[NHCOLL-L:5575] Message from iDigBio

[Grosso,Jessica A]

Hello from iDigBio, the HUB for Advancing Digitization of Biological Collections!
We are moving forward at the University of Florida and Florida State University with the organization necessary to accomplish the goals of ADBC.  We have established this listserv as a primary means of communication and have a website under construction (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/idigbio), a blog (http://idigbio.wordpress.com/) and are on facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/IDigBio/215120891865198).

Soon, we will hire a Project Manager to be employed in the central offices of iDigBio.  Please see the position announcements at <http://jobs.ufl.edu> (requisitions #0808667) and share it with anyone who is qualified and may wish to apply.  Because we hope to be fully functional very soon, it will be necessary for the successful applicant to move to Gainesville in the fall.

Three TCNs have been funded.  You can obtain more information on their websites (under development) or by contacting the Principal Investigators.

1.  Illinois Natural History Survey at University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana.
       PI:  Christopher Dietrich (dietrich at inhs.uiuc.edu<mailto:dietrich at inhs.uiuc.edu>)
      Topic: InvertNet--An Integrative Platform for Research on Environmental
        Change, Species Discovery and Identification
    To be digitized:  6.9 million specimens
        Website:  http://invertnet.dyndns.org/

2.  University of Wisconsin at Madison
    PIs:  Corinna Gries (cgries at wisc.edu<mailto:cgries at wisc.edu>)
   Topic: North American Lichens and Bryophytes: Sensitive Indicators of
           Environmental Quality and Change
        To be digitized:  2.3 million specimens
        Related portals: http://symbiota.org/nalichens/index.php
                http://symbiota.org/bryophytes/index.php

3.  American Museum of Natural History
  PI:  Randall T. Schuh (schuh at amnh.org<mailto:schuh at amnh.org>)
  Title:  Collaborative Research:  Plants, Herbivores, and Parasitoids:  A Model
          System for the Study of Tri-trophic Associations
        To be digitized:  4.0 million specimens


The five PIs at iDigBio and their primary responsibilities and contact information are:

Dr. Jose Fortes, Director, Advanced Computing and Information Systems (ACIS) Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida.  iDigBio Director for Computational Activities:  oversight of data integration, support for computational needs and assessment of new technologies and programs to facilitate digitization efforts including directing the development of "appliances" to facilitate digitization and the development of cloud storage capabilities.  Email:  fortes at ufl.edu<mailto:fortes at ufl.edu>.

Dr. Bruce MacFadden, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Florida Museum of Natural History.  iDigBio Director for Education and Outreach:  oversight of educational and outreach activities and their assessment at iDigBio, the TCNs and at other digitization projects involving biological collections.  Email:  bmacfadd at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:bmacfadd at flmnh.ufl.edu>.

Dr. Larry Page, Director, University of Florida Biodiversity Institute and Curator of Fishes, Florida Museum of Natural History.  Director of iDigBio: responsible for overall project management, oversight of national resource activities, and implementation of the strategic plan, including assurance that the digitization, research and educational missions of the national resource are integrated and accomplished.  Email: lpage at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:lpage at flmnh.ufl.edu>; phone: 352-273-1951.

Dr. Gregory Riccardi, Director of Morphbank and Professor of the College of Communication and Information, Florida State University.  iDigBio co-Director for Computational Activities:  oversight of data integration, support for computational needs and assessment of new technologies and programs to facilitate digitization efforts related to imaging, collection integration, and georeferencing. Email:  griccardi at fsu.edu<mailto:griccardi at fsu.edu>.

Dr. Pamela Soltis, Distinguished Professor, University of Florida, and Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History.  iDigBio Director for Research Activities:  liaison to the scientific community and coordination of scientific research activities and needs
identified by the collections community with iDigBio and TCN activities.  Email: psoltis at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:psoltis at flmnh.ufl.edu>; phone: 352-273-1964.
Congratulations to everyone involved in ADBC.  This is a unique and exciting opportunity to bring attention to the value of biological collections.  We must use this opportunity to the maximum!

Larry Page, Pam Soltis, Bruce MacFadden, Greg Riccardi and Jose Fortes,
PIs of iDigbio


If you wish to be removed from this listserv (idigbio-L at lists.ufl.edu) , please contact Jesse Grosso at jgrosso at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:jgrosso at flmnh.ufl.edu>.


--
Larry M. Page
Dickinson Hall / Ichthyology Department
Florida Museum of Natural History
Museum Road and Newell Drive
Gainesville, FL 32611-7800
352-273-1952

ALL CATFISH SPECIES PROJECT
http://clade.acnatsci.org/allcatfish/

ALL CYPRINIFORMES SPECIES PROJECT
http://www.cypriniformes.org/participants.php

Zootaxa
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/nhcoll-l/attachments/20110727/7cb7d010/attachment.html