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Monitoring Nature: Research Developments

A new issue in Science for Environment Policy "Monitoring Nature: Research Developments" provides a flavour of recent work by scientists in the area of biodiversity monitoring to highlight both up-to-date approaches to conservation and evaluation, and how long-term monitoring data could be used more effectively in management and policy decisions.

This Issue also includes topics such as monitoring to environmental policy, remote sensing, citizen science, DNA barcoding and more.

Find this issue on the SEP website here, or go straight to download.





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Article Alert: Towards global interoperability for supporting biodiversity research on essential biodiversity variables (EBVs)

One of our recent associated partners, the EU project GLOBIS-B has published its first paper: "Towards global interoperability for supporting biodiversity research on essential biodiversity variables (EBVs)". You can find the article here.

 

Abstract: 

Essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) have been proposed by the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) to identify a minimum set of essential measurements that are required for studying, monitoring and reporting biodiversity and ecosystem change. Despite the initial conceptualisation, however, the practical implementation of EBVs remains challenging. There is much discussion about the concept and implementation of EBVs: which variables are meaningful; which data are needed and available; at which spatial, temporal and topical scales can EBVs be calculated; and how sensitive are EBVs to variations in underlying data? To advance scientific progress in implementing EBVs we propose that both scientists and research infrastructure operators need to cooperate globally to serve and process the essential large datasets for calculating EBVs. We introduce GLOBIS-B (GLOBal Infrastructures for Supporting Biodiversity research), a global cooperation funded by the Horizon 2020 research and innovation framework programme of the European Commission. The main aim of GLOBIS-B is to bring together biodiversity scientists, global research infrastructure operators and legal interoperability experts to identify the research needs and infrastructure services underpinning the concept of EBVs. The project will facilitate the multi-lateral cooperation of biodiversity research infrastructures worldwide and identify the required primary data, analysis tools, methodologies and legal and technical bottlenecks to develop an agenda for research and infrastructure development to compute EBVs. This requires development of standards, protocols and workflows that are ‘self-documenting’ and openly shared to allow the discovery and analysis of data across large spatial extents and different temporal resolutions. The interoperability of existing biodiversity research infrastructures will be crucial for integrating the necessary biodiversity data to calculate EBVs, and to advance our ability to assess progress towards the Aichi targets for 2020 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Original Source:

W. Daniel Kissling et. al. (2015) Towards global interoperability for supporting biodiversity research on essential biodiversity variables (EBVs). Biodiversity. DOI: 10.1080/14888386.2015.1068709

 





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Postdoctoral position: Modelling of the land-sea nutrient transfer to the Mediterranean sea under different land management scenarios

Post-doctoral scientist position is open for the project "Towards an integrated prediction of Land & Sea Responses to global change in the Mediterranean Basin" (LaSeR-Med), which focusses on integrated socio-ecological modelling. The duration of the contract is initially one year, with a possible extension for a second year, depending on the initial results. The post-doc will be based within the Mediterranean Institute of marine and terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE) in Aix-en-Provence, France. The project is part of the Labex OT-Med (http://www.otmed.fr/).

Applicants should hold a doctoral degree in physics, chemistry, microbiology, geosciences, environmental sciences or a related field of science. They should be familiar with modelling biogeochemical interactions between ecosystems and capable to further develop existing numerical ecosystem models. Programming skills (C) and modelling experience are therefore mandatory. Knowledge of R and of Unix/Linux environment will be an advantage. The candidate should have good written and oral communication skills. For work, good skills in the English language will be essential.

The project:

Terrestrial and marine ecosystems are connected through groundwater, river discharge and nutrient outflows (especially N and P). River catchments in the Mediterranean are N-intensive regions, mostly due to intensive agriculture in the North and to crop N2 fixation or food & feed import in the South. The fraction of nutrient reaching the sea constitutes significant anthropogenic forcing of many marine biological processes. For simulating the dynamics of the first levels of the marine food web (from nutrients to jellyfishes), the ocean biogeochemical model, Eco3M-MED, used and developed by the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) within OT-Med, currently uses N and P measurements at river mouths, e.g. for the Rhône.

