO BON By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:22:18 +0200 The official Kickoff meeting of the Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON) project, organized by the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, took place on 13-15 February 2013 to formally mark the beginning of the project and to set goals and objectives for the future. Among the hottest issues discussed was the integration of EU BON's framework with the Global Earth Biodiversity Observation Network project GEO BON and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Another intention set for the future is the enhanced communication and synchronization between the various partners and work packages. The main objective set for EU BON is to facilitate with its contributions, and thus build a substantial part of GEO BON. EU BON Advisory Board, comprising ten leading experts in data management, biodiversity conservation and earth observation realms has been set up. Dr. Wouter Los - Chairman of the Expert centre for Taxonomic Identification (ETI), and 2nd Vice Chair of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Governing Board (GBIF) was elected as a chair of the EU BON Advisory Board. It has been decided, with the directions and help of the EU BON's Advisory Board, to achieve that a substantial amount of work should be done towards a more comprehensive vision of the relationship between the two projects and the place EU BON takes as a major contributor. Another aim delineated is working towards collaboration between the currently fragmented biodiversity data sources in Europe in an attempt to create an integrated network and framework for the benefit of the project objective itself, and GEO BON eventually. Dialogue and association with similar or relevant biodiversity projects and initiatives, on European and Global levels, are also encouraged. Organizing a conference is on the project's to do list. Enhanced communication between the different partners and work packages has been outlined as the engine for achieving of the projects main objectives. A second official meeting has been already assigned for 2014 to measure the progress of EU BON and to set further goals. Meanwhile partners are already organizing workshops to work towards reflecting the directions for development currently set. Full Article News
b New "LinkOut" tool by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) providing easy link to PubMed and GenBank data By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:48:00 +0200 A new "LinkOut" feature introduced by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) NCBI’s allows the easy linking to content on PubMed and GenBank. Dryad has already introduced the feature benefitting from easy and fast linking of associated content to the two resources. PubMed and GenBank, from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), are hugely popular resources for searching and retrieving article abstracts and nucleotide sequence data, respectively. PubMed indexes the vast majority of the biomedical literature, and deposition of nucleotide sequences in GenBank or one of the other INSDC databases is a near universal requirement for publication in a scientific journal. LinkOut allows the data from an article to be distributed among repositories without compromising its discoverability. Dryad, intends to expand on this feature in a couple of ways. First, it is planned to make Dryad content searchable via the PubMed and GenBank identifiers, which because of their wide use will provide a convenient gateway for other biomedical databases to link out to Dryad. Second, open web standards will be used to expose relationships between content in Dryad and other repositories, not just NCBI. Original source: Dryad news and views Full Article News
b BHL-Europe is finally officially live By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:05:00 +0200 On March 18 2013 the BHL-Europe portal has gone officially live. The Biodiversity heritage library for Europe project began in 2009 and joins noteworthy European museum and botanical gardens, including some in the USA as well. The primary goal of the project was to create an indexed archival system for digitized scientific literature, and free access to this literature via a multifunctional portal (www.bhl-europe.eu).The portal makes available 6,149 books containing one million pages from 92 content providers at the moment, but this is just the initial offering. New material is added every day, and the growth is projected to increase over time. The BHL-Europe portal (and other international sources) is linked to the Biodiversity Library Exhibition platform, which publishes selected literature in the form of interesting themes, information and an attractive design. Thanks to the specific presentation of literature and interesting scientific items, the platform has significant educational potential.You can access the BHL-Europe portal here: www.bhl-europe.euRead more about the portal on the official BHL blog: http://bhleurope.blogspot.cz/2013/03/bhl-europe-is-finally-officially-live.html Full Article News
b Make us visible! – take full advantage of the project’s social media By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:23:00 +0300 Join the online community of EU BON and create buzz around the project. Take full advantage of our social network channels to interact with stakeholders and contribute to the EU BON discussion. Get an easy access and the latest updates on news and events around the project. You are a click away from making a difference to the project’s visibility. Like, follow or join EU BON Social Media and get involved in the community now! Like us on Facebook • Get the latest news in pictures and videos • Interact and join a community of like-minded supporters • Find out about events and group activities Follow us on Twitter • Get short and up-to-the-point updates on the latest news • Take part in live discussions during conferences and conventions • Join and interact with a wider bioinformatics community Join us on Google+ • Join a growing social community • Get the latest project and news alongside relevant media • Promote the project and get involved in discussions in your circles Join us on LinkedIn • Get in touch with professionals in the area of research • Contribute to discussions • Promote your project in a professional community Full Article News
