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TDWG 2017 has ended
Saturday, September 30
 

09:00 EDT

Data Carpentry Workshop
Organizers
MC

Matthew Collins

Gainesville, United States of America
avatar for Deborah Paul

Deborah Paul

Florida State University

Saturday September 30, 2017 09:00 - 16:30 EDT
Canadian Museum of Nature, 240 McLeod St, Ottawa
 
Sunday, October 1
 

09:00 EDT

Data Carpentry Workshop
Organizers
MC

Matthew Collins

Gainesville, United States of America
avatar for Deborah Paul

Deborah Paul

Florida State University

Sunday October 1, 2017 09:00 - 16:30 EDT
Canadian Museum of Nature, 240 McLeod St, Ottawa

09:00 EDT

TDWG Executive
Sunday October 1, 2017 09:00 - 17:00 EDT
Bytowne

09:00 EDT

[Interest Group] Data Quality (by invitation)
Organizers
avatar for Arthur D. Chapman

Arthur D. Chapman

Australian Biodiversity Information Services
Co-Convenor Data Quality Interest Group
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo

Sunday October 1, 2017 09:00 - 17:00 EDT
Capitale

17:30 EDT

Registration in the Penthouse
Sunday October 1, 2017 17:30 - 20:00 EDT
Panorama

18:00 EDT

 
Monday, October 2
 

08:00 EDT

Registration
Monday October 2, 2017 08:00 - 09:00 EDT
Victoria

08:30 EDT

Load Talks & Hang Posters
Visit your presentation room at this time with your 16:9 PowerPoint talk loaded on a USB flash drive. Name your file room_day_time_name.pptx (e.g. Chaudiere_Monday_1415_Smith.pptx). Hang your poster in Ballroom B/C.

Monday October 2, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
N/A

09:00 EDT

Welcoming remarks and guide to the meeting
Welcome from Canada; Welcome from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Welcome from the Canadian Museum of Nature
2. Announcement of the TDWG Journal

Monday October 2, 2017 09:00 - 09:40 EDT
Ballroom A

09:40 EDT

[Keynote] Roderic D.M. Page - Towards a Biodiversity Knowledge Graph
Speakers
avatar for Roderic D.M. Page

Roderic D.M. Page

Professor of Taxonomy, University of Glasgow: Glasgow, United Kingdom


Monday October 2, 2017 09:40 - 10:30 EDT
Ballroom A

10:30 EDT

Break
Monday October 2, 2017 10:30 - 11:00 EDT
Ballroom B

11:00 EDT

[Contributed] Associating Occurrences with Genes, Phenotypes, and Environments through the Distributed System of Scientific Collections (DiSSCo)
Abstract
Over the last few decades, the research practice in natural sciences has changed dramatically. Remote sensing, rapid identification and molecular approaches allow us to efficiently monitor the changing world around us and understand the cause of those changes. Advances of digital, genomic and information technologies enable natu ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.17010

Speakers
avatar for Dimitris Koureas

Dimitris Koureas

Director, International Biodiversity Infrastructures, Naturalis Biodiversity Center | Distributed System of Scientific Collections - DiSSCo
Chair, TDWGCoordinator, DiSSCoTechnical Advisory Board member, RDACoordinator, Distributed System of Scientific Collections - DiSSCoco-Chair, RDA BDI IG, DCF IG & ASDOC WG


Monday October 2, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[W01] Introduction into Phycobank: challenges, concepts and solutions
Speakers
AK

Andreas Kohlbecker

Research Assistant, Biodiversity Informatics Projects, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany


Monday October 2, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Chaudiere

11:00 EDT

[W19] EXTRACT 2.0: interactive identification of biological entities mentioned in text to assist database curation and knowledge extraction
Abstract
Data curation is a process occurring in many aspects of biodiversity research, e.g. in digitization of specimen collections and extraction of species occurrences from the legacy literature. Data curation is always characterized by being time demanding and tedious. Gathering information on species and exposing it via search inter ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20152

Speakers
EP

Evangelos Pafilis

Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece


Monday October 2, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Capitale

11:00 EDT

[Contributed - Topic] What do People, DiSSCo, Brazil, Symbiota, BISON and Google have in common?
Organizers
avatar for Gail Kampmeier

Gail Kampmeier

Affiliate, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, Univ of Illinois
Entomologist; Code of Conduct Committee member; TDWG Program Co-Chair; Editor-in-Chief, Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS)

Monday October 2, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[W01 - Topic] Establishing a global registration system of algal names and types
Abstract

Establishing an on-line registration system for algal names and their nomenclatural types is one of the main objectives of a DFG (Deutsche Forschungs Gemeinschaft) project, which started in 2016.

This registration system will become part of the international network of biodiversity data and one of the operating global registration systems for names of organisms. Once established, PhycoBank will remove a major obstacle to research in the field of phycology. The envisaged workflows include manual registration of new algae names, as well as the automatic registration of new algal names published in scientific journals that already have a functioning electronic publishing workflow.

An important component of the registration system will be a comprehensive index of algae names. Its main purposes are to cover all algae names known to sources external to PhycoBank, and to support the registration workflow by providing these names in a harmonized and consistent way. The index could be furthermore a valuable source of names for other data systems. It may contribute to the Global Names Architecture (GNA) in the medium term. In the short term, it aims to provide names to the backbone of biodiversity networks such as GBIF and the Biological Collection Access Service (BioCASe).

The workshop will review and discuss interoperability aspects of the system with the global network of biodiversity information systems, including topics like persistent identifiers for names and typifications, data flows to name catalogs, and other services, as well as the harvesting and indexing of names and taxa for the algae name index. Another major focus of the workshop will be the integration of name registration systems in the workflow of digital publishers.

Organizers
AK

Andreas Kohlbecker

Research Assistant, Biodiversity Informatics Projects, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany

Monday October 2, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:00 EDT

[W19 - Topic] Construction of biodiversity knowledge graphs driven by federated text mining tools
Abstract

Knowledge graphs - knowledge bases which encode information using graph structures - have recently demonstrated their power in supporting knowledge discovery tasks such as data aggregation and semantic search. Well-known knowledge graphs such as DBpedia and Google's Knowledge Graph have been built to store general-domain facts, and are now widely used in many knowledge discovery applications. We should also be able to construct large-scale graphs capturing biodiversity knowledge, which will enable linking and consolidation of information from multiple complementary sources - databases such as the Encyclopedia of Life (EoL), Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) and Pensoft.

This workshop is focussed on the demonstration and use of technologies that facilitate the construction of biodiversity knowledge graphs based on various data sources. Firstly, we shall showcase tools for automatically analysing secondary data, i.e., biodiversity literature. These range from tools or services that can automatically recognise mentions of pertinent concepts (e.g., taxa, environments) such as EXTRACT, to those that disambiguate and link such mentions with controlled vocabularies and primary (occurrence) data, through to ones which identify semantically related names (e.g., using distributional semantics). Importantly, we will demonstrate how a graph database - a Neo4j instance - can be populated with the automatically extracted information. Emphasis will also be given to the benefits of representing information using a graph database. Furthermore, we shall demonstrate how these diverse tools - as well as those contributed by other members of the community - can be federated, i.e., integrated into unified pipelines, using Argo: a graphical Web-based workbench for user-interactive construction of processing workflows. In this way, the workshop will provide the know-how for building knowledge graphs through bespoke processing workflows that do not require any programming effort.

Applications of the above technologies in the context of use cases will then be presented. A specific example is the graph representation of knowledge stored in World Flora Online (WFO) which would: (1) integrate WFO content with data from other platforms, e.g., GBIF, EoL, and (2) enable searching for more descriptive plant species information, e.g., related common or vernacular names, location, habitat, reproductive state. An open discussion of further use cases that are of interest to the community will be held.

Organizers
avatar for Sophia Ananiadou

Sophia Ananiadou

Director, National Centre for Text Mining, University of Manchester
I am a Professor of Computer Science in the School of Computer Science, University of Manchester and have led the National Centre for Text Mining (www.nactem.ac.uk) since 2007. My main areas of research are semantic text mining and semantic search techniques for applications in domains... Read More →
RB

Riza Batista-Navarro

University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
avatar for Teodor Georgiev

Teodor Georgiev

Technical Director, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria
EP

Evangelos Pafilis

Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
VS

Viktor Senderov

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria

Monday October 2, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Capitale

11:15 EDT

[Contributed] Proposed Extension to Darwin Core for People and their Roles in the Curation of Physical and Digital Objects
Abstract
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility's 2017-2021 implementation plan includes an item with a scheduled start in 2017 to develop mechanisms to support and reflect the skills, expertise and experience of individual and organizational contributions to their network. This includes revision of their identity management system ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19829

Speakers
avatar for David Shorthouse

David Shorthouse

Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada


Monday October 2, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:15 EDT

[W19] Developing a knowledge base on the habitats and reproductive conditions of Dipterocarps through information extraction
Abstract
Dipterocarps, belonging to the family Dipterocarpaceae, are economically and ecologically important in the Philippines due to their timber value as well as contribution to wildlife habitat, climatic balance and stronghold on water releases. The supra-annual mass flowering of dipterocarps occurs in irregular intervals of two to t ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20066

Speakers
RG

Roselyn Gabud

University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines


Monday October 2, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Capitale

11:15 EDT

[W01] Workshop Activities
Organizers
AK

Andreas Kohlbecker

Research Assistant, Biodiversity Informatics Projects, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany

Monday October 2, 2017 11:15 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:30 EDT

[Contributed] SiBBr: Envisioning the spatial distribution of Brazilian biodiversity records
Abstract
Habitat degradation and fragmentation has driven much of the extinction process of current species. Biodiversity loss compromises ecosystems goods and socioeconomic activities, and can be managed through holistic conservation policies that prioritize where and how to spend efforts and resources. Hence an easy-to-use information ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19966

Speakers
avatar for Nayara Soto

Nayara Soto

Biodiversity data manager, SiBBr - Brazilian Biodiversity Information System
Brazilian biodiversity


Monday October 2, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Ballroom A

11:30 EDT

[W19] Building Your Own Big Data Analysis Infrastructure for Biodiversity Science
Abstract
The size of biodiversity data sets, and the size of people’s questions around them, are outgrowing the capabilities of desktop applications, single computers, and single developers. Numerous articles in the corporate sector (Delgado 2016) have been written on how much time professionals spend manipulating and formatting large da ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20161

Speakers
MC

Matthew Collins

Gainesville, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Capitale

11:45 EDT

[Contributed] Symbiota2
Abstract
Symbiota is free open source software for making specimen information available on the web. It is widely used in the United States and is beginning to be used in other countries. Its strengths include its ability to integrate specimen images and records with images of living organisms, image-based records, descriptions, tools fo ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19933