In order to estimate the impacts of global change on the functioning of marine ecosystems, the project aims at modeling the dependency of N and P outflows to the Mediterreanean sea toward land management. Land management is modelled as part of the agro-ecosystem model LPJmL (Bondeau et al., 2007), that has been especially adapted to the Mediterranean cropping systems (Fader et al., 2015). Among others, LPJmL simulates the daily carbon and water cycles, and the river discharges to the sea. Following existing approaches in the scientific literature, the post-doc will implement the nutrient N and P transfer in LPJmL, covering the net nutrient inputs to the river catchments by accounting for the processes occurring at the agro-ecosystem level (N2 biological fixation, fertilization, atmospheric deposition) and the net food and feed imports. Since only a minor fraction of the net nutrient inputs from Mediterranean basins reaches the sea, the retention along the nutrient cascade will have to be added to the LPJmL river routing scheme, similarly to the method used by the Riverstrahler model. Once the nutrient transfers have been introduced into LPJmL, simulations will be validated using current climate and land use forcing for comparisons with the existing observations from river outlets. Finally, future conditions will be assessed by using the model with scenarios of changing regional climate and land use / land management.

Your application:

Applications should contain a suitable motivation letter describing your anticipated role in the project, a CV, a list of scientific publications and the names of at least two scientists that can be contacted for references. They must be sent to Ms. Gabriela Boéri (gabriela.boeri@imbe.fr). Please prepare your application as a single file in pdf-format.

Questions about the project or the position can be directed to Dr. Alberte Bondeau (alberte.bondeau@imbe.fr). The position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate has been found – work should start soon after that date. The salary and contract conditions will be determined according to standards set by Aix-Marseille University – questions in this regard can be directed to Sophie Pekar (pekar@otmed.fr).





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Investing in European success – A Decade of Success in Earth Observation Research and Innovation

The European Commission has recently released publication focused on Earth Observation Research and EU BON is one of the successful projects featured in it. 

The publication titled "Investing in European success – A Decade of Success in Earth Observation Research and Innovation" looks at the benefits that Earth Observation brings to studying and protecting the environment.

The Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and landscapes are changing rapidly, with human activities being a major driver. Monitoring and modelling these changes are critical because they allow governments, society and the private sector to make informed decisions about climate, energy, food security, natural hazards, health and other societal challenges. To be effective, these responses must be grounded in comprehensive and timely information. More importantly, decision makers, managers and experts must have access to the information they need, when they need it and in a format which can be easily utilised.

To address this challenge, the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has provided a voluntary framework since 2005 where 98 governments, the European Commission and 87 international organisations develop new projects and coordinate their strategies and investments in the field of Earth observation. The vision of GEO is to realise a future wherein decisions and actions for the benefit of humankind are informed by coordinated, comprehensive and sustained Earth observations and information. GEO’s main objective is to develop and implement the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). 

EU BON is an attempt to overcome these problems at European level and to contribute to the Group on Earth Observations’ (GEO) global initiative with the same aims – GEO BON.

Find the full publication here, EU BON can be found featured on pages 26 - 27.






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10 years ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

The ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) marked its 10th year with the theme, "ACB and ASEAN Member States: A Decade of Cooperation on Biodiversity Conservation."  The celebration covered a number of activities on 2 October 2015 at the College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Philippines. These included the groundbreaking ceremony of the new ACB headquarters; Tree Growing Activity at the "Tree World"; awarding of the Zooming in on Biodiversity Photo Contest Winners; and "Nawa'y Muli Tayong Makauwi," a musical theatre show on biodiversity conservation. 

The event provided ACB with an opportunity to promote the milestones of the Centre, and a venue for the ASEAN Member States, ACB and its partner organizations and countries to get together and further strengthen collaborations and reaffirm commitments to conserve the rich biodiversity of the ASEAN region.

Find more updates in the latest ASEAN Biodiversity Bulletin.





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Interview: Dr. Mark Frenzel on LTER-Europe, ecological research and co-working with EU BON

EU BON has signed memoranda of understanding with almost thirty institutions and projects from across Europe and outside to state its desire for collaboration and exchange of expertise. Among the early partners in this list is the LTER-Europe group, focussed on the integration of scientific research  and ecosystem research approaches, including the human dimension.