b Data Papers as Incentives for Opening Biodiversity Data By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:26:00 +0300 One year of experience and perspectives for the future from Pensoft Publishers and GBIF In 2012 GBIF and Pensoft pioneered a workflow between the GBIF’s Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) and Pensoft’s journals ZooKeys, PhytoKeys, MycoKeys, Nature Conservation, etc. to automatically export metadata into the form of a data paper manuscript, based on the Ecological Metadata Language (EML). One year on they share their experience and perspectives for the future of data publishing. In its essence, a Data Paper is a scholarly journal publication whose primary purpose is to describe a dataset or a group of datasets, rather than to report a research investigation. As such, it contains facts about data, not hypotheses and arguments in support of the data, as found in a conventional research article. The future of data publishing according to Pensoft Publishers and GBIF, lies in the elaborating of formats for descriptions of various kinds of data (ecological, morphological, genomic, environmental, etc.), as well as in linking to various platforms (GBIF, Scratchpads, Dryad, EDIT, CBOL, etc.). More about the collaboration and experience of Pensoft Publishers and GBIF learn from their joint poster available here. Full Article News
b First meeting of WP 5 EU BON testing and validation of concepts, tools, and services held By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:09:00 +0300 The first meeting of Work Package 5 (EU BON testing and validation of concepts, tools, and services) was held between 2nd and 4th April, 2013 in the Doñana Biological Station, in Spain. 23 people from 10 different institutions (7 of the EU BON consortium) worked towards building a draft on Principles and Guidelines for establishing and operating EU BON test sites. During the meeting the members agreed on starting documenting each of the sites, using a common format to be decided in May on the Informatics Task Force meeting of WP2 (Data integration and interoperability) in Norway. A data inventory will also be built in each of the sites, adding monitoring protocols in stepwise fashion. In addition the meeting served to get a better view of the variety of Ecosystems in Doñana as well as the monitoring protocols that are being conducted in this area. Full Article News
b Job alert: Quantitative Ecologist (Postdoc) (m/f) code digit 37/2013 By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:11:00 +0300 The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ is now offering a position for Quantitative Ecologist (Postdoc) in their Department of Conservation Biology. The position is open to both male and female applicants and it runs for 42 months, starting latest on 01.08.2013 in Leipzig, Germany. Salary will be according to the appropriate civil service level TVÖD, salary group 13. The successful candidate will be focusing on optimizing monitoring designs at different scales under field constraints and assessinguncertainty in biodiversity trend analyses. He/She will have a PhD in an ecological discipline relevant for the research topic (e.g. population biology), excellent statistical and computing skills, a distinguished publication record, experience in international cooperation and strong interest both in theoretical and applied biodiversity conservation. Fluency in English in speech and writing is essential, some knowledge of German is of advantage. The position will be part of the large-integrating EU-project EU BON "Building the European BiodiversityObservation Network". The overall goal of the project is to integrate and harmonize European data relevant for biodiversity monitoring and to develop prototypes for biodiversity monitoring for the global GEO BON initiative. 30 partner organisations form the EU BON consortium. Within this consortium the applicant will have the following responsibilities: • on improving current approaches to monitoring species both from a theoretical and a practical perspective, with a focus on population processes • link trend data to environmental drivers at different scales • quantify uncertainty across all steps from data collection to interpretation of analysed data • Contribute to the management of the workpackage "Link environment to biodiversity: Analyses of patterns, processes and trends" • Contribute to the compilation of information on existing monitoring programs • Feed results into a science-policy dialogue • Disseminate results for scientists and applied users Further Information: Prof. Dr. Klaus Henle, Tel. ++49-(0)341-235 1270, e-mail: klaus.henle@ufz.de Please send your application until 19.05.2013 under Code Digit 37/2013 to the Human Resource department of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, PO Box 500136, 04301 Leipzig, Germany, or by e-mail to application@ufz.de. For further information please see the attached pdf file below. Full Article News
b The 3rd BioVel newsletter is now available By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:24:00 +0300 The newest newsletter of the BioVel project is now available, offering a range of biodiversity related news, including brief coverage of the EU BON Kick-off and International Symposium Workshop in February, 2013. Among the other stories covered are: Letter from Alex Hardisty, Project Coordinator Running Workflows Just Got a Whole Lot Simpler Friends of BioVeL: Friendships and collaborations are also blooming! (featuring news about: LifeWatch-BioVeL cooperation;; i4Life project; Micro B3 and GENSC are now friends of BioVeL. The newsletter also contains information about the upcoming workflows and research within the project, as well about events planned for the future. To read the article and find out more about the news stories covered click here. Full Article News
b A new article provides a decadal view on the importance and future of biodiversity informatics By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:06:00 +0300 A new article "A decadal view of biodiversity informatics: challenges and priorities" published by BMC Ecology focuses on the challenges and perspectives for biodiversity informatics after a decade of development. The authors Alex Hardisty and Dave Roberts alongside 77 contributions from the biodiversity informatics community share experience and set future directions of biodiversity informatics as a tool for addressing conservation and ecological issues. Biodiversity informatics plays a central enabling role in the research community's efforts to address scientific conservation and sustainability issues. This community consultation paper positions the role of biodiversity informatics, for the next decade, presenting the actions needed to link the various biodiversity infrastructures invisibly and to facilitate understanding that can support both business and policy-makers. The community considers the goal in biodiversity informatics to be full integration of the biodiversity research community, including citizens’ science, through a commonly-shared, sustainable e-infrastructure across all sub-disciplines that reliably serves science and society alike. The full text of the article can be accessed here. Full Article News