Speakers
ME

Mary E. Barkworth

Utah State University


Monday October 2, 2017 11:45 - 12:00 EDT
Ballroom A

11:45 EDT

[W19] Argo as a platform for integrating distinct biodiversity analytics tools into workflows for building graph databases
Abstract
Together with the increasingly growing amount of available data on biodiversity comes the proliferation of various informatics tools aimed at the collection, management and analysis of biodiversity-relevant knowledge. Consequently, we have seen how several data formats and programming languages or environments have come into use ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20067

Speakers
RB

Riza Batista-Navarro

University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom


Monday October 2, 2017 11:45 - 12:00 EDT
Capitale

12:00 EDT

[Contributed] Taxonomy and Distribution in Big Data Use Cases from BISON and ITIS
Abstract
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (www.itis.gov) is a systematically curated, standardized, machine readable taxonomy with a standard global hierarchy and classification of all organisms. ITIS is included within thousands of other databases and websites worldwide. Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (bison.usgs ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19890

Speakers
GG

Gerald Guala

US Geological Survey, Reston, VA, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 12:00 - 12:15 EDT
Ballroom A

12:00 EDT

[W19] OpenBiodiv: an Implementaion of a Semantic System Running on top of the Biodiversity Knowledge Graph
Abstract
We present OpenBiodiv - an implementation of the Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management System. The need for an integrated information system serving the needs of the biodiversity community can be dated at least as far back as the sanctioning of the Bouchout declaration in 2007. The Bouchout declaration proposes to make biodiver ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20084

Speakers
VS

Viktor Senderov

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria


Monday October 2, 2017 12:00 - 12:15 EDT
Capitale

12:15 EDT

[Contributed] Google Summer of Code: Why TDWG should participate
Abstract
Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is a global program, operating since 2005, which brings student developers into open source software development. Students work with different open source organizations in summer-long programming projects, closely supervised by mentors from the organization. Google pays students a stipend for this th ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19918

Speakers
TG

Tomer Gueta

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology


Monday October 2, 2017 12:15 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

12:15 EDT

[W19] Panel Discussion
Organizers
avatar for Sophia Ananiadou

Sophia Ananiadou

Director, National Centre for Text Mining, University of Manchester
I am a Professor of Computer Science in the School of Computer Science, University of Manchester and have led the National Centre for Text Mining (www.nactem.ac.uk) since 2007. My main areas of research are semantic text mining and semantic search techniques for applications in domains... Read More →
RB

Riza Batista-Navarro

University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
avatar for Teodor Georgiev

Teodor Georgiev

Technical Director, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria
EP

Evangelos Pafilis

Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
VS

Viktor Senderov

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria
avatar for William Ulate

William Ulate

Sr. Project Manager, Missouri Botanical Garden
Currently working at the Center for Biodiversity Informatics, Missouri Botanical Garden. William does research in Semantics, Systematics (Taxonomy) and Data Mining. Their current project is 'World Flora Online'.

Monday October 2, 2017 12:15 - 12:30 EDT
Capitale

12:30 EDT

Lunch provided
Monday October 2, 2017 12:30 - 14:00 EDT
Ballroom C

13:30 EDT

[Social Event] Newcomers Meet & Greet
Organizers
avatar for Dimitris Koureas

Dimitris Koureas

Director, International Biodiversity Infrastructures, Naturalis Biodiversity Center | Distributed System of Scientific Collections - DiSSCo
Chair, TDWGCoordinator, DiSSCoTechnical Advisory Board member, RDACoordinator, Distributed System of Scientific Collections - DiSSCoco-Chair, RDA BDI IG, DCF IG & ASDOC WG
JA

James A. Macklin

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Monday October 2, 2017 13:30 - 14:00 EDT
Capitale

14:00 EDT

[S04] Introduction
Organizers
avatar for Ward Appeltans

Ward Appeltans

Marine Biodiversity focal point, manager OBIS, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO
Mr Ward Appeltans is the marine biodiversity focal point at UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) where he manages the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) and supports the Biology and Ecosystems Panel of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS BioEco... Read More →
LB

Lenore Bajona

Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Halifax, Canada, Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Halifax, Canada
MK

Mary Kennedy

data manager, OBIS Canada, Dartmouth, Canada
AS

Andrew Sherin

COINAtlantic Secretariat, Halifax, Canada

Monday October 2, 2017 14:00 - 14:15 EDT
Chaudiere

14:00 EDT

[S28] The Arctos Community Model for Sustaining and Enriching Access to Biodiversity Data
Abstract
Arctos (http://arctosdb.org) is a leader in providing museums with collaborative solutions to managing information in their collections. As both a community and a collection management database platform, Arctos is a consortium of museums that collaborate to serve secure and rich data on over 3 million records from natural and cu ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20466

Speakers
JW

John Wieczorek

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. CA, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 14:00 - 14:15 EDT
Ballroom A

14:00 EDT

[W03] Environmental samples, eDNA and HTS libraries – data standard proposals from the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN)
Abstract
The GGBN Data Portal (http://www.ggbn.org, Droege et al. 2014) has established standardised data flows for genomic DNA samples, including voucher specimens, tissue samples, DNA samples as well as resulting sequences and publications. Dealing with different types of DNA (aDNA, gDNA, eDNA) is essential and closely related to user- ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20483

Speakers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany


Monday October 2, 2017 14:00 - 14:15 EDT
Capitale

14:00 EDT

[S04 - Topic] Advances in data accessibility and data management for marine species occurrence data
Abstract

The symposium will include presentations on the practices of data accessibility and data management for marine biological occurrence data by members of the Canadian Ocean Data Management Community of Practice and others on the following topics:
  • Making data accessible for reuse and data rescue initiatives
  • Biodiversity plus environmental measurements: OBIS-ENV and beyond
  • Encouraging a ‘Community of practice’ for marine biological occurrence data
  • Development of vocabularies and tools for quality control for DwC terms
  • Identification of the need for new DwC terms
  • Biodiversity use cases demonstrating data integration with habitat (e.g. Coastal Web Atlases)
  • Data management training curriculums
  • Citizen science and volunteer coordination
The symposium will be structured into several mini-symposia of selected topics based upon the topics of received presentation proposals. Not all of the topics listed above may be addressed within the symposium. Each mini-symposia will conclude with a panel discussion to identify next steps for collaboration and / or recommendations initially to the Canadian Ocean Data Management Community of Practice.

Organizers
avatar for Ward Appeltans

Ward Appeltans

Marine Biodiversity focal point, manager OBIS, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO
Mr Ward Appeltans is the marine biodiversity focal point at UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) where he manages the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) and supports the Biology and Ecosystems Panel of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS BioEco... Read More →
LB

Lenore Bajona

Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Halifax, Canada, Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Halifax, Canada
MK

Mary Kennedy

data manager, OBIS Canada, Dartmouth, Canada
AS

Andrew Sherin

COINAtlantic Secretariat, Halifax, Canada

Monday October 2, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Chaudiere

14:00 EDT

[S28 - Topic] Financial Models for Sustaining Biodiversity Informatics Products
Abstract

This session will focus on the economics of sustaining biodiversity software platforms and tools, with revenue models that are not wholly comprised of grant funding. As cyberinfrastructure matures into widely-used, production data sources, software, and services, business models will be needed that identify and engage stakeholders who benefit from their value--potentially as payers. Innovative value propositions and clever financial models for long-term sustainability will be important for products seeking to support a community of institutions and initiatives that range from the large and well-resourced, to those that are small and sparingly funded.

Organizers
JH

James H. Beach

University of Kansas, Lawrence, United States of America, University of Kansas, Lawrence, United States of America

Monday October 2, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Ballroom A

14:00 EDT

[W03 - Topic] Towards robust interoperability in multi-omic approaches to biodiversity monitoring
Abstract

The routine use of (meta)genomics, (meta)transcriptomics, and the targeted sequencing of taxonomic marker genes is enabling monitoring of both micro and macro-organismal assemblages across a wide range of environments. Such monitoring of phylogenetic and functional diversity offers novel and valuable insight into how the biosphere is responding to environmental change. However, there are considerable obstacles to unifying multi-omic observation and monitoring strategies, which span environments from the deep marine subsurface to the urban atmosphere. Perhaps foremost, rapid development within the field often outpaces attempts to harmonise its techniques, despite progress by initiatives such as the Earth Microbiome Project, TARA Oceans, and Ocean Sampling Day. Overcoming these obstacles will be essential in realising an informatics infrastructure suited to a global, omically-enabled biodiversity monitoring system and incorporating omics-driven insights into the biodiversity metrics which inform the conservation and policy domain.

This workshop will begin with a collection of talks that will outline the scope of the challenge and possible solutions, followed by facilitated discussion towards delivering a draft data standard for reporting species occurrences as detected through varied environmental DNA (eDNA) methods and community meta-omics approaches. This issue is nontrivial and involves the intersection of geospatial, genomic and biodiversity informatics perspectives, among others. We will examine efforts such as long-term, omically enabled observatories as use cases in need of “future proof”, flexible standards and propose strategies for existing standards to contend with their demands. We also welcome contributions identifying aspects of omic data which have yet to be acknowledged in the standards landscape. Our activities aim to catalyse the robust interoperability and convergence of community-endorsed/best practices, metadata checklists, standard terminologies, knowledge representations, and persistent identifiers for the environments, samples, processes, information artifacts, equipment, and agents involved in this emerging, multidisciplinary domain.