Dr. Mark Frenzel who took part in the EU BON Third Stakeholder roundtable in December 2015, gives an overview of his impressions from the meeting as well as his ideas on the co-work between LTER-Europe and EU BON.


Credit: Florian Wetzel

 

Q: The LTER-Europe network looks at conceptualizing Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) as an essential component of world-wide efforts to better understand ecosystems. How is the network planning to achieve this?

A: This is / will be achieved mainly by funded project work. Actually the H2020 eLTER project is the most important backbone, an ESFRI eLTER initiative is running too. In terms of content there are several challenges which need to be addressed: (1) Harmonisation in terms of what and how is being measured at LTER sites, (2) collection and representation of metadata about sites, actors and data sets within the web tool DEIMS, (3) open access of data and DOI registration of data sets, (4) considering the human component as a major driver for changes in ecosystems by including socio-economy and socio-ecology in the LTER approach.      
 

Q: How would EU BON and its planned European biodiversity portal be beneficial to LTER-Europe and its aims in the next years?

A: Biodiversity is not the only, but an important focus within LTER. It depends on the services and benefits connected with this portal and its long-term perspective. The most important added value I would see in an elaborated framework-based agreement on the set of  "essential biodiversity variables" which will be a compromise between importance and feasibility. This selection process should be well tuned with the relevant players in this field.
 

Q: The LTER-Europe network includes several hundreds of sites that are collecting large amounts of data  – how can this data be used for improving our knowledge of biodiversity, particularly for policy-relevant questions?

A: The big advantage (and potential) of LTER-Europe sites is the coverage in terms of geography and bioms, the general shortcoming is in the heterogeneous reasons why these sites have been set up (e.g. for monitoring air pollution) and that there is no targeted funding (in terms of a specific research question) for all sites.

Not all sites are dealing with biodiversity data. First, suitable sites need to be selected according to metadata in DEIMS (https://data.lter-europe.net/deims/). Second, data sets according to fitting topics have to be compiled (perhaps no easy task, as datasets up to now are not exhaustively documented). Site managers of representative sites (depending on the question to be addressed) could be motivated to create a common standardised data sets (needs external funding depending on the resources necessary for the task or at least a very attractive research question) responding to e.g. policy needs. Moreover, the long-term knowledge of site coordinators about the development and the important drivers of change at their sites (e.g. by assessing ecosystem services) comprises valuable meta information about the context of data sets.

Data obtained from the sites could potentially help with policy-relevant questions like status of endangered species or status of ecosystem service relevant system parameters which could be extracted from LTER sites.
 

Q: According to you what are the next three most urgent step in order to achieve better understanding of ecosystem services and their benefits for policy, economics and society?

A: (1) reliable data and suitable scale of data, (2) understanding the effect of scale on ecosystem services, (3) make use of large networks to approach this issue, bring the results down to a scale understandable for the layman.
 

About LTER-Europe:

Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) is an essential component of world-wide efforts to better understand ecosystems. LTER contributes to the knowledge base informing policy and to the development of management options in response to the Grand Challenges under Global Change. From the beginning (around 2003) the design of LTER-Europe has focussed on the integration of natural sciences and ecosystem research approaches, including the human dimension. LTER-Europe was heavily involved in conceptualizing socio-ecological research (LTSER). As well as LTER Sites, LTER-Europe features LTSER Platforms, acting as test infrastructures for a new generation of ecosystem research across European environmental and socio-economic gradients.

 





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Job alert: Researcher and scientific project manager, DITOs

A new position for "Researcher and Scientific Project Manager" is opened by the Doing it Together science (DITOs) project, running under the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) within the H2020 framework, and led by the UCL London.

The DITOs project aims to elevate public engagement with science across Europe from passive engagement with the process of developing science to an active one.

Deadline: 23.05.2016

For more information on how to apply and requirements for this position, please download the Official Job Offer.





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New Book: Camera Trapping for Wildlife Research

Camera trapping is a powerful and now widely used tool in scientific research on wildlife ecology and management. It provides a unique opportunity for collecting knowledge, investigating the presence of animals, or recording and studying behaviour. Its visual nature makes it easy to successfully convey findings to a wide audience.