b First EU BON Stakeholder Round Table By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:54:39 +0300 A main obstacle to reach the 2010 biodiversity goals and to implement the European Biodiversity Strategy is lacking integration of biodiversity aspects into political, economic, and management decisions in different sectors mainly due to knowledge gaps. EU BON will provide access to sound data sources and scientific knowledge that is reliable, relevant, up-todate, and publicly available. Europe maintains substantial capacities to generate and manage such knowledge and to provide data relevant to assessing and managing our biological resources. These capacities concern research and technology development, tools for information management and infrastructure, and procedures for the development and implementation of well-informed environmental policies. In order to meet the demands of the main political stakeholders in the EU, in this workshop an overview of the project will be given and first results will be shown summarized in the first show case which is dealing with datasets in relation to political targets and indicators. In addition, the idea how the science–policy/management interface can function for example via the planned European Biodiversity Portal will be presented and the requirements for policy (political administration) discussed. Results of this first stakeholder round table will be documented and passed back to the project in order to increase its relevance. Next stakeholder round tables can be used to evaluate the progress of the project with regard to serving the demands of EC, EEA, GEO BON, IPBES and other stakeholders. Full Article News
b ENVIMPACT CONFERENCE: "Environmental research: Experiences on best practices towards Horizon 2020" By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 08 May 2013 14:15:00 +0300 The "Environmental research: Experiences on best practices towards Horizon 2020" conference will be held the 30th of May 2013 in Brussels at the Museum of Natural Sciences. Organizers of the event are the APRE (Agency for the Promotion of European Research), and the ENVIMPACT consortium. The event will gather European Commission representatives, researchers, FP7 project's participants, governmental, academic and industrial stakeholders of the Central East European countries with the aim of presenting the current and future tools and trends for dissemination and exploitation of R&D results with a special focus on the thematic areas of research in air pollution, chemical pollution and environmental technologies, especially in the Central-Eastern European (CEE) countries. The agenda of the conference and the press release are downloadable at the link: http://download.apre.it/envimpact_presskit1.zip The registration is free, please register at http://www.envimpact.eu/index.cfm?action=article&publication_id=922 ENVIMPACT project has been launched on 1st January 2011. This initiative is funded by the European Commission under FP7, DG Research and Innovation, with the objectives to improve the current communication and dissemination of environmental research results deriving from Central-Eastern European (CEE) countries. Full Article News
b DRYAD announces nonprofit sustainability plans By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 09 May 2013 09:59:00 +0300 The data repository invites community input on the future of data archiving at upcoming membership meeting Dryad, a repository for data underlying the international scientific and medical literature, works with a variety of journals, societies and publishers to archive research data at the time of publication. The project began in 2009 and has published more than 3,000 data packages. In 2012, Dryad incorporated as a nonprofit organization with the mission to make scientific and medical research data permanently available to all researchers and educators free-of-charge without barriers to reuse.For the past four years, Dryad has worked with its stakeholders to develop a sustainability plan to realize this vision. Central to the sustainability plan is a one-time submission fee that will offset the actual costs of preserving data indefinitely. A variety of pricing plans are available for journals and other organizations such societies, funders and libraries to purchase discounted submission fees on behalf of their researchers. For data not covered by a pricing plan, the researcher will be asked to pay upon submission, with waivers provided to researchers from World Bank low and lower-middle income economies. Submission fees will apply to all new submissions starting September 2013. Dryad will also be supported in part by its membership, by grants for research and innovation, and by donors. Membership in Dryad is open to any organization that supports research and education. Dryad is pleased to include Pensoft Publishers among its Charter Members.The Dryad Membership meeting, to be held in Oxford, UK on Friday, May 24 is open to members, prospective members, researchers and other interested parties. Attendees will hear about recent and upcoming developments in the repository and the nonprofit organization. In addition, there will be an Emerging Issues Forum with presentations from the community about future directions for Dryad, its members, and partner journals, including models for the technical and peer review of data, ideas for promoting the adoption of data citations, measuring data reuse, funder perspectives on the use of research grants for data management costs and the relevance of larger data networks. Dryad’s Membership Meeting is part of a series of free public events in Oxford spotlighting trends in scholarly communication with an emphasis on research data, including a Symposium on the Now and Future of Data Publication on Wednesday, May 22nd and an ORCID Outreach Meeting with a special joint Dryad-ORCID Symposium on Research Attribution on Thursday, May 23rd. Registration for these events closes on May 13th. Remote attendance will be available for those unable to attend in person.For more information about submitting data, becoming a member or the sustainability plan, please visit http://datadryad.org. The website also offers an Ideas Forum where people can make their voice heard by suggesting and voting for new features and offering comments.CONTACT:Laura Wendell, Executive Directorlwendell@datadrayd.org+1-919-668-4005 or +1-919-423-3889 Full Article News