We welcome submissions on topics directly related to the above, including: 
  • Community-endorsed, best practices for ‘omic observatories and/or observation campaigns, such as:
  • Design and/or governance - emphasising interoperability 
  • Standardised sampling, sample management, and archiving, including the use of persistent sample identifiers and FIMS/LIMS technologies 
  • Standardised generation, processing, analysis, and archiving of ‘omics data 
  • Acquisition, standardisation/structuring, processing, management, and exchange of metadata (e.g. use of checklists, structured formats, controlled vocabularies, ontologies, and FIMS/LIMS technologies)
  • Efforts to translate omics outputs to diverse stakeholders, such as those in the policy, conservation, commercial, and public spheres

Organizers
avatar for Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Digital Knowledge Steward / Senior Data Scientist, Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration / GEOMAR Helmholtz Institute for Ocean Research
I research and develop advanced, operational-grade, and internationally adopted knowledge representation (KR) technologies for ecology, planetary science, and Sustainable Development. I apply these solutions in mobilising and analysing complex and high-dimensional data sets, while... Read More →
LT

Luke Thompson

NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America

Monday October 2, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Capitale

14:15 EDT

[S04] Cookbooks and Curriculum
Abstract
Since 2014, the Coastal and Ocean Information Network Atlantic (COINAtlantic) in collaboration with the Canadian node of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) and other academic, government and non-governmental organizations in Atlantic Canada have been rescuing species occurrence data in primary and grey literature ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20405

Speakers
MK

Mary Kennedy

data manager, OBIS Canada, Dartmouth, Canada


Monday October 2, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Chaudiere

14:15 EDT

[S28] Interoperability, Attribution, and Value in the Web of Natural History Museum Data
Abstract
Collections, aggregators, collaborative digitization projects, publishers, researchers, and external users are actors in a complex web of biological specimen data interactions, workflows, and pipelines. The software that mediates interactions among these diverse players enables the creation and delivery of species occurrence data from specimens to a ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.21095

Speakers
AB

Andrew Bentley

Ichthyology Collections Manager, University of Kansas


Monday October 2, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Ballroom A

14:15 EDT

[W03] Metadata Standards for Genomic Sequence Data: Past and Future of MIxS Standards Family
Abstract
Data-intensive microbial (ecology) research requires approaches to organize information in logical formats to enable comparative studies, replication of experiments, and development of informatics tools. As the quantity and diversity of genomic data continues to increase at an exponential rate, it is imperative that these data a ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20423

Speakers
PY

Pelin Yilmaz

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany


Monday October 2, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Capitale

14:30 EDT

[S04] Expanding the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) beyond species occurrences
Abstract
The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) aims to integrate smaller, isolated datasets into a larger, more comprehensive picture of life in our oceans. Therefore, OBIS provides a gateway to many datasets containing information on where and when marine species have been observed. The datasets within OBIS are contributed b ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20196

Speakers
DD

Daphnis De Pooter

Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Ostend, Belgium


Monday October 2, 2017 14:30 - 14:45 EDT
Chaudiere

14:30 EDT

[S28] Sustainability in Biodiversity Software Development: More financing or better practices?
Abstract
The Species File Group is a small, endowed team who seeks to provided software tools and related technical resources to communities dependent on biodiversity informatics. We will present an overview of the technical products and services the group provides, including software development, data migration, data hosting and data mo ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20283

Speakers
avatar for Matt Yoder

Matt Yoder

University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 14:30 - 14:45 EDT
Ballroom A

14:30 EDT

[W03] Using MIxS: An Implementation Report from Two Metagenomic Information Systems
Abstract
MIxS (Minimum Information about any Sequence) (Yilmaz et al. 2011) is a metadata standard of the Genomics Standards Consortium (GSC), designed to make sequence data findable, accessible, and interoperable. It contains fields for recording physical and chemical characteristics of the sampling environment, geographical and habitat ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20637

Speakers
JS

Joel Sachs

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada
LT

Luke Thompson

NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 14:30 - 14:45 EDT
Capitale

14:45 EDT

[S04] Improving data availability with “OBIS-ENV-DATA”: Examples from OBIS-USA
Abstract
During biological sampling events, measurements are routinely collected about the event as well as about the biological observations. For example, the same sampling event might collect event measurements like water temperature and salinity as well as biological measurements like abundance and weight. Keeping these measurements t ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20207

Speakers
avatar for Abby Benson

Abby Benson

Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey


Monday October 2, 2017 14:45 - 15:00 EDT
Chaudiere

14:45 EDT

[S28] Maintenance and development of Symbiota2, a platform for data sharing and visualization
Abstract
Symbiota is a database management system for aggregating and displaying record-based biodiversity information from collections of widely varying sizes and integrating them with images of living organisms and image-based records. It is currently used by over 230 collections that collectively provide access to records of over 20 m ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20220

Speakers
ME

Mary E. Barkworth

Utah State University


Monday October 2, 2017 14:45 - 15:00 EDT
Ballroom A

14:45 EDT

[W03] SeqDB: Biological Collection Management with Integrated DNA Sequence Tracking
Abstract
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) is home to a world-class taxonomy program based on Canada’s national agricultural collections for Botany, Mycology and Entomology. These collections contain valuable resources, such as type specimen for authoritative identification using approaches that include phenotyping, DNA barcoding, ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20608

Speakers
SB

Satpal Bilkhu

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada


Monday October 2, 2017 14:45 - 15:00 EDT
Capitale

15:00 EDT

[S28] Sustaining Software for Biological Collections Computing
Abstract
Specify is a biological collections data management platform for the digitization, curation, and dissemination of museum specimen information. The Specify Software Project and its predecessor, the MUSE Project, have been funded by the US National Science Foundation for 30 years. Specify 6, a native desktop app is used in about 5 ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20254

Speakers
JH

James H. Beach

University of Kansas, Lawrence, United States of America, University of Kansas, Lawrence, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 15:00 - 15:15 EDT
Ballroom A

15:00 EDT

[W03] Semantically Defining Populations for 'Omics Research
Abstract
The study of populations is central to ‘omics research, whether sequencing environmental samples, controlling for population structure when looking for genetic variation within a species, or studying the evolution of large clades. Researchers use different operational definitions of populations and communities, via the highly va ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20435

Speakers
RL

Ramona L. Walls

CyVerse, Tucson, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 15:00 - 15:15 EDT
Capitale

15:00 EDT

[S04] Talking beyond presence: 04 Symposium: Advances in data accessibility and data management for marine species occurrence data: Discussion Panel 1
Abstract
Talking beyond presence will be a panel discussion on vocabularies. Panelists will include the presenters in the fisrts session of the symposium and invited guest panelists (TBD) Questions for discussion: What controlled vocabularies are required for data types related to species occurrence and associated measurements? Are there ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20407

Speakers
MK

Mary Kennedy

data manager, OBIS Canada, Dartmouth, Canada


Monday October 2, 2017 15:00 - 15:30 EDT
Chaudiere

15:15 EDT

[S28] DINA: Open Source and Open Services - A Modern Approach for Sustainable Natural History Collection Management Systems
Abstract
In the natural history community a high diversity of collection management systems exist. This enables institutions to choose from a large variety of systems, but this choice requires extensive effort to evaluate and commit to an appropriate system to cover all long-term requirements. As the different kinds of natural history da ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20216

Speakers
SD

Stefan Daume

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
FG

Falko Glöckler

Head of Department "Science Data Management", Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
EM

Elspeth Margaret Haston

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
JH

Jana Hoffmann

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Berlin, Germany
JA

James A. Macklin

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
FR

Fredrik Ronquist

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden


Monday October 2, 2017 15:15 - 15:30 EDT
Ballroom A

15:15 EDT

[W03] Panel Discussion
Organizers
avatar for Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Digital Knowledge Steward / Senior Data Scientist, Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration / GEOMAR Helmholtz Institute for Ocean Research
I research and develop advanced, operational-grade, and internationally adopted knowledge representation (KR) technologies for ecology, planetary science, and Sustainable Development. I apply these solutions in mobilising and analysing complex and high-dimensional data sets, while... Read More →
LT

Luke Thompson

NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America

Monday October 2, 2017 15:15 - 15:30 EDT
Capitale

15:30 EDT

Break
Monday October 2, 2017 15:30 - 16:00 EDT
Ballroom B

15:40 EDT

[Computer Demo] OpenBiodiv: an Implementation of a Semantic System Running on top of the Biodiversity Knowledge Graph
Abstract
We present OpenBiodiv - an implementation of the Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management System. We believe OpenBiodiv is possibly the first pilot-stage implenatation of a semantic system running on top of the biodiversity knowledge graph. The need for an integrated information system serving the needs of the biodiversity communi ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20193

Speakers
avatar for Teodor Georgiev

Teodor Georgiev

Technical Director, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria
VS

Viktor Senderov

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria


Monday October 2, 2017 15:40 - 15:55 EDT
Ballroom B

16:00 EDT

[Contributed] Use of Online Species Occurrence Databases in Published Research since 2010
Abstract
Museums and funding agencies have invested considerable resources in recent years to digitize information from natural history specimens and contribute to online species occurrence databases. Such efforts are necessary to reap the full benefits of irreplaceable historical data by making them openly accessible and allowing the in ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20518

Speakers
JE

Joan E Ball-Damerow

Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 16:00 - 16:15 EDT
Ballroom A

16:00 EDT

[S04] Spatial Visualization of Publicly Accessible Species Occurrence Data
Abstract
The Coastal and Ocean Information Network Atlantic’s (COINAtlantic) mission is to promote, facilitate and influence information management, policies and programs that enhance Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management (ICOM) in Atlantic Canada. A project to support this mission has been underway since 2014 with principle funding fr ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20155

Speakers
JM

Jeff McKenna

Gateway Geomatics


Monday October 2, 2017 16:00 - 16:15 EDT
Chaudiere

16:00 EDT

[W03] The Genomic Observatories Metadatabase
Abstract
The Genomic Observatories Metadatabase (GeOMe, http://www.geome-db.org/) is an open access repository for geographic and ecological metadata associated with biosamples and genetic data. It contributes to the informatics stack – Biocode Commons – of the Genomic Observatories Network (https://gigascience.biomedcentral.com/articles ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20508

Speakers
JD

John Deck

University of California at Berkeley


Monday October 2, 2017 16:00 - 16:15 EDT
Capitale

16:00 EDT

16:00 EDT

[S04 - Topic] Advances in data accessibility and data management for marine species occurrence data
Abstract

The symposium will include presentations on the practices of data accessibility and data management for marine biological occurrence data by members of the Canadian Ocean Data Management Community of Practice and others on the following topics:
  • Making data accessible for reuse and data rescue initiatives
  • Biodiversity plus environmental measurements: OBIS-ENV and beyond
  • Encouraging a ‘Community of practice’ for marine biological occurrence data
  • Development of vocabularies and tools for quality control for DwC terms
  • Identification of the need for new DwC terms
  • Biodiversity use cases demonstrating data integration with habitat (e.g. Coastal Web Atlases)
  • Data management training curriculums
  • Citizen science and volunteer coordination
The symposium will be structured into several mini-symposia of selected topics based upon the topics of received presentation proposals. Not all of the topics listed above may be addressed within the symposium. Each mini-symposia will conclude with a panel discussion to identify next steps for collaboration and / or recommendations initially to the Canadian Ocean Data Management Community of Practice.