The new book provides a much-needed guide to the sound use of camera trapping for the most common ecological applications to wildlife research. Each phase involved in the use of camera trapping is covered:

- Selecting the right camera type 
- Set-up and field deployment of your camera trap 
- Defining the sampling design: presence/absence, species inventory, abundance; occupancy at species level; capture-mark-recapture for density estimation; behavioural studies; community-level analysis 
- Data storage, management and analysis for your research topic, with illustrative examples for using R and Excel 
- Using camera trapping for monitoring, conservation and public engagement.

Each chapter in this edited volume is essential reading for students, scientists, ecologists, educators and professionals involved in wildlife research or management.

Find out more in the promotional video.

About the authors

Francesco Rovero is an ecologist and conservation scientist with a PhD in animal ecology. He is currently the Curator for Tropical Biodiversity at MUSE Science Museum in Trento, Italy. 

Fridolin Zimmermann is a carnivore conservation scientist with a PhD on Eurasian lynx conservation and ecology. He is currently coordinator of the large carnivore monitoring in Switzerland at Carnivore Ecology and Wildlife Management (KORA).

Collectively they have nearly 30 years of professional experience in the use of camera trapping for wildlife research, and have worked on a range of species, habitat and study types.





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EU BON workshop "Biodiversity research for and by citizens in Eastern Europe: tools, information services and public engagement"

The EU BON workshop "Biodiversity research for and by citizens in Eastern Europe: tools, information services and public engagement" was organized to present the EU BON citizen science gateway, share accomplishments of the project, promote products, raise and discuss challenges of citizen science and facilitate networking between countries, especially eastern and central European countries.

There were 33 participants from Baltic countries and Finland and EU BON partners from Norway, Spain, Israel and Brussels. First day was showcasing the citizen science initiatives in Estonia, following best practice examples from EU BON consortium. During the second day the participants got a chance to learn the tools and methods for citizen science data management by ECSA and EU BON. This was followed by world cafe style discussion about the needs of citizen science initiatives and Pan-European citizen science gateway. One of the important conclusions for Baltic countries is that there is a need for stronger collaboration and supportive infrastructure to make citizen science more effective and also deliver accessible data to research community.

Some workshop participants also took part of Tartu Mini-BioBlitz on 29th June, first BioBlitz in Estonia. BioBlitz participants observed 239 species of animals, plants and fungi .

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Workshop agenda

Read a first hand report form the workshop in the two great blog posts by Egle Marija Ramanauskaite (a workshop participant from Lithuania):

http://seplute.tumblr.com/post/146841955105/citsci-overtakes-the-baltics-citizen-science

http://seplute.tumblr.com/post/146844410470/citizen-science-workshop-in-tartu-recap-of-day-2





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The latest ASEAN Biodiversity Updates

The ASEAN BIODIVERSITY UPDATES are published by the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) to keep stakeholders informed of news about biodiversity concerns and efforts that are relevant to the ASEAN region. In its latest issue the newsletter provides an overview of the 2016  World Environment Day, as well as gives information about  the new ACB headquarters at the University of the Philippines Los Baños and the organization's training programs.

A special feature gives insights on the Nusa Penida Marine Protected Area in Indonesia, followed by country-specific biodiversity news from accross Southeast Asia.

The full issue is available here.





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February 2017 mirror update of SeaLifeBase in CA server

​SeaLifeBase in CA server (www.sealifebase.ca) has been updated to date.





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New EU BON research reviews the most relevant sources for European biodiversity observation data to identifying important barriers and fill gaps

Recently published in Biological Conservation, the new EU BON supported paper is titled "Unlocking biodiversity data: Prioritization and filling the gaps in biodiversity observation data in Europe".
 