b GBIF enables global study of climate impact on species By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 15 May 2013 13:42:00 +0300 Research in Nature Climate Change uses data on 50,000 common plants and animals to predict worldwide range losses without urgent action to limit emissions Climate change could dramatically reduce the geographic ranges of thousands of common plant and animal species during this century, according to research using data made freely available online through GBIF.The information on the current location of common species of plants, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians was taken from around 170 million individual data records published freely online through GBIF by some 200 different institutions around the world. The records include museum specimens, data from scientific expeditions and the observations of thousands of volunteer ‘citizen scientists’.One of the co-authors of the study, Jeff Price of the University of East Anglia’s School of Environmental Sciences, United Kingdom, said: "Without free and open access to massive amounts of data such as those made available online through GBIF, no individual researcher is able to contact every country, every museum, every scientist holding the data and pull it all together. So this research would not be possible without GBIF and its global community of researchers and volunteers who make their data freely available."The lead author of the study, Dr Rachel Warren, also from UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences and the Tyndall Centre, said: "While there has been much research on the effect of climate change on rare and endangered species, little has been known about how an increase in global temperature will affect more common species."Our research predicts that climate change will greatly reduce the diversity of even very common species found in most parts of the world. This loss of global-scale biodiversity would significantly impoverish the biosphere and the ecosystem services it provides. The good news is that our research provides crucial new evidence of how swift action to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases can prevent the biodiversity loss by reducing the amount of global warming to 2 degrees Celsius rather than 4 degrees. This would also buy time – up to four decades - for plants and animals to adapt to the remaining 2 degrees of climate change." Full Article News
b Investing in green infrastructure will bring multiple returns to nature, society and people By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 28 May 2013 17:45:00 +0300 The European Commission adopted a new strategy for encouraging the use of green infrastructure, and for ensuring that the enhancement of natural processes becomes a systematic part of spatial planning. Green Infrastructure is a tried and tested tool that uses nature to provide ecological, economic and social benefits. Instead of building flood protection infrastructure, for example, a green infrastructure solution would be to allow a natural wetland to absorb the excess water from heavy rain. Green infrastructure is often cheaper and more durable than alternatives provided through conventional civil engineering. Biodiversity-rich parks, green spaces and fresh air corridors can for example mitigate the negative effects of summer heat waves. In addition to the health and environmental benefits, green infrastructure also brings multiple social benefits: it creates jobs and makes cities more appealing places to live and work. And it allows for wildlife to thrive, even in an urban context. Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: "Building green infrastructure is often a good investment for nature, for the economy and for jobs. We should provide society with solutions that work with nature instead of against it, where that makes economic and environmental sense." More about the EC Green Infrastructure here: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/ecosystems/index_en.htm Full Article News
b Biodiversity databases: language and location help explain biases By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:55:00 +0300 Science for Environment Policy features a policy brief explaining the biases around biodiversity databases in their latest issue 331, from 6 June 2013. "Biodiversity databases: language and location help explain biases" features a new study arguing that low numbers of English speakers, large distances from the database host and low security acting as key barriers to data collection and among the main reasons for the underrepresentation of some countries in biodiversity databases. Source: Amano T., Sutherland W.J. (2013) Four barriers to the global understanding of biodiversity conservation: wealth, language, geographical location and security. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 280: 20122649. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2649 Full Article News
b The First EU BON stakeholder roundtable By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 17:09:00 +0300 The first EU BON Stakeholder Round Table is now approaching. The workshop will take place in Brussels on 18 June 2013 and be hosted by the Leibniz Association. A main obstacle to reach the 2010 biodiversity goals and to implement the European Biodiversity Strategy is the lacking integration of biodiversity aspects into political, economic, and management decisions in different sectors mainly due to knowledge gaps. The aim of the 1-day workshop will be to identify existing gaps, determine current needs regarding biodiversity information and develop solutions to overcome the existing knowledge gaps within the EU BON project. EU BON will provide access to biodiversity information that is reliable, relevant, up-to-date, and publicly available. In the first Stakeholder Round Table, the EU BON approach for establishing a European Biodiversity Observation Network will be outlined. Based on that introduction, existing approaches that compile biodiversity or biodiversity-relevant data and the possible synergies and possible contributions to EU BON will be discussed. Another important aspect of the meeting will be to highlight the link to policy and governments of the European Union and their specific needs regarding biodiversity information. Results of this first stakeholder round table will be documented and passed back to the project in order to increase its relevance. Next stakeholder round tables can be used to evaluate the progress of the project with regard to serving the demands of EC, EEA, GEO BON, IPBES, JRC and other stakeholders. Full Article News