Organizers
avatar for Ward Appeltans

Ward Appeltans

Marine Biodiversity focal point, manager OBIS, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO
Mr Ward Appeltans is the marine biodiversity focal point at UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) where he manages the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) and supports the Biology and Ecosystems Panel of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS BioEco... Read More →
LB

Lenore Bajona

Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Halifax, Canada, Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Halifax, Canada
MK

Mary Kennedy

data manager, OBIS Canada, Dartmouth, Canada
AS

Andrew Sherin

COINAtlantic Secretariat, Halifax, Canada

Monday October 2, 2017 16:00 - 17:30 EDT
Chaudiere

16:00 EDT

[W03 - Topic] Towards robust interoperability in multi-omic approaches to biodiversity monitoring
Abstract

The routine use of (meta)genomics, (meta)transcriptomics, and the targeted sequencing of taxonomic marker genes is enabling monitoring of both micro and macro-organismal assemblages across a wide range of environments. Such monitoring of phylogenetic and functional diversity offers novel and valuable insight into how the biosphere is responding to environmental change. However, there are considerable obstacles to unifying multi-omic observation and monitoring strategies, which span environments from the deep marine subsurface to the urban atmosphere. Perhaps foremost, rapid development within the field often outpaces attempts to harmonise its techniques, despite progress by initiatives such as the Earth Microbiome Project, TARA Oceans, and Ocean Sampling Day. Overcoming these obstacles will be essential in realising an informatics infrastructure suited to a global, omically-enabled biodiversity monitoring system and incorporating omics-driven insights into the biodiversity metrics which inform the conservation and policy domain.

This workshop will begin with a collection of talks that will outline the scope of the challenge and possible solutions, followed by facilitated discussion towards delivering a draft data standard for reporting species occurrences as detected through varied environmental DNA (eDNA) methods and community meta-omics approaches. This issue is nontrivial and involves the intersection of geospatial, genomic and biodiversity informatics perspectives, among others. We will examine efforts such as long-term, omically enabled observatories as use cases in need of “future proof”, flexible standards and propose strategies for existing standards to contend with their demands. We also welcome contributions identifying aspects of omic data which have yet to be acknowledged in the standards landscape. Our activities aim to catalyse the robust interoperability and convergence of community-endorsed/best practices, metadata checklists, standard terminologies, knowledge representations, and persistent identifiers for the environments, samples, processes, information artifacts, equipment, and agents involved in this emerging, multidisciplinary domain.

We welcome submissions on topics directly related to the above, including:
  • Community-endorsed, best practices for ‘omic observatories and/or observation campaigns, such as:
  • Design and/or governance - emphasising interoperability 
  • Standardised sampling, sample management, and archiving, including the use of persistent sample identifiers and FIMS/LIMS technologies 
  • Standardised generation, processing, analysis, and archiving of ‘omics data 
  • Acquisition, standardisation/structuring, processing, management, and exchange of metadata (e.g. use of checklists, structured formats, controlled vocabularies, ontologies, and FIMS/LIMS technologies)
  • Efforts to translate omics outputs to diverse stakeholders, such as those in the policy, conservation, commercial, and public spheres

Organizers
avatar for Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Digital Knowledge Steward / Senior Data Scientist, Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration / GEOMAR Helmholtz Institute for Ocean Research
I research and develop advanced, operational-grade, and internationally adopted knowledge representation (KR) technologies for ecology, planetary science, and Sustainable Development. I apply these solutions in mobilising and analysing complex and high-dimensional data sets, while... Read More →
LT

Luke Thompson

NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America

Monday October 2, 2017 16:00 - 17:30 EDT
Capitale

16:15 EDT

[Contributed] Extending Darwin Core to incorporate data about material condition and absolute deep time
Abstract
As part of efforts to mobilize zooarchaeological collections data, there is a strong need for new terms that can extend the Darwin Core standard in order to describe material condition, preparation history, and chronology. These data are important for understanding the full context of specimens from an array of natural and cultu ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20126

Speakers
avatar for Laura Brenskelle

Laura Brenskelle

Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida


Monday October 2, 2017 16:15 - 16:30 EDT
Ballroom A

16:15 EDT

[S04] Exploring the Canadian Federated Research Data Repository Service
Abstract
Good data management requires support for researchers at all stages of the data lifecycle, from policy and planning development to infrastructure that ensures data is findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR). While several excellent institutional, domain-specific, and general repositories currently exist both wit ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20185

Speakers
avatar for Lee Wilson

Lee Wilson

Research Consultant, Data Management, Portage/ACENET, Halifax, Canada


Monday October 2, 2017 16:15 - 16:30 EDT
Chaudiere

16:15 EDT

[W03] Integrating Marine Omics into the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) in Support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Agenda 2030
Abstract
Life on Earth, including humanity, is tightly and inextricably intertwined with the environment. In a concerted effort to promote the well-being and dignity of humanity, while conserving and protecting the environment, the United Nations Resolution developed a series of targets in what is officially known as Transforming our wor ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20521

Speakers
avatar for Kelly Goodwin

Kelly Goodwin

'Omics Strategy Lead, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, La Jolla, CA, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 16:15 - 16:30 EDT
Capitale

16:30 EDT

[Contributed] Pipedream or pipeline: delivering regular, reliable, up-to-date information on biodiversity through repeatable workflows
Abstract
The current paradigm for studies on biodiversity change are single studies, of finite duration, and a single published output. Yet the results of a such a workflow become out-of-date quickly, particularly as the speed of environmental change increases. If new environmental policies are implemented it is important to monitor their effects, which implies having results from before and after the policy implementation... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20749

Speakers

Monday October 2, 2017 16:30 - 16:45 EDT
Ballroom A

16:30 EDT

[S04] Sydney Harbour Atlas
Abstract
The estuarine harbour of Sydney, Nova Scotia on the island of Cape Breton has supplied goods and services to humans since the Holocene transgression. As an urban marine ecosystem and strategically located maritime port, it has supported commercial fisheries, military campaigns, and coal and steel industries since the 16th centur ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20157

Speakers
AS

Andrew Sherin

COINAtlantic Secretariat, Halifax, Canada


Monday October 2, 2017 16:30 - 16:45 EDT
Chaudiere

16:30 EDT

[W03] Rewards and Challenges of eDNA Sequencing with Multiple Genetic Markers for Marine Observation Programs
Abstract
Metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) samples holds new promise to increase our ability to measure changes in biodiversity and community composition over time. It can allow the characterization of large groups of organisms where traditional sampling may be impractical or not cost-effective. However, it is still unclear how b ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20548

Speakers
KJ

Kathleen J Pitz

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, United States of America


Monday October 2, 2017 16:30 - 16:45 EDT
Capitale

16:45 EDT

[Contributed] Development of a National Repository for Aquatic Biodiversity in Bhutan
Abstract
In response to a request from the Royal Government of Bhutan, the World Bank commissioned a study on the sustainable development of hydropower in Bhutan. The study identified loss and decline of aquatic biodiversity as one of the major potential environmental impacts of hydropower development in Bhutan.
Access to information on aquatic biodiversity is of utmost importance in planning and designing of new hydropower projects in Bhutan. This data is essential for planners to avoid, minimize and effectively mitigate potential adverse impacts on aquatic biodiversity...
https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20809

Speakers
avatar for Sangay Dema

Sangay Dema

Principal Biodiversity Officer, National Biodiversity Centre


Monday October 2, 2017 16:45 - 17:00 EDT
Ballroom A

16:45 EDT

[S04] The developing Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System (CIOOS)
Abstract
Canada’s ocean science community which includes the federal government, academia, small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and other research partners, collect and synthesize physical, chemical and biological ocean observations. This information is used for discovery research purposes, to model ocean changes and provide e ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20432

Speakers
LB

Lenore Bajona

Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Halifax, Canada, Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Halifax, Canada


Monday October 2, 2017 16:45 - 17:00 EDT
Chaudiere

16:45 EDT

[W03] Linking molecular and morphological biodiversity evidence by building a single name space
Abstract
GBIF is working on the solution to represent molecular (DNA) evidence of species presence in time and space alongside the currently prevailing morphological evidence. Among many benefits of this approach are filling the geographic and taxonomic gaps and adequate representation of functionally important organism groups. Experimen ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20503

Speakers
avatar for Dmitry Schigel

Dmitry Schigel

Scientific Officer, Global Biodiversity Information Facility


Monday October 2, 2017 16:45 - 17:00 EDT
Capitale

17:00 EDT

[S04] Future pathways for sharing and integrating data: 04 Symposium: Advances in data accessibility and data management for marine species occurrence data: Discussion Panel 2
Abstract
Future Pathways for sharing and integrating data is a discussion panel following the second session of the symposium Advances in data accessibility and data management for marine species occurrence data. Panelists will include presenters from the session and invited guest panelists. Questions for discussion will be: Questions fo ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20406

Speakers
AS

Andrew Sherin

COINAtlantic Secretariat, Halifax, Canada


Monday October 2, 2017 17:00 - 17:30 EDT
Chaudiere

17:00 EDT

[W03] Panel Discussion
Organizers
avatar for Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Digital Knowledge Steward / Senior Data Scientist, Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration / GEOMAR Helmholtz Institute for Ocean Research
I research and develop advanced, operational-grade, and internationally adopted knowledge representation (KR) technologies for ecology, planetary science, and Sustainable Development. I apply these solutions in mobilising and analysing complex and high-dimensional data sets, while... Read More →
LT

Luke Thompson

NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, La Jolla, CA, United States of America

Monday October 2, 2017 17:00 - 17:30 EDT
Capitale

19:00 EDT

[Social Event] Night at the Museum
Join us for an evening of light bites and drinks, featuring beer tastings with local brewers. See pages in the program for walking directions or public transportation options and recommended restaurants for supper along the walking route. A beer talk by a Canadian Museum of Nature botanist will be given at 8:00 PM.
http://bit.ly/walk2museum

Monday October 2, 2017 19:00 - 22:00 EDT
Canadian Museum of Nature, 240 McLeod St, Ottawa
 
Tuesday, October 3
 

08:30 EDT

Load Talks & Hang Posters
Visit your presentation room at this time with your 16:9 PowerPoint talk loaded on a USB flash drive. Name your file room_day_time_name.pptx (e.g. Chaudiere_Monday_1415_Smith.pptx). Hang your poster in Ballroom B/C.

Tuesday October 3, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
N/A

08:30 EDT

Registration
Tuesday October 3, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
Victoria

09:00 EDT

09:40 EDT

[Keynote] Anne Bowser - Standardizing Citizen Science?
Abstract
Citizen science engages members of the public in collecting and mobilizing information for research and decision-making. While citizen science is well known for supporting biodiversity research and monitoring at national and global scales, many projects also engage the public in areas including local environmental monitoring and participatory health ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.21123

Speakers
avatar for Anne Bowser

Anne Bowser

Senior Program Associate, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, United States of America
Data, metadata, standards, interoperability, the power of place, citizen science and policy, ethics, motivation, games....