Abstract:
 
Large quantities of biodiversity data are required to assess the current status of species, to identify drivers of population and distributional change, and to predict changes to biodiversity under future scenarios. Nevertheless, currently-available data are often not well-suited to these purposes. To highlight existing gaps, we assess the availability of species observation data in Europe, their geographic and temporal range, and their quality. We do so by reviewing the most relevant sources for European biodiversity observation data, and identifying important barriers to filling gaps. We suggest strategies, tools and frameworks to continue to fill these gaps, in addition to producing data suitable for generating Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs). Our review of data sources shows that only around a third of data-providers provide unrestricted data access. Particularly large geographic gaps exist in Eastern European countries and many datasets are not suitable for generating EBVs due to the absence of long-term data. We highlight examples built on recent experiences from large data integrators, publishers and networks that help to efficiently improve data availability, adopt open science principles and close existing data gaps. Future strategies must urgently consider the needs of relevant data stakeholders, particularly science- and policy-related needs, and provide incentives for data-providers. Hence, sustainable, longterm infrastructures and a European biodiversity network are needed to provide such efficient workflows, incentives for data-provision and tools.
 
 

 





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Stemming from EU BON, new research calls for action: Overcoming the barriers to the use of conservation science in policy

Just accepted, a new paper in Conservation Letters looks at the barriers and solutions to the use of conservation science in policy. The main data used in the paper are from a global multi-lingual survey filled in by 758 research scientists, practitioners, or people in policy positions, executed as part of the EU BON project.

"The most interesting result from our study is that there is agreement (perhaps surprisingly!) between research scientists, practitioners, and people in policy positions about the main barriers preventing the use of conservation science in policy. Although barriers such as lack of policy relevant science, lack of understanding of science on the part of policy-makers, and limited awareness of policy processes from researchers, featured in the top-ten barriers included in the online survey, they were not the most highly ranked," shares lead author David C. Rose in a dedicated post on his blog Academic Optimism.

Read more in the blog post: https://academicoptimism.wordpress.com/2018/04/22/overcoming-the-barriers-to-the-use-of-conservation-science-in-policy-time-for-action/

The original research is available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12564

Abstract: 

Conservation policy decisions can suffer from a lack of evidence, hindering effective decision‐making. In nature conservation, studies investigating why policy is often not evidence‐informed have tended to focus on Western democracies, with relatively small samples. To understand global variation and challenges better, we established a global survey aimed at identifying top barriers and solutions to the use of conservation science in policy. This obtained the views of 758 people in policy, practice, and research positions from 68 countries across six languages. Here we show that, contrary to popular belief, there is agreement about how to incorporate conservation science into policy, and there is thus room for optimism. Barriers related to the low priority of conservation were considered to be important, while mainstreaming conservation was proposed as a key solution. Therefore, priorities should include the elaboration of public policy pathways with education initiatives that promote the importance of long‐term conservation‐compatible policies.





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EU BON research keeps flowing: Downscaling and the automation of species monitoring

Biodiversity data are sparse, biased and collected at many resolutions. So techniques are needed to combine these data and provide some clarity. This is where downscaling comes in. Downscaling predicts the occupancy of a species in a given area. That is, the number of grid squares a species is predicted to occupy in a standard grid of equally sized squares. Downscaling uses the intrinsic patterns in the spatial organization of an organism’s distributions to predict what the occupancy would be, given the occupancy at a coarser resolution.

Groom et al. (2018) tests different downscaling models on birds and plants in four countries and in different landscapes and shows which models work best. The results show that all models work similarly, irrespective of the type of organism and landscape. However, some models were biased, either under- or overestimating occupancy. However, a few models were both reliable and unbiased. This means we can automate calculation of species occupancy. Workflows can harvest data from many sources and calculate species metrics in a timely manner, potentially delivering warnings so that interventions can be made.

Species invasions, habitat degradation and mass extinctions are not a future threat, they are happening now. Understanding how we should react, and what policies we need should be underpinned by solid evidence. Imagine if we had systems where we could monitor biodiversity just like we monitor the climate in easy to understand numbers that are both accurate and sensitive to change.

Original Source: 

Groom QJ, Marsh CJ, Gavish Y, Kunin WE. (2018) How to predict fine resolution occupancy from coarse occupancy data. Methods Ecol Evol.;00:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13078

Figure 1: Comparison of downscaling performance of difference mathematical models with the percentage error from the known distribution of breeding birds of Flanders. Points above the zero line are overestimates of occupancy and under the line are underestimates. The x-axis is the prevalence of the species in Flanders.