b EUBrazilOpenBio announces 2 new training tools covering Ecological Niche Modeling and Cross-mapping By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:48:00 +0300 The EUBrazilOpenBio project announces two new training tools as a part of its e-training Programme aiming at educating and enabling current and potential users of EUBrazilOpenBio to unlock new knowledge and shape effective policy on biodiversity challenges. The new tools cover the following use cases: Ecological Niche Modeling and Cross-mapping. The EUBrazilOpenBio anytime, anywhere eTraining tools are designed for researchers in the spheres of Biodiversity, Life science, Climate Change, application Developers as well as regulatory authorities and policy decision-makers. EUBrazilOpenBio is focused on tackling the complexity of biodiversity science such as the diversity of multidisciplinary datasets spanning from climatology to earth sciences by integrating advanced computing resources with data sources across Europe and Brazil. For more informationand to try out the new tools click here. Full Article News
b Improved flow of European biodiversity data By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 14:05:00 +0300 The Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (NBIC) was host to an international biodiversity informatics workshop May 29th-31st. The event was held as part of the EU-project European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON), where NBIC is a partner. The theme for the ‘EU BON Initial Informatics Workshop’ was data architectures, standards and interoperability (improving flow of information between systems). The event gathered renowned international and national experts within data structures for biological data. EU-project for better data flowNBIC is the Norwegian partner in EU BON, an EU-project spanning 5 years where 30 institutions from 18 countries contribute. The objective is to build an infrastructure that improves the flow of biodiversity data in all of Europe. Furthermore, the project is a European affiliate to its global counterpart (GEO BON) and will contribute to the work of the newly established ‘Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES). Good solutions showcasedWorldwide, a large number distinct standards and solutions for management of data on species and nature types exist, and one of EU BON’s objectives is to find solutions to get all of these systems to communicate with one another. Several attendees contributed with presentations highlighting diverse standards and solutions for interoperability. Additionally, four international players in the field of biodiversity informatics presented general international initiatives, projects and services relevant to EU BON. What is biodiversity informatics? Biodiversity informatics is the field of applying IT techniques to improve management and presentation of biodiversity information, making it easier to discover, use and analyze such data. Full Article News
b The First EU BON stakeholder roundtable: What policy needs By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 18:12:00 +0300 The first EU BON Stakeholder Round Table was held on 18 June 2013 at the Leibniz Association in Brussels, under the motto "Requirements for Policy". Important topics regarding biodiversity information were discussed with political stakeholders and a variety of valuable recommendations were given for the future process of EU BON. Among the participants were members of the European policy, representatives of recent European biodiversity projects and EU BON members. At the round table, intensive discussions took place regarding what biodiversity policy needs, like which indicators and measurements are needed to answer burning policy questions. Suggestions were made to formalize Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV’s) and Aichi targets. A future approach was set towards producing a guideline and timeline for indicators that should be established within EU BON. The challenges of future research policy were also discussed and the collaboration of EU BON with the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) will be a substantial part of the continuous contributions to the global process. EU BON should also serve as a showcase for the European Commission in this respect. EU BON will also be responsible for answering crucial questions regarding data policy, e.g. how to establish a general repository for a long-lasting storage of data and how to handle ‘big data’. Another future task will be to integrate EU relevant projects and initiatives and their data portals, datasets and metadata. At the round table it was also discussed how public stakeholders can be involved in the future, particularly citizen scientists, so that they could be integrated in EU BON and provide useful information for scientists and researchers. Among the participants were representatives of major biodiversity stakeholders including Gilles Ollier, Jane Shiel and Sofie Vandewoestijne - European Commission, DG Research and Innovation; Anne Teller - European Commission, DG Environment; Georgios Sarantakos - GEO Secretariat; Cigdem Adem - European Environment Agency; representatives of recent European biodiversity projects (FunDiv, BioFresh, STEP and INSPIRE) and EU BON members. Presentations: 1_Häuser_EU_BON_biodiversity data.pdf (1.7MB) 2_Verheyen_FunDivEUROPE.pdf (793KB) 3_Freyhof_BioFresh.pdf (1.0MB) 4_Penev_STEP.pdf (890KB) 5_May_INSPIRE.pdf (1.1MB) 6_Galbusera_ConGRESS.pdf (2.8MB) 7_Köljag_EU BON gap analyses.pdf (379KB) 8_Secades_biodiversity indicators.pdf (1.1MB) 9_Sarantakos_GEO.pdf (1.2MB) 10_Teller_EU 2020.pdf (556KB) 11_Runnel_EU BON Citizen Science perspectives.pdf (326KB) 12_Adem_EEA and Citizen Science.pdf (2.0MB) 13_Mergen_EU-BON Biodiversity Portal.pdf (204KB) EU BON_minutes_Stakeholder Meeting v7.pdf (479KB) Full Article News