Tuesday October 3, 2017 09:40 - 10:30 EDT
Ballroom A

10:30 EDT

Break
Tuesday October 3, 2017 10:30 - 11:00 EDT
Ballroom B

10:30 EDT

Posters (Even Numbers)
Tuesday October 3, 2017 10:30 - 11:00 EDT
Ballroom B

10:40 EDT

[Computer Demo] TaxonWorks
Abstract
One of the best ways to test the adequacy of taxonomic database standards is to build tools on top of them. TaxonWorks (http://taxonworks.org) is an ambitious, open source effort to provide an all-in-one wrapper around the taxonomist’s workflow. Its development is supported by an endowment that facilitates and encourages its com ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20279

Speakers
avatar for Matt Yoder

Matt Yoder

University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 10:40 - 10:55 EDT
Ballroom B

11:00 EDT

[S02] Fitness for Use: The BDQIG aims for improved Stability and Consistency
Abstract
The process of choosing data for a project and then determining what subset of records are suitable for use has become one of the most important concerns for biodiversity researchers in the 21st century. The rise of large data aggregators such as GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), iDigBio (Integrated Digitized Bioc ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20240

Speakers
avatar for Arthur D. Chapman

Arthur D. Chapman

Australian Biodiversity Information Services
Co-Convenor Data Quality Interest Group


Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[W07] Introduction of the Living Atlases workshop
Abstract
Since 2010 the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) gives information on all the known species in Australia and contributes to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). To provide a suitable framework for national needs, ALA and GBIF worked together and created a technical community around the platform developed by ALA. Th ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20253

Speakers
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France


Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Chaudiere

11:00 EDT

[W09] The Data Standard ABCD EFG - Access to Biological Collection Data Extended for Geosciences
Abstract
The data schema ABCD (Access to Biological Collection Data version 2.06) is a standard for biological collection units, including living and preserved specimen, together with field observation data. Its extension EFG (Extension for Geosciences) is suitable for sharing and publishing data related to paleontological, mineralogical ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.15146

Speakers
FG

Falko Glöckler

Head of Department "Science Data Management", Museum für Naturkunde Berlin


Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Capitale

11:00 EDT

[S02 - Topic] Biodiversity Data Quality – concepts, methods and tools
Abstract

The goal of this 4th Symposium is to discuss concepts, problems, policies, metadata, methodologies and mechanisms related to Biodiversity Data Quality, which can be reused by the Biodiversity Informatics community collaboratively and incrementally. Data quality (DQ) is a major concern in Biodiversity Informatics. The distributed nature of data acquisition and digitization, the specific difficulties imposed by some of the data sub-domains, such as taxonomic data and geographic data, among other aspects, make it important to discuss DQ in biodiversity so that data made available in portals and other systems can be used for various purposes such as education, science, and decision-making. Although several initiatives in the Biodiversity Informatics community have been developing tools and best practices about DQ, there is no consensus related to concepts, metadata, policies, methodologies and tools about DQ. The size of DQ check pipelines has also posed challenges for existing methodologies and tools and may need to drive some of the discussion on concepts and policies. Previous symposia on DQ were held at the TDWG meetings in Florence, Italy/2013, Jönköping, Sweden/2014 and Santa Clara de San Carlos, Costa Rica/2016. As a result, a joint TDGW/GBIF Interest Group on DQ was proposed and approved in 2014. Subsequently three task groups were also created: TG1 – BDQ Framework, TG2 – BDQ Tools, services and workflows, and TG3 – BDQ Use cases. They tackle some of the most important issues identified by the attendants to the previous symposia.

The group has been able to meet between TDWG meetings to advance on its activities. In March, 2016, in São Paulo, Brazil, the IG and TGs conveners got together with members from two fitness-for-use groups supported by GBIF on species distribution modeling and agrobiodiversity, and have made good progress towards adopting a common conceptual basis and developing profiles for those two use cases. In October, 2016, in Melbourne, Australia, further advance was made focusing on another fitness-for-use group on alien and invasive species. Another meeting is scheduled to take place in Canberra, Australia, in May, 2017.

By the 2017 TDWG Meeting, in Ottawa, significant advances will have been made in all three Task Groups as well as in Vocabularies. In this 4rd Symposium we want to advance further on those discussions and increase participation of other stakeholders, keeping the same principles: discuss and share experiences on the ways we deal with DQ in the Biodiversity Informatics community, avoiding duplication of efforts and sharing knowledge.

Organizers
avatar for Arthur D. Chapman

Arthur D. Chapman

Australian Biodiversity Information Services
Co-Convenor Data Quality Interest Group
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo
AT

Alexander Thompson

iDigBio, Gainesville, United States of America

Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[W07 - Topic] Reusing an open source platform in order to create a community: example of the Living Atlases community
Abstract

Since 2013, a community has grown around the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) open source platform, mostly but not exclusively around GBIF nodes. Indeed, since 2014 five international workshops have been organized around the world and eight data portals have been released into production using this tool (ALA, Brazil, GBIF Argentina, GBIF Costa Rica, GBIF France, NBN, GBIF Spain, GBIF Portugal) and several others are currently in development (Canadensys, GBIF Sweden, etc.). Here you can find a map representing all countries with an interest in implementing ALA as their national data portal.

ALA modules work with standards defined by the TDWG community. Data shown on maps are loaded through Darwin Core Archive files previously published from IPT or directly downloaded on the GBIF.org. Users can filter and download occurrences and can also interact with data using API proposed by the platform. We keep the data authority and highlight data publishers, institutions, collections and datasets by showing their metadata. Moreover, using this ALA technology as national data portals is the solution recommended in the GBIF Implementation Plan 2017 - 2021.

One of the main objectives of this workshop will be to present the community of Living Atlases by showing examples already in production (Atlas of Living Australia, GBIF France, GBIF Spain and NBN Atlas Scotland), and past & future projects involving the community. In addition, we expect to train participants in the basic ALA modules (Collectory and Biocache-hub) that focus on occurrence research tools, data visualization and metadata portal. This technical training will also include the installation of an ALA demo version in order to give the possibility to users to make their first configurations and developments of their new tool.

Organizers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden

Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:00 EDT

[W09 - Topic] Paleo [Interest Group] Implementing Biodiversity Standards for Paleobiology
Abstract

The Paleobiology Interest Group (Paleo) was established in 2015 to broaden the application of existing standards such as Darwin Core and the Access to Biodiversity Collections Data Extended for Geosciences (ABCDEFG) to accommodate paleobiological data. This will represent the second meeting of the interest group at a TDWG conference.
The group seeks to extend existing standards to meet the needs of paleobiology and to foster greater integration between neontology and paleontology in the study of biodiversity across space and deep time. Understanding long-term temporal patterns in biodiversity provides the context for interpreting modern changes in biodiversity and understanding the process responsible for these changes.

Employing biodiversity information standards, such as Darwin Core and ABCDEFG to paleobiology data requires addressing a broader range of metadata requirements and adapting best practices. The role of the Paleo group is to provide guidelines for deploying existing biodiversity standards to paleobiology and to propose extensions and modifications to existing standards to make them more amenable (and generalizable) for paleobiology.

The primary goals for the 2017 meeting of the Paleobiology Interest Group are: 1) to update TDWG members on the group's history and progress, 2) to conduct in-depth discussions and debate on common use cases for deploying standards in paleobiology, 3) to discuss and produce examples of Darwin Core and ABCDEFG entries for those use cases.
The annual meetings offer the best opportunity for bringing biodiversity information specialists together with disciplinary specialists in paleobiology to resolve questions and make concrete advances in broadening the application of biodiversity information standards in a new disciplinary domain. The 2017 meeting of the TDWG Paleo Interest Group will include a focus on the relationship between Darwin Core and ABCDEFG and how they can work together.

Organizers
FG

Falko Glöckler

Head of Department "Science Data Management", Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
JH

Jana Hoffmann

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Capitale

11:15 EDT

[S02] Toward a Biodiversity Data Fitness for Use Backbone (FFUB): A Node.js module prototype
Abstract
Introduction: The Biodiversity informatics community has made important achievements regarding digitizing, integrating and publishing standardized data about global biodiversity. However, the assessment of the quality of such data and the determination of the fitness for use of those data in different contexts remain a challenge ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20300

Speakers
AK

Allan Koch Veiga

Universidade de São Paulo


Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:15 EDT

[W07] Living Atlases Architecture
Abstract
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) has developed a software platform since 2009. This open source platform was initially developed by the ALA team in Canberra. The platform is now in use in several other countries as part of the Living Atlases community with support from GBIF. The architecture is a microservices based architect ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19826

Speakers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden


Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:15 EDT

[W09] Workshop Activities
Organizers
FG

Falko Glöckler

Head of Department "Science Data Management", Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
JH

Jana Hoffmann

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:15 - 12:30 EDT
Capitale

11:30 EDT

[S02] Fitness-for-Use-Framework-aware Data Quality workflows in Kurator
Abstract
In the Kurator project, we are developing libraries of small modules, each designed to address a particular data quality test. These libraries, which can be run on single computers or scalable architecture, can be incorporated into data management processes in the form of customizable data quality scripts. A script composed of t ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20379

Speakers
PJ

Paul J. Morris

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University


Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Ballroom A

11:30 EDT

[W07] Documentation about Atlas of Living Australia tools: how to find information
Abstract
Since 2013, a community has been created around Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) tools *1, an open source platform developed by the Australian node of the Global Biodiversity Infrastructure Facility (GBIF) (also named ALA). Its primary goal is to provide information on Australian biodiversity. Its modular architecture has been des ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19941

Speakers
FC

Fabien Cavière

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France


Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Chaudiere

11:45 EDT

[S02] Darwin Cloud: Mapping real-world data to Darwin Core
Abstract
Since its ratification as a TDWG standard in 2009, data publishers have had to struggle with the essential step of mapping fields in working databases to the terms in Darwin Core Wieczorek et al. 2012 in order to publish and share data using that standard. Doing so requires a good understanding of both the data set and Darwin Co ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20486

Speakers
JW

John Wieczorek

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. CA, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:45 - 12:00 EDT
Ballroom A

11:45 EDT

[W07] Workshop Activities
Organizers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden

Tuesday October 3, 2017 11:45 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

12:00 EDT

[S02] Integrating data-cleaning with data analysis to enhance usability of biodiversity big-data
Abstract
Biodiversity big-data (BBD) has the potential to provide answers to some unresolved questions – at spatial and taxonomic swathes that were previously inaccessible. However, BBDs contain serious error and bias. Therefore, any study that uses BBD should ask whether data quality is sufficient to provide a reliable answer to the res ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20244