 





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Workshop: Towards a Roadmap for Research Infrastructures on Biodiversity and Ecosystem research in Europe

The Research Infrastructures Unit of DG RTD and the infrastructure project LifeWatch invites you to a 1 and ½ day workshop : "Towards a Roadmap for Research Infrastructures on Biodiversity and Ecosystem research in Europe". The workshop will take place Brussels on 19 and 20 March 2013.
The overall objective of this workshop is to develop synergies between ESFRI research infrastructures (RI), existing research infrastructures implemented as Integrating Activities (IA), Integrated Projects (IP) and Joint Programming Initiatives (JPI) which are relevant to Biodiversity and Ecosystem research.
The following topics will be discussed:
1. Synergy between the biodiversity components of different initiatives, also in view of the supporting role of the European research infrastructures in this area.
2. A strategy for the development of biodiversity research infrastructures in the next ten years in view of emerging scientific and technical challenges.

Further information: EuroMarine





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MTSR 2013 : 7th Metadata and Semantics Research Conference

Continuing the successful mission of previous MTSR Conferences (MTSR'05, MTSR'07, MTSR'09, MTSR'10, MTSR'11 and MTSR’12), the seventh International Conference on Metadata and Semantics Research (MTSR'13) aims to bring together scholars and practitioners that share a common interest in the interdisciplinary field of metadata, linked data and ontologies. Participants will share novel knowledge and best practice in the implementation of these semantic technologies across diverse types of Information Environments and applications. These include Cultural Informatics; Open Access Repositories & Digital Libraries; E-learning applications; Search Engine Optimisation & Information Retrieval; Research Information Systems and Infrastructures; e-Science and e-Social Science applications; Agriculture, Food and Environment; Bio-Health & Medical Information Systems. 





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ASEAN-EU STI Days with EU BON participation

he ASEAN-EU Science, Technology and Innovation Days serve as a visible forum for cooperation activities between the two regions in the field of STI. The event addresses researchers from most thematic areas – with a focus on the societal challenges with relevance to both regions – as well policy makers, research conducting companies and innovation managers. It takes place annually, alternating between an ASEAN and a European country. High-level policy makers as well as many research projects and companies seize the chance to network, discuss, exchange and inform themselves.

EU BON is also going to hold a workshop during the conference  called "Integration of biodiversity data recording and information management systems for environmental sustainability: a call for EU-ASEAN collaboration" (22nd January). The agenda of this workshop (incl. invited speakers) ican also be found here: http://www.stidays.net/?page_id=510





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Seminar ‘Use of biodiversity in research according to the upcoming EU regulation’

On Tuesday March 4, 2014 at the Science Park De Uithof in Utrecht a seminar will address the changing legal situation in the use of living material (genetic resources) for scientific research. This change may affect ongoing and new research carried out in universities and related research institutes.
In many universities research is carried out using plants or animals, or derivatives thereof. Now, context is changing after the Nagoya Protocol was agreed upon in 2010, and the EU has worked towards regulation of the new requirements. These are to become effective when the Nagoya Protocol comes into force, which is expected to happen after mid-2014. Shortly afterwards, the EU regulation will also become effective. The Council, European Parliament and the European Commission have come to an informal agreement that will shortly be finalised.
The seminar Use of biodiversity in research according to the upcoming EU regulation aims to introduce the new legislation to the scientific community. The seminar is of relevance to University boards and their legal departments, as well as scientists and managers of collections.
 
For more details and to apply please see here





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SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN networking and cluster session in the EU

After a successful networking session in Bangkok, Thailand the SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN project is organising another networking session for interested institutions and research projects in Brussels, Belgium. The event will take place on 28 March 2014 in Brussels, Belgium.This meeting is helpful if you

  • want to get to know and network with fellow environment research projects (in the areas of climate change, resource efficiency and raw materials) with an ASEAN focus and/or relevant research results for the region
  • want to identify and harness synergies with other projects (possible future cooperation; sharing of results and work, etc.)
  • want to get in touch with the SUSTAIN team, communicating what kind of support your research efforts would benefit from

The SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN project generally has to offer

  • networking and project twinning support: find and coordinate with similar projects!
  • R&D services for results take-up: get support in approaching potential investors!
  • communication and exposure support: make your results visible for potential users!

Get in touch here, if you are interested in joining the meeting. The pre-meeting agenda is available as an attachment below,

Read more about the event on the SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN website.