b "Biodiversity and Integrated Environmental Monitoring": A new book explores the challenges in front of biodiversity data management and implementation in the future By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 13:24:00 +0300 The Brazilian initiative PPBio (The Program for Research on Biodiversity) launches a new book based on over a decade of experience in implementing the biodiversity monitoring system RAPELD in the Brazilian Amazon. Richly illustrated and written in simple language, the book "Biodiversity and Integrated Environmental Monitoring" addresses the issues that led to the system development, covering topics such as the spatial organization and representation of biological diversity, environmental monitoring, and data management. Monitoring of biodiversity is not merely an academic endeavor. Although scientific aspects such as representation of biodiversity and biodiversity data integration, management and preservation are of a great importance, it is also essential to think about the political context in which decisions will be made and how to incorporate political stakeholders and decision makers. "As this important book makes clear questions about biodiversity are far from purely scientific. Biodiversity matters. Our needs to assess it embed in a complex of questions posed by managers, policy makers and those who live in or otherwise benefit from biodiversity.", explains Dr Stuart L. Pimm in the preface of the book. "So how do we ensure that data collected now will be useful for purposes we cannot yet imagine at some unexpected time in the future? Or provide comparison to some other place that we might survey some day?" Those and many more questions regarding biodiversity data management and policy involvement are discussed in the new book "Biodiversity and Integrated Environmental Monitoring". Full Article News
b Job Alert: Research Associate - Linking Biodiversity Data to Policy, University of Cambridge By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 17:12:00 +0300 The University of Cambridge invites for applications for a Research Associate to work on EU-BON, a major EU-funded research project seeking to improve the use of biodiversity data in public policy. Applicants should have a PhD in a relevant social science or conservation science. Experience in both qualitative and quantitative analysis is desirable. Applicants should ideally have some first-hand experience of public policy processes and a willingness to travel within the European Union for research. Excellent organisational and communication skills will be essential in working as a successful part of this large, multi-partner and multinational team. The researcher will carry out research on how biodiversity data is currently used in European policy making and will contribute to analysis of the opportunities to increase its effective provision and use. Research methods are likely to combine qualitative and quantitate analysis and to focus on the use of biodiversity data in public policy contexts. It is expected that some of the research will take place in Brussels. The researcher will have considerable freedom in defining the research project in discussion with Dr Doubleday and Prof Sutherland. In addition to carrying out research on the use of biodiversity data in European policy making, the researcher will support Cambridge's contribution to EU BON as a whole. This will involve contributing to other workpackages as and when required. More information about EU BON can be found here: http://www.eubon.eu Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 36 months in the first instance. Completed applications consisting of a CHRIS/6 (Parts I & III) (downloadable from http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/hr/forms/chris6/) a covering letter, and CV, should be sent to Danielle Feger, via email: geogrec@hermes.cam.ac.uk or sent to Research Administrator, Department of Geography, Downing Site, Cambridge, CB2 3EN Please quote reference LC01355 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy. Any enquiries concerning the position can be made to Dr Robert Doubleday, rob.doubleday@csap.cam.ac.uk For more information about the position, please visit: http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/1611/ Full Article News
b The BioFresh Blog - Perspective: Martin Sharman on ethics and the ecosystem services paradigm By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 11:18:00 +0300 In this guest post Martin Sharman opens up a rich area of debate by arguing that as a policy concept, ecosystem services puts human wants first and foremost and undermines moral-aesthetic value arguments for conservation that are widely held in society. Martin was the policy offer responsible for biodiversity and ecosystems in the European Commission’s DG Research & Innovation up until his retirement last November. During his career he made an enormous contribution to biodiversity research and policy, including the initiation of the BioFresh project. The opinions expressed in this post are, of course, his own and are not intended to represent a position of either the Commission or BioFresh. A "resource" is something that is useful to someone. A "natural resource" is something in the natural environment that a human can use to satisfy want or increase wellbeing. To adopt this vocabulary is to adopt a forthright utilitarian view of the natural environment, and implicitly to accept that human benefit is the only good. Not only is human benefit the only good, but it is quantifiable – for if not, then we can never agree on what constitutes a resource, or who has the greater right to it. Thus someone who speaks of natural resources accepts, again implicitly, that happiness and wellbeing can be quantified. The vocabulary also requires that this quantified human benefit remains, if not constant, then comparable over cultures and generations. More than this: the wellbeing of the "resource" is insignificant. It is only by setting concern for the wellbeing of the resource to zero that one can regard it as merely something to satisfy human want. Human benefit is the only good. This is the First Commandment; in the limpid words of the King James version of the bible, thou shalt have no other gods before me. In this observation lies much of the moral argument against the concept of ecosystem services: just as oranges are not the only fruit, so humans are not the only species. The concept of ecosystem services is one thing; the premise of its proponents is another. It is, in short, that conservation based on intrinsic value of biodiversity has failed to stop the loss of species, ecosystems, and the complex web of interactions between them. Since an ethical argument has failed, then we should try self-interest. By demonstrating that human wellbeing is increased by the services rendered by ecosystems, we can motivate people to protect the source of the service – biodiversity. We know that conservation is not working because we continue to lose biodiversity. Oh yeah? This is the equivalent of me deciding that my accelerator is not working because my car is losing speed. Why is such a daft non-sequitur accepted by otherwise intelligent people? You immediately thought of many reasons my car might be losing speed – I have the brakes on, I’m going up a hill, I’ve run out of fuel, I’ve run into sand, I’ve hit an oncoming truck. The obvious reason that we are losing biodiversity is the memento mori that stares at us from our looking glass – biodiversity loss is the inevitable result of our debt-based economic system and our swelling population’s unsustainable demands on nature. We all know that. Why do we mutely accept the dangerously diversionary nonsense that "biodiversity is being lost because conservation is not working"? Ecosystem services takes the utilitarian logic of natural resources one important step further. A "service" by definition benefits humans. If we are to protect services only if they benefit humans, then what happens to the useless ecosystems? Are they simply to be cemented over? I recently heard a discussion in which one person said "most people are useless", meaning that they are surplus to requirement. The outrage that this provoked was spearheaded by someone saying that you can never prove that anyone is useless, because you can never know enough about their contribution to their social fabric. So does this mean that you can never show that an ecosystem is useless? If so that leaves the ecosystem services argument saying that because some ecosystems benefit humans, we have to protect every ecosystem. Which may be the right answer, but why reach it by such objectionable means? For those of us with a reverence of nature, the ecosystem services rhetoric and mindset are abhorrent, being fundamentally immoral and unethical. They take the most ecologically damaging invasive species in the history of life, and place it above all other species on Earth. They cast all other – voiceless – species in the role of consumables. This mindset might have worked for Homo habilis. It will not work for Homo sapiens. Martin Sharman for the BioFresh Blog: http://biofreshblog.com/2013/07/03/perspective-martin-sharman-on-ethics-and-the-ecosystem-services-paradigm/ Full Article News
b Postdoctoral position on species and population dynamics at Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), Spain By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 11:39:00 +0300 Funded by the "Severo Ochoa" Excellence Program awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Doñana Biological Station (www.ebd.csic.es) seeks a Postdoctoral fellow for two-years with a potential extension of one year with the aim of analyzing temporal trends of species distribution and abundance in the Doñana natural area (SW Spain), and their relation with environmental pressures such as climate change, land-use change, and water quality. Period for application: From 5th July to 5th August, 2013. For more information please see the pdf file below. Full Article News
b Essential Biodiversity Variables - Have your say! By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 13:35:00 +0300 The Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) is leading the development of a set of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs), akin to the GCOS Essential Climate Variables (ECVs). The recently published paper (Science 339, 18 January 2013) describing the EBV concept states that: "Reducing the rate of biodiversity loss and averting dangerous biodiversity change are international goals, reasserted by the Aichi Targets for 2020 by Parties to the United Nations (UN) Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).… However, there is no global, harmonized observation system for delivering regular, timely data on biodiversity change." Read Full Paper and supplementary materials on EBVs here. GEO BON partners are thus developing (and seeking consensus around) EBVs that could form the basis of monitoring programs worldwide. For more information on EBVs please click here. GEO BON invites anyone who would like to get involved in EBV development, to take the EBV survey which will run till 31 August 2013. The survey will help us gauge how respondents feel about current candidate EBVs and provides respondents with the opportunity to make suggestions for new/alternative EBVs. Complete survey now! Full Article News
b Biology must develop its own big-data systems By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 16:54:00 +0300 Too many data-management projects fail because they ignore the changing nature of life-sciences data, argues John Boyle. From: Nature/Column: World View The last week of April was designated Big Data Week. But in modern biology, every week is big-data week: life-sciences research now routinely churns out more information than scientists can analyse without help. That help increasingly comes in the form of expensive data-management systems, but these are hard to design and most are even harder to use. As a result, a long line of data-management projects in the life sciences — many of which I have been involved with — have failed. The size, complexity and heterogeneity of the data generated in labs across the world can only increase, and the introduction of cloud computing will encourage the same mistakes. Just a stone's throw from where I work, at least three computer companies are already touting cloud-based data-management systems for the life sciences. We need to find ways to manage and integrate data to make discoveries in fields such as genomics, and we need to do this quickly. At their most basic, data-management systems allow people to organize and share information. In the case of small amounts of uniform data from a single experiment, this can be done with a spreadsheet. But with multiple experiments that produce diverse data — on gene expression, metabolites and protein abundance, for example — we need something more sophisticated. An ideal data-management system would store data, provide common and secure access methods, and allow for linking, annotation and a way to query and retrieve information. It would be able to cope with data in different locations — on remote servers, on desktops, in a database or spread across different machines — and formats, including spreadsheets, badly named files, blogs or even scanned-in notebooks. Read the full article here. Origial Source: Nature 499, 7 (04 July 2013) doi:10.1038/499007a Full Article News