Speakers
TG

Tomer Gueta

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology


Tuesday October 3, 2017 12:00 - 12:15 EDT
Ballroom A

12:15 EDT

[S02] Using YesWorkflow hybrid queries to reveal data lineage from data curation activities
Abstract
The YesWorkflow McPhillips et al. 2015b, McPhillips et al. 2015a toolkit was designed to annotate data curation workflows in conventional scripts (e.g., Python, R, Java) but it can also be used to annotate YAML-based Kurator workflow configuration files. From just a file that has been annotated by YesWorkflow, YesWorkflow is abl ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20380

Speakers
avatar for Bertram Ludaescher

Bertram Ludaescher

Professor, School of Information Sciences, University Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
scientific workflows, data provenance, data integration, taxonomies, ontologies


Tuesday October 3, 2017 12:15 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

12:30 EDT

[Interest Group] Technical Architecture Meeting
Organizers
PJ

Paul J. Morris

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

Tuesday October 3, 2017 12:30 - 14:00 EDT
Capitale

12:30 EDT

Lunch on your own
Tuesday October 3, 2017 12:30 - 14:00 EDT
N/A

14:00 EDT

[S02] Managing data quality in GBIF: status and plans
Abstract
The data quality topic is getting some traction within the biodiversity community. As a data aggregator and one of the primary source for biodiversity data, GBIF needs to adapt, enhance and expand its current data quality activities. For users unfamiliar with nature and characteristics of the globally aggregated data, data quali ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19825

Speakers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:00 - 14:15 EDT
Ballroom A

14:00 EDT

[S15] How Agricultural Researchers Share their Data: a Landscape Inventory
Abstract
The United States Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently declared a grand challenge: Transform agriculture to deliver a 20% increase in quality*1 food availability with 20% lower environmental impact by 2025. Addressing this challenge requires a sea change in how it conducts agricultural research. Not only will teams need ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20434

Speakers
EA

Erin Antognoli

LAC Federal at National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:00 - 14:15 EDT
Capitale

14:00 EDT

[W07] The Registry component of Atlas of Living Australia
Abstract
Atlas of Living Australia (ALA)*1 is a Biodiversity Information System that has been developed to support the Biodiversity community. It offers access to open data allowing queries, downloads and interoperability. It uses standards to show and make accessible the information: JSON*2, Darwin Core Archive*3 and OGC*4. And users ca ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19802

Speakers
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:00 - 14:15 EDT
Chaudiere

14:00 EDT

[S02 - Topic] Biodiversity Data Quality – concepts, methods and tools
Abstract

The goal of this 4th Symposium is to discuss concepts, problems, policies, metadata, methodologies and mechanisms related to Biodiversity Data Quality, which can be reused by the Biodiversity Informatics community collaboratively and incrementally. Data quality (DQ) is a major concern in Biodiversity Informatics. The distributed nature of data acquisition and digitization, the specific difficulties imposed by some of the data sub-domains, such as taxonomic data and geographic data, among other aspects, make it important to discuss DQ in biodiversity so that data made available in portals and other systems can be used for various purposes such as education, science, and decision-making. Although several initiatives in the Biodiversity Informatics community have been developing tools and best practices about DQ, there is no consensus related to concepts, metadata, policies, methodologies and tools about DQ. The size of DQ check pipelines has also posed challenges for existing methodologies and tools and may need to drive some of the discussion on concepts and policies. Previous symposia on DQ were held at the TDWG meetings in Florence, Italy/2013, Jönköping, Sweden/2014 and Santa Clara de San Carlos, Costa Rica/2016. As a result, a joint TDGW/GBIF Interest Group on DQ was proposed and approved in 2014. Subsequently three task groups were also created: TG1 – BDQ Framework, TG2 – BDQ Tools, services and workflows, and TG3 – BDQ Use cases. They tackle some of the most important issues identified by the attendants to the previous symposia.

The group has been able to meet between TDWG meetings to advance on its activities. In March, 2016, in São Paulo, Brazil, the IG and TGs conveners got together with members from two fitness-for-use groups supported by GBIF on species distribution modeling and agrobiodiversity, and have made good progress towards adopting a common conceptual basis and developing profiles for those two use cases. In October, 2016, in Melbourne, Australia, further advance was made focusing on another fitness-for-use group on alien and invasive species. Another meeting is scheduled to take place in Canberra, Australia, in May, 2017.

By the 2017 TDWG Meeting, in Ottawa, significant advances will have been made in all three Task Groups as well as in Vocabularies. In this 4rd Symposium we want to advance further on those discussions and increase participation of other stakeholders, keeping the same principles: discuss and share experiences on the ways we deal with DQ in the Biodiversity Informatics community, avoiding duplication of efforts and sharing knowledge.

Organizers
avatar for Arthur D. Chapman

Arthur D. Chapman

Australian Biodiversity Information Services
Co-Convenor Data Quality Interest Group
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo
AT

Alexander Thompson

iDigBio, Gainesville, United States of America

Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Ballroom A

14:00 EDT

[S15 - Topic] Agricultural Informatics Contributions to Biodiversity Science and Biodiversity Assessments
Abstract

Agricultural biodiversity has long been ignored by the traditional biodiversity community and the aggregators of their data. The February 2016 GBIF "Final Report of the Task Group on GBIF Data Fitness for Use in Agrobiodiversity," provided recommendations primarily regarding crops and their wild relatives, but did not address wider issues of crop pests (plant diseases and their vectors, arthropods) and management systems that affect the greater biodiversity of those crops. The TDWG16 symposium, "Agricultural Biodiversity Standards & Semantics," highlighted the current status of agrobiodiversity data management and discussed major challenges in this field. This year’s symposium will provide a progress report on addressing challenges such as crop management and experimental protocol standards and infraspecific taxonomic coverage. It will dive deeper into trends in semantics and data mining for agriculture, and in application of standards to biodiversity assessments. We aim to provide specific examples where shared data management standards and practices across both basic and applied biodiversity research communities can lead to improved outcomes for both science and society.

Organizers
avatar for Gail Kampmeier

Gail Kampmeier

Affiliate, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, Univ of Illinois
Entomologist; Code of Conduct Committee member; TDWG Program Co-Chair; Editor-in-Chief, Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS)
JA

James A. Macklin

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Capitale

14:00 EDT

[W07 - Topic] Reusing an open source platform in order to create a community: example of the Living Atlases community
Abstract

Since 2013, a community has grown around the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) open source platform, mostly but not exclusively around GBIF nodes. Indeed, since 2014 five international workshops have been organized around the world and eight data portals have been released into production using this tool (ALA, Brazil, GBIF Argentina, GBIF Costa Rica, GBIF France, NBN, GBIF Spain, GBIF Portugal) and several others are currently in development (Canadensys, GBIF Sweden, etc.). Here you can find a map representing all countries with an interest in implementing ALA as their national data portal.

ALA modules work with standards defined by the TDWG community. Data shown on maps are loaded through Darwin Core Archive files previously published from IPT or directly downloaded on the GBIF.org. Users can filter and download occurrences and can also interact with data using API proposed by the platform. We keep the data authority and highlight data publishers, institutions, collections and datasets by showing their metadata. Moreover, using this ALA technology as national data portals is the solution recommended in the GBIF Implementation Plan 2017 - 2021.

One of the main objectives of this workshop will be to present the community of Living Atlases by showing examples already in production (Atlas of Living Australia, GBIF France, GBIF Spain and NBN Atlas Scotland), and past & future projects involving the community. In addition, we expect to train participants in the basic ALA modules (Collectory and Biocache-hub) that focus on occurrence research tools, data visualization and metadata portal. This technical training will also include the installation of an ALA demo version in order to give the possibility to users to make their first configurations and developments of their new tool.

Organizers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden

Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Chaudiere

14:15 EDT

[S02] Towards a comprehensive workflow for biodiversity data in R
Abstract
Increasing number of scientists are using R for their data analyses, however, proficiency required to manage biodiversity data in R is considerably rarer. Since, users need to retrieve, manage and assess high-volume data with inherent complex structure (Darwin Core standard, DwC), various R packages dealing with biodiversity dat ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20311

Speakers
TG

Tomer Gueta

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Ballroom A

14:15 EDT

[S15] The Value of Agricultural Voucher Specimens
Abstract
Voucher specimens are the ultimate raw data of biodiversity studies because they document the interpretation of the names used in papers and reports resulting from such studies. The value of voucher specimens is increased by making their records web-accessible but they can be further enhanced by linking them to other online reso ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19932

Speakers
ME

Mary E. Barkworth

Utah State University


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Capitale

14:15 EDT

[S15] [CANCELLED] Databasing Crop Plants from the People's Biodiversity Register of India
Abstract
Documenting and understanding agrobiodiversity is important for human well-being, agricultural sustainability and food security. This is more significant and urgent in the current context of massive landscape transformation, industrialization of agriculture and climate change. Recognizing the limited data on agricultural biodive ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19820

Speakers
PR

Prabhakar Rajagopal

Strand Life Sciences, Bangalore 560024, India


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Capitale

14:15 EDT

[W07] Biocache-store: Command-Line Interface tool for managing occurrence records
Abstract
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) (https://www.ala.org.au/) is a collaborative, open infrastructure for sharing biodiversity data. The software and tools are publicly available for reuse and customization (https://github.com/AtlasOfLivingAustralia). GBIF Sweden, hosted at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, is in the proces ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.15071

Speakers
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Chaudiere

14:30 EDT

[S02] Angling for data: making biodiversity metadata more FAIR
Abstract
The FAIR guiding principles, first launched in 2014, for making research data more Findable, Accesible, Interoperable and Re-usable, have not yet been widely implemented for biodiversity data. Partly this may be due to the FAIR principles by themselves not yet being fully operational and easy to interpret. There is work in progr ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20267

Speakers
JP

Joakim Philipson

Stockholm University


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:30 - 14:45 EDT
Ballroom A

14:30 EDT

[S15] Bringing Bugs into the System
Abstract
While agriculture, a human-defined and delimited version of the natural world, is not generally touted for its biodiversity, the success or failure of an agroecosystem may hinge on how its biodiversity is managed. Researchers who study this world into which the greater biodiversity of the surrounding area ebbs and flows, attempt ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20050

Speakers
avatar for Gail Kampmeier

Gail Kampmeier

Affiliate, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, Univ of Illinois
Entomologist; Code of Conduct Committee member; TDWG Program Co-Chair; Editor-in-Chief, Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS)


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:30 - 14:45 EDT
Capitale

14:30 EDT

[W07] Workshop Activities
Organizers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden

Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:30 - 14:45 EDT
Chaudiere

14:45 EDT

[S02] Design and use of NOMEN, an ontology defining the rules of biological nomenclature
Abstract
The most complex nomenclatural databases are developed not from community based efforts but from individuals who have encoded their understanding of the rules of nomenclature into bespoke knowledge-bases. In efforts spanning decades well over 75 types of “status” may to be defined for a single database. Reconciliation of these s ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20284