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2nd International Conference on Research Infrastructures

The 2nd International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI 2014) will take place from 2-4 April 2014 in Athens, Greece.ICRI 2014 will be held under the auspices of the forthcoming Greek Presidency of the European Union, co-organised and supported by the European Commission. Read more here





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Satellite navigation - Workshop: EGNSS research and technology development

Place: Brussels (Belgium)
 
The workshop on European Global Satellite System (GNSS) Research and Technology Development (RTD) will be organised by the European Commission in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA).
This event is being held to consult stakeholders of the European GNSS community on RTD areas of potential interest to be funded under Horizon 2020 in the period 2015-2020.
The scope includes Galileo/ EGNOS infrastructure, mission and services R&D, GNSS signals,  and basic GNSS RTD.
Please note that receiver and applications R&D will not be covered in this workshop
The workshop will consist of six topical sessions, during which stakeholders from industry, SMEs, academia, and technology institutes are solicited to discuss and define important lines of GNSS research.




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Open Science Conference - Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER)

The Integrated Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (IMBER) Project will convene an Open Science Conference from 23-27 June 2014 in Bergen, Norway, with the goals of:

  • highlighting research results from the IMBER project and activities,
  • promoting integrated syntheses of IMBER-relevant research, and
  • developing a new global research agenda for marine biogeochemistry and ecosystems in the Anthropocene.

The list of contributed sessions and workshops is available here.

The Call for Abstracts is open!  Deadline for abstract submission: 31 January 2014. Contributions are welcome from all marine research communities.





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SUSTAIN-EU-ASEAN cluster meting: organic and non-organic resourches & climate actions and cities

SUSTAIN-EU-ASEAN organises the first bi-regional cluster meeting during which projects from both Southeast Asia and Europe can meet in person! This cluster meeting will take place in Bogor, Indonesia on 19 Aug 2014, in parallel with the ASEAN Science and Technology Week (ASTW). The two tematic clusters are:
  • Climate Action and Cities: this cluster brings together a number of projects dealing with the effects of climate change on urban space (also referring to issues like water management, etc.)
  • Organic and Non-Organic Resources: this cluster contains projects that deal with a range of resources and materials problems crucial for economic and social well-being in Southeast Asia
Purpose of the meeting/Goals:
 
  • Meet and get to know fellow projects working on similar topics of relevance to ASEAN
  • Discuss results and synergies, exchange on methodologies, plan for joint events, applications, publications, etc. or simply see what's going on in the other region in this topic.
  • Plan concrete next joint steps with projects in the cluster.
  • Benefit from SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN support (e.g. in your dissemination, exploitation and development activities) and inputs (on the funding environment)
  • Share your views on thematic gaps in current research - SUSTAIN is mandated to carry the message to the European Commission
Find more information in the attached brochure.

 

 





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SUSTAIN-­EU-ASEAN -­ Media Training

 
In parallel with the ASEAN Scientific and Technology Week in Bogor, Indonesia, SUSTAIN EU-ASEAN is organizing several events, including the project Cluster Meetings and the first media training workshop, scheduled for the 21st of August.
 
The media workshop aims to help scientists and researchers to increase their impact outside the academic world by learning how to inform and influence policy makers and media representatives.
 
Through various practical exercises, the workshop will enhance participants’ written communication and presentation skills, as well as mastering the visual aspects of communicating with audiences through body language and posture.
 
The specific objectives of the training are to:
 
  • Analyze the objectives and priorities of the media;
  • Define a storyline and create persuasive and innovative messages;
  • Improve skills in presenting to large audiences;
  • Gain control of interviews with journalists using effective verbal skills;
  • Manage energy and project confidence in interviews with journalists.

Read more in the Draft agenda below.

 





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Empowering Biodiversity Research conference

There is a world of tools, standards and data out there, ready for you to use. Biodiversity Informatics deals with the application of informatics techniques to biodiversity information for improved management, presentation, discovery, exploration and analysis of scientific data. Combined with open data sources on the Internet, this is a powerful new approach in doing research. During this conference, organised by the Belgian Biodiversity Platform and several key institutes, we would like to take you on a trip to the world of biodiversity informatics & open data. After this conference a series of related workshops will be organized.