b Handling "big data" is no small feat By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 16:05:00 +0300 Policy-makers and science and industry representatives are discussing how to make large amounts of Earth observation data accessible to a wider user community. To explore this idea, some 250 science, industry and policy-making representatives and national delegates from Europe, the US, Australia, China and Africa met at ESA’s ESRIN centre in Frascati, Italy last week for ESA’s first ‘Big Data from Space’ event. Representatives from ESA and NASA opened the event together with the European Commission. European Commission Directorates-General for Enterprise and Industry, Research and Innovation and Communications Networks, Content and Technology, along with representatives from the European Environment Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Open Geospatial Consortium acted as session chairs. Javier de la Torre, representing the EU BON partner Vizzuality gave a presentation 'Global Deforestation through Timeme: Big Data Meets Scalable Visualizations,' which included some of the work Vizzuality is doing toward the EUBON project. The event concluded with a strong call by all parties for the ability to handle and use big Earth observing data. This could potentially open new opportunities for research and international cooperation schemes such as programmatic and industrial coordination. Full Article News
b GEO Exhibition - First Announcement By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 18:05:00 +0300 The GEO-X and GEO 2014 Ministerial Summit, as well as all the associated meeting and events will take place at the International Conference Center in Geneva – CICG, from 13 to 17 January 2014. The Exhibition represents a key component of a successful week and Summit, providing tangible examples of GEO achievements, and informed decision-making. This First Announcement is intended to provide basic information to potential exhibitors and to collect expressions of interest in participating at the GEO 2014 Summit Exhibition. Full Article News
b Pan-European stakeholder consultation on the intersessional process of IPBES By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 19:38:00 +0300 From 16th to the 18th of July, a European stakeholder consultation for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (IPBES) took place in Leipzig (Germany). The consultation was organized by three European Biodiversity Platforms: Network-Forum Biodiversity Research Germany (NeFo), the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, and the French Foundation for Research on Biodiversity (FRB) (further information on the conference: www.biodiversity.de/index.php/de/ipbes/nefo-aktivitaeten-zu-ipbes/workshops/pan-european-stakeholder-consultation). IPBES will greatly influence future biodiversity policy and research, and EU BON is expected to provide a European contribution to IPBES. IPBES will be in particular of high interest, because it will need tools to integrate and analyse different data sources, to develop relevant infrastructure and to do assessments of state and trends of biodiversity at multiple scales. EU BON was represented by several partners at the meeting and we acted as facilitators in the round-tables, gathered input for the project, participated in discussions and exchanged ideas with many representatives and colleagues. We provide you with a short summary of the meeting below. The aims of the pan-European stakeholder consultation meeting in Leipzig were: To reach out to stakeholders to inform people and institutes and to raise awareness of the dynamics in IPBES. To discuss and obtain feedback on several IPBES-related documents that are currently being drafted. In their final form these documents will be submitted to the Panel for the IPBES 2 plenary session in 9-14 December 2013. The meeting in Leipzig was organized around round table discussions of several draft documents of importance for stakeholders: the draft work programme, the stakeholder engagement strategy draft and the draft "Vision for pan-European IPBES support perspective". If you are interested these documents, currently for review, can be found here: http://www.ipbes.net/intersessional-process/current-review-documents-ipbes2.html . There were several opportunities for EU BON partners to flag the potential biodiversity data and analysis requirements for the future IPBES work program in separate discussions and to give recommendations as to what should be additionally integrated in the draft work programme. We also brainstormed on a potential EU BON side event at the second IPBES meeting, which will be held in 9-14 December in Antalya, Turkey. Topics discussed by national delegates in that plenary will amongst other topics comprise: the first work programme, budget, stakeholder engagement, the position of observers, technical requirements and a list of thematic priorities for IPBES assessments. Although the meeting was a success in terms of the number and diversity of participants, the consultation felt for many participants as a top down exercise. However, the importance of being involved at this stage was felt and the hope for stakeholder empowerment in the future was often voiced. Full Article News
b FISHBASE and SEALIFEBASE Mirror Updates By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 09:33:30 +0300 ANNOUNCEMENT: The June 2013 update of the FishBase (www.fishbase.org) and SeaLifeBase (www.sealifebase.org/) websites are now available online.FishBase Stats to date: 32500 Species, 299700 Common names, 52500 Pictures, 48700 References, 2010 Collaborators, 700000 Visits/MonthSealifeBase stats to date: 125800 Species, 27200 Common names, 11100 Pictures, 17800 References, 250 Collaborators Full Article News
b Post-doctoral positions on biodiversity scenarios open at Ecoland By www.eubon.eu Published On :: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 17:04:00 +0300 POST-DOCTORAL POSITIONS ON BIODIVERSITY SCENARIOS IN EUROPE OPEN AT CTFC Two positions to conduct post-doctoral research are open at CTFC for one to two years (with the possibility of an extension) in the context of the two FP7- European projects "EUBON - Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network", and "TRUSTEE, Towards RUral Synergies and Trade-offs between Economic development and Ecosystem services". Application deadline: September 15th 2013 For further information and application, please see: http://biodiversitylandscapeecologylab.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/post-doctoral-positions-on-biodiversity.html Full Article News