Speakers
avatar for Matt Yoder

Matt Yoder

University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:45 - 15:00 EDT
Ballroom A

14:45 EDT

[S15] Agricultural Informatics Contributions to Biodiversity Science and Biodiversity Assessments
Abstract
Agricultural biodiversity has long been ignored by the traditional biodiversity community and the aggregators of their data. The Arnaud et al. (2016) GBIF "Final Report of the Task Group on GBIF Data Fitness for Use in Agrobiodiversity," provided recommendations primarily regarding crops and their wild relatives, but did not add ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20100

Organizers
avatar for Gail Kampmeier

Gail Kampmeier

Affiliate, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, Univ of Illinois
Entomologist; Code of Conduct Committee member; TDWG Program Co-Chair; Editor-in-Chief, Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS)
JA

James A. Macklin

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Tuesday October 3, 2017 14:45 - 15:30 EDT
Capitale

15:00 EDT

[S02] Invasive Organisms Information: A proposed TDWG Task Group
Abstract
Invasive species are a global problem for conservation, economics and health. Information on their distribution, spread and impact are essential to inform national and international policy on biodiversity. Furthermore, demand for these data are only likely to increase as recent environmental change results in the widespread reco ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20266

Speakers
avatar for Quentin Groom

Quentin Groom

Botanic Garden Meise


Tuesday October 3, 2017 15:00 - 15:15 EDT
Ballroom A

15:15 EDT

[S02] Panel Discussion
Organizers
avatar for Arthur D. Chapman

Arthur D. Chapman

Australian Biodiversity Information Services
Co-Convenor Data Quality Interest Group
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo
AT

Alexander Thompson

iDigBio, Gainesville, United States of America

Tuesday October 3, 2017 15:15 - 15:30 EDT
Ballroom A

15:30 EDT

Break
Tuesday October 3, 2017 15:30 - 16:00 EDT
Ballroom B

15:30 EDT

Posters (Odd Numbers)
Tuesday October 3, 2017 15:30 - 16:00 EDT
Ballroom B

15:40 EDT

[Computer Demo] Defining a Data Quality (DQ) profile and DQ report using a prototype of Node.js module of the Fitness for Use Backbone (FFUB)
Abstract
Despite the increasing availability of biodiversity data, determing the quality of data and informing would-be data consumers and users remains a significant issue. In order for data users and data owners to perform a satisfactory assessment and management of data fitness for use, they require a Data Quality (DQ) report, which p ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20275

Speakers
AK

Allan Koch Veiga

Universidade de São Paulo


Tuesday October 3, 2017 15:40 - 15:55 EDT
Ballroom B

16:00 EDT

[S10] How Did BHL Get to Big Data
Abstract
With 89.9 terabytes of data spanning over 500 years of data collection, the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is an important galaxy in the universe of biodiversity data. Embedded in those 89.9 terabytes are over 174 million species name occurrences and a currently unknown number of species occurrences, descriptions, identifie ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20002

Speakers
avatar for Martin Kalfatovic

Martin Kalfatovic

Associate Director, Smithsonian Libraries / Biodiversity Heritage Library


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:00 - 16:15 EDT
Capitale

16:00 EDT

[S22] How species interactions are managed in Plinian Core: Status and questions
Abstract
Plinian Core is a set of vocabulary terms that can be used to describe all kind of properties related to taxa (https://github.com/tdwg/PlinianCore). "Interactions" is a class of properties included in the "Natural History" class. In its current state, the class comprises the elements taken from the Darwin Core class "ResourceRel ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20556

Speakers
FP

Francisco Pando

Real Jardín Botánico - CSIC


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:00 - 16:15 EDT
Ballroom A

16:00 EDT

[W07] Biocache-store: Command-Line Interface tool for managing occurrence records
Abstract
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) (https://www.ala.org.au/) is a collaborative, open infrastructure for sharing biodiversity data. The software and tools are publicly available for reuse and customization (https://github.com/AtlasOfLivingAustralia). GBIF Sweden, hosted at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, is in the proces ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.15071

Speakers
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:00 - 16:15 EDT
Chaudiere

16:00 EDT

[S10 - Topic] 500 Years of Big Data from the Biodiversity Heritage Library
Abstract

With 89.9 terabytes of data spanning over 500 years of data collection, the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is an important galaxy in the universe of biodiversity data. Embedded in those 89.9 terabytes are over 174 million species name occurrences and a currently unknown number of species occurrences, descriptions, identified traits, and related data--all locked in the over 500 years of data captured in the BHL. As a consumer of name occurrence data, BHL works closely with the GNA and data providers such as ITIS. Recent developments and activities of ITIS and how these enhance BHL will be discussed.
A current IMLS funded grant, "Foundations to Actions," has funded five post-grad residents to gather data for requirements of BHL Version 2.

An international consortium, the BHL partners work to make biodiversity literature openly available to the world as part of a global biodiversity community. Through its extensive network of Members and Affiliates, over 52 million pages of biodiversity literature are now available through the BHL portal. Providing deeper access to the data contained in this literature is a goal of an ongoing project to provide full-text search capability to BHL. Technical details and use-case examples for this will be discussed.

BHL is not only data, but generates new data via wide-ranging and successful outreach activities. From tagging of images on Flickr, transcription of archival materials, and OCR correction from gaming activities, BHL has been able to leverage crowd-sourced input from users to better understand our collections. Outreach strategies designed to encourage citizen science activities will be discussed, as well as the importance of community engagement to sustain crowd-sourcing initiatives. Next steps and challenges related to incorporating crowd-sourced data into the BHL collection will also be addressed.

The Biodiversity Heritage Library has grown to be an important part of the infrastructure of biodiversity. In an attempt to solve the literature component of the taxonomic impediment, the BHL continues to provide access to legacy print publications and make this data widely available for reuse in collections support systems. This symposium will include a brief update on BHL activities since that 2016 TDWG. The final section of this symposium will be a guided discussion of desideratum and enhancements TDWG participants see as important for BHL.

Symposium participants will include representatives from the BHL Secretariat, BHL-related projects, ITIS, and other BHL partners.

Organizers
avatar for Martin Kalfatovic

Martin Kalfatovic

Associate Director, Smithsonian Libraries / Biodiversity Heritage Library
CA

Carolyn A. Sheffield

Smithsonian Libraries/Biodiversity Heritage Library

Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:00 - 17:30 EDT
Capitale

16:00 EDT

[S22 - Topic] Biological Interaction Data - towards data standardization
Abstract

Scientists use a variety of methods to collect, record, and store biological interaction data (predator-prey, parasite-host, pollinator-plant, etc.). Uses for these data are equally diverse. For example, they could play an important role in building decision support systems for conservation and sustainable use in agriculture. Numerous efforts are underway to aggregate, organize, and efficiently disseminate these data. However, we lack a formal data standard to support this work. The goal of this symposium is to provide an opportunity, for those involved or interested in the digitization of biological interaction data, to share their experiences and ideas so that we can move forward and propose a biological interaction data standard. During the 2016 TDWG Conference, in Santa Clara de San Carlos, Costa Rica, a group of people gathered to start discussing this issue under the TDWG umbrella. The objective is to propose the creation of an Interest Group on Biological Interactions Data where this topic can be discussed within the biodiversity informatics community. During the symposium, we will provide an update on the group’s achievements as well as welcome other interested parties to present their work.

Organizers
avatar for Quentin Groom

Quentin Groom

Botanic Garden Meise
JH

Jennifer Hammock

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo

Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:00 - 17:30 EDT
Ballroom A

16:00 EDT

[W07 - Topic] Reusing an open source platform in order to create a community: example of the Living Atlases community
Abstract

Since 2013, a community has grown around the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) open source platform, mostly but not exclusively around GBIF nodes. Indeed, since 2014 five international workshops have been organized around the world and eight data portals have been released into production using this tool (ALA, Brazil, GBIF Argentina, GBIF Costa Rica, GBIF France, NBN, GBIF Spain, GBIF Portugal) and several others are currently in development (Canadensys, GBIF Sweden, etc.). Here you can find a map representing all countries with an interest in implementing ALA as their national data portal.

ALA modules work with standards defined by the TDWG community. Data shown on maps are loaded through Darwin Core Archive files previously published from IPT or directly downloaded on the GBIF.org. Users can filter and download occurrences and can also interact with data using API proposed by the platform. We keep the data authority and highlight data publishers, institutions, collections and datasets by showing their metadata. Moreover, using this ALA technology as national data portals is the solution recommended in the GBIF Implementation Plan 2017 - 2021.

One of the main objectives of this workshop will be to present the community of Living Atlases by showing examples already in production (Atlas of Living Australia, GBIF France, GBIF Spain and NBN Atlas Scotland), and past & future projects involving the community. In addition, we expect to train participants in the basic ALA modules (Collectory and Biocache-hub) that focus on occurrence research tools, data visualization and metadata portal. This technical training will also include the installation of an ALA demo version in order to give the possibility to users to make their first configurations and developments of their new tool.