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Asean-EU STI days 2016

The ASEAN-EU STI Days 2016 will be organised in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 10-12 May, 2016. This year’s edition of the event will focus on presenting academic/industry collaborations in and between ASEAN and the EU in the context of common key societal challenges for both regions.

The ASEAN-EU Science, Technology and Innovation Days are a forum style event, initiated by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme funded SEA-EU-NET II project. 

For more information and to register, please go to: http://www.stidays.net





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Biodiversity research for and by citizens in Eastern Europe: tools, information services and public engagement

Citizens in democratic society are no longer just passive bystanders when science is in focus. They show interest in results, ask for consultation and contribute with data. For many fields of research citizen science data are valuable additional information.
 
The FP7 project Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network - EU BON (http://eubon.eu/) now organizes a dedicated Citizen Science Workshop to explore the opportunities and tools for citizens in Eastern Europe to engage in biodiversity research. The workshop will take place on 27-28 June 2016 at the University of Tartu Natural History Museum, Estonia.
 
Engaging citizens is a challenge both for society and for researchers. There are new tools and methods which allow to manage citizen science projects, collect data and provide feedback to citizen scientists. The workshop will present EU BON results of citizen science mobilizing efforts for biodiversity research, provide training for citizen science tools and showcase some examples of Estonian projects and European initiatives. Workshop will also make an effort to prioritize recommendations and next steps for citizen science integration into biodiversity research.
 
To view the programme, learn more and subscribe, please visit the event's webpage here: http://eubon.cybertaxonomy.africamuseum.be/CS%20workshop




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14th FishBase Annual Symposium, "FishBase and SeaLifeBase: a diversity of uses for biodiversity studies"

Theme:  FishBase and SeaLifeBase: a diversity of uses for biodiversity studies  

Date:      September 9, 2016

Venue:   Amphitheatre Rouelle, Museum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Paris

See tentative program/agenda below..

Open to all interested. If you wish to attend this event, contact:

Patrice Pruvost
Chargé de conservation d'ichtyologie
UMR Borea-7208
Département milieux et peuplements aquatiques
Museum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN)
CP26 - 43 rue cuvier
tel : 33 1 40 79 37 60
fax : 33 1 40 79 37 71
75005 Paris
E-mail: pruvost@mnhn.fr





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ICRI 2016 (International Conference on Research Infrastructures)

The next International Conference on Research Infrastructures will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 3 to 5 October 2016, hosted by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST) in collaboration with the European Commission. It will be the 3rd Conference on Research Infrastructures and the event will have an international dimension. The conference aims at:

  • highlighting the essential role of global research infrastructures in addressing grand challenges and as hubs for innovation;
  • reflecting on needs, development and sustainability of global/regional research infrastructures;
  • discussing the possibility to move towards an international roadmap.

Several hundreds of participants from more than 50 countries are expected to take part to this event. Speakers representing high-level stakeholders from across the globe, as well as highly profiled key political Institutions, including the UN, European Commission, African Union, OECD and others, will intervene in the debate.

More information to follow.












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Gone with the wind: Seasonal trends in foraging movement directions for a central-place forager





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The importance of open data for invasive alien species research, policy and management





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Towards global interoperability for supporting biodiversity research on essential biodiversity variables (EBVs)




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Linking biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being: Three challenges for designing research for sustainability




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From Open Access to Open Science from the viewpoint of a scholarly publisher. Research Presentation




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The long-term ecological research (LTER) network: Relevance, current status, future perspective and examples from marine, freshwater and terrestrial long-term observation




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Salinity is the major factor influencing the sediment bacterial communities in a Mediterranean lagoonal complex (Amvrakikos Gulf, Ionian Sea)





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Unique COI haplotypes in Hediste diversicolor populations in lagoons adjoining the Ionian Sea





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Sulfate-reducing microorganisms in a Mediterranean lagoonal complex (Amvrakikos Gulf, Ionian Sea)




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The Biodiversity Informatics Landscape: Elements, Connections and Opportunities. Research Ideas and Outcomes





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Regina Spektor - What We Saw From the Cheap Seats

The truth about Regina Spektor is that quirky isn't the half of it.