Organizers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden

Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:00 - 17:30 EDT
Chaudiere

16:15 EDT

[S10] Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature
Abstract
Through an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)-funded grant called Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature (EABL), the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) has adapted its digitization and metadata workflows to accommodate small organizations outside the consortium that would like to contribute unique content to B ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20146

Speakers
ML

Mariah Lewis

New York Botanical Garden, New York, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:15 - 16:30 EDT
Capitale

16:15 EDT

[S22] Addressing the proposal for new Darwin Core terms for interaction data
Abstract
A proposal has been made to create new terms in the Darwin Core Standard to represent biological interaction/species interaction concepts in raw data. The motivation is to consistently perform vertical integration of raw data e.g. to facilitate discovery of larger, more representative datasets. The proposition may be problematic ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20350

Speakers
JW

John Wieczorek

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. CA, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:15 - 16:30 EDT
Ballroom A

16:15 EDT

[W07] Occurrences : Data resources and Biocache-hub
Abstract
Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) [*1] framework is an open source infrastructure used to share biodiversity data through severals modules. Adding datasets in ALA is an important step that give access to occurrences. Setting of parameters needs to be accurate in order to correctly view occurrences. Biocache-hub [*2] is an interfac ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20321

Speakers
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:15 - 16:30 EDT
Chaudiere

16:30 EDT

[S10] Scientific Names: Linking the Past to Provide Context for Knowledge
Abstract
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS - www.itis.gov) maintains a regularly updated database of global scientific names and their hierarchical or synonymic relationships. Containing over 840,000 scientific names, ITIS is an authoritative reference across all seven kingdoms of life and provides a robust structure for ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19937

Speakers
avatar for Thomas M. Orrell

Thomas M. Orrell

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:30 - 16:45 EDT
Capitale

16:30 EDT

[S22] GoMexSI: Using Open Platforms such as Github, Wordpress, and GloBI to Manage, and Share Species Interaction Data
Abstract
Biodiversity data and databases are usually taxonomic specific (e.g. HerpNet, FishNet2, etc.), although there are cases of regional, non-taxa specific, biodiversity databases. And some biodiversity databases are inclined toward a functional category, such as invasive species. While it is critical to know of the existence and tax ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20325

Speakers
JS

James Simons

Center for Coastal Studies, Texas A&M University-CC, Corpus Christi, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:30 - 16:45 EDT
Ballroom A

16:30 EDT

[W07] Workshop Activities
Organizers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden

Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:30 - 17:30 EDT
Chaudiere

16:45 EDT

[S10] A path to continuous reindexing of scientific names appearing in Biodiversity Heritage Library data
Abstract
Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is a massive, constantly expanding repository of Open Access biodiversity literature. It currently serves over 50 million pages of biological texts to scientific community. Metadata attached to this textual data dramatically enhances its usefulness. One of the most important categories of meta ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20186

Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:45 - 17:00 EDT
Capitale

16:45 EDT

[S22] Brazilian Plant-Pollinator Interactions Network: definition of a data standard for digitization, sharing, and aggregation of plant-pollinator interaction data
Abstract
Pollination is considered one of the most important processes for biodiversity conservation (Kremen 2005). Recently, the global community, by means of the Intergovernmental Platform of Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES 2016), and also, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 2002) recognized the importance of plant-pollinator interactions for ecosystems functioning and sustainable agriculture. ...https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20298

Speakers
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo


Tuesday October 3, 2017 16:45 - 17:00 EDT
Ballroom A

17:00 EDT

[S10] Crowdsourcing Data Enhancements to Improve Named Entity Recognition in the Biodiversity Heritage Library
Abstract
The Biodiversity Heritage Library's holdings include dozens of manuscript collections that are largely hidden due to minimal descriptive metadata and the absence of machine readable facsimiles. Transcription projects for collections are time consuming, intellectually intensive, and expensive for an organization to facilitate. Cr ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.17354

Speakers
KM

Katie Mika

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States of America


Tuesday October 3, 2017 17:00 - 17:15 EDT
Capitale

17:00 EDT

[S22] Global Biotic Interactions: A Catalyst For Integrating Existing Interaction Datasets, Connecting Data Curators And Developing Data Exchange Methods
Abstract
Since 2013, Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI, globalbioticinteractions.org, Poelen et al. 2014) has taken an opportunistic, decentralized approach to integrating, and make accessible, existing species interaction datasets. Rather than expecting dataset curators to conform to some publication regime, methods were developed to au ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20214

Speakers
avatar for Jorrit H Poelen

Jorrit H Poelen

Independent


Tuesday October 3, 2017 17:00 - 17:15 EDT
Ballroom A

17:15 EDT

[S10] BHL’s Feedback Tools and User Surveys: Investigating User Needs for Data in Digital Libraries
Abstract
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is a digital library dedicated to improving research efficiency through open access to biodiversity literature as part of a global biodiversity community. BHL currently makes over 52 million pages of biodiversity literature freely available and drew over 1 million visitors in 2016. Additio ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20003

Speakers
CA

Carolyn A. Sheffield

Smithsonian Libraries/Biodiversity Heritage Library


Tuesday October 3, 2017 17:15 - 17:30 EDT
Capitale

17:15 EDT

[S22] mangal - making sense of biotic interaction data
Abstract
There are exponentially more species interactions than there are species - and this should entice us to be exponentially more careful when designing a data format to represent species interactions. The tradition in the analysis of species interaction networks was to store matrices, but this format is inefficient, does not offer ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19993

Speakers
TP

Timothée Poisot

Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada


Tuesday October 3, 2017 17:15 - 17:30 EDT
Ballroom A
 
Wednesday, October 4
 

08:30 EDT

Load Talks
Visit your presentation room at this time with your 16:9 PowerPoint talk loaded on a USB flash drive. Name your file room_day_time_name.pptx (e.g. Chaudiere_Monday_1415_Smith.pptx).

Wednesday October 4, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
N/A

08:30 EDT

Registration
Wednesday October 4, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
Victoria

09:00 EDT

Wild Ideas
Wednesday October 4, 2017 09:00 - 09:40 EDT
Ballroom A

09:40 EDT

10:30 EDT

Break
Wednesday October 4, 2017 10:30 - 11:00 EDT
Ballroom B

10:40 EDT

[Computer Demo] Desktop or remote knowledge base management systems for taxonomic data and identification keys: Xper2 and Xper3
Abstract
Storing, sharing, managing taxonomic data is crucial for research and systematic outreach. In this context, Xper2 (Ung et al. 2010) and Xper3 (Vignes Lebbe et al. 2015) are two platforms dedicated to taxonomic descriptions and computer-aided identification. These freeware provide a sleek and easy to use interface, and do not req ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19911

Speakers
RV

Régine Vignes-Lebbe

Institut Systématique Evolution Biodiversité (ISYEB), Sorbonne Université, MNHN, CNRS, EPHE


Wednesday October 4, 2017 10:40 - 10:55 EDT
Ballroom B

11:00 EDT

[S12] The state of the data in citizen science
Abstract
Citizen science has contributed to biodiversity research and monitoring for hundreds of years. Still, the recent increase in scale, scope, diversity and number of citizen science projects highlights the challenge of designing and implementing good practices around data collection and data curation. The Committee on Data for Scie ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20370

Speakers
avatar for Anne Bowser

Anne Bowser

Senior Program Associate, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, United States of America
Data, metadata, standards, interoperability, the power of place, citizen science and policy, ethics, motivation, games....


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Capitale

11:00 EDT

[S16] BHL: A Source for Big Data Analysis
Abstract
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is a consortium of natural history and botanical libraries that cooperate to digitize taxonomic literature and to make that literature available to a global audience for open access and responsible use as a part of a global “biodiversity commons”. In partnership with the Internet Archive a ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20339

Speakers
ML

Mike Lichtenberg

Biodiversity Heritage Library / Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, United States of America


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[W07] Living Atlases : tips and advices
Abstract
Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), Australian node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), provides information on all the known species in Australia. Since 2010, ALA has developed an open source framework providing different tools to help users from various sectors. The ALA technical team, with the help of GBIF, h ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20252

Speakers
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Chaudiere

11:00 EDT

[S12 - Topic] Citizen Science Contributions to Biodiversity Research and Standards
Abstract

Citizen science encompasses a diverse set of activities that contribute to biodiversity research including decoding and transcribing museum labels, collecting specimens and images, analyzing and classifying digital collections, setting out camera traps and doing field surveys. This symposium offers a venue for citizen science practitioners to describe their biodiversity projects and to learn about the TDWG community. Likewise, informatics specialists and database managers working on biodiversity projects are encouraged to present the issues they face when supporting citizen science programs. Aspects of a citizen science programs from project design, to data collection and data curation are welcome. Projects that address taxonomic or data quality issues are especially encouraged. Participants are invited to join in the work of the Citizen Science Interest Group in developing standards to support biodiversity research.

Organizers
Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Capitale

11:00 EDT

[S16 - Topic] Using Big Data Techniques to Cross Dataset Boundaries - Integration and Analysis of Multiple Datasets
Abstract

For many historical reasons, much biodiversity data is cataloged and aggregated by type: occurrence, gene sequence, literature, etc. While this has advantages, interesting and new scientific questions require information from more than one source but the varied structure and axes of existing datasets don't make it easy to simply join them up.

In this symposium we will have presentations from researchers on techniques used to join, extract, and infer information across traditional occurrence, taxonomy, trait, phenology, genetic, environment, literature, image, climate, and other boundaries. We also will have limited presentations from data providers on the work they are doing and challenges they face in building and exposing linkages among their datasets. Our goal is to provide a forum to expose working techniques for addressing the disjoint nature of our current data ecosystem.

Organizers
MC

Matthew Collins

Gainesville, United States of America
RG

Robert Guralnick

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America
avatar for Martin Kalfatovic

Martin Kalfatovic

Associate Director, Smithsonian Libraries / Biodiversity Heritage Library

Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[W07 - Topic] Reusing an open source platform in order to create a community: example of the Living Atlases community
Abstract

Since 2013, a community has grown around the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) open source platform, mostly but not exclusively around GBIF nodes. Indeed, since 2014 five international workshops have been organized around the world and eight data portals have been released into production using this tool (ALA, Brazil, GBIF Argentina, GBIF Costa Rica, GBIF France, NBN, GBIF Spain, GBIF Portugal) and several others are currently in development (Canadensys, GBIF Sweden, etc.). Here you can find a map representing all countries with an interest in implementing ALA as their national data portal.

ALA modules work with standards defined by the TDWG community. Data shown on maps are loaded through Darwin Core Archive files previously published from IPT or directly downloaded on the GBIF.org. Users can filter and download occurrences and can also interact with data using API proposed by the platform. We keep the data authority and highlight data publishers, institutions, collections and datasets by showing their metadata. Moreover, using this ALA technology as national data portals is the solution recommended in the GBIF Implementation Plan 2017 - 2021.

One of the main objectives of this workshop will be to present the community of Living Atlases by showing examples already in production (Atlas of Living Australia, GBIF France, GBIF Spain and NBN Atlas Scotland), and past & future projects involving the community. In addition, we expect to train participants in the basic ALA modules (Collectory and Biocache-hub) that focus on occurrence research tools, data visualization and metadata portal. This technical training will also include the installation of an ALA demo version in order to give the possibility to users to make their first configurations and developments of their new tool.

Organizers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden

Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:15 EDT

[S12] Setting Collections Data Free with the Power of the Crowd: challenges, opportunities and a vision for the future
Abstract
The Natural History Museum in London has embarked on an epic journey to digitise 80 million specimens from one of the world’s most important natural history collections. Publishing this data to our open Data Portal will give the global scientific community access to unrivalled historical, geographic and taxonomic specimen data g ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20422

Speakers
avatar for Margaret J Gold

Margaret J Gold

Science Community Coordinator, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
Ask me about our Crowdsourcing projects at the Natural History Museum London: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/citizen-science/miniature-fossils-magnified.html , the outcomes of the SYNTHESYS3 project http://www.synthesys.info/. I post my talks here: https://www.slideshare.net... Read More →


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Capitale

11:15 EDT

[S16] TAXREF-LD: A Reference Thesaurus for Biodiversity on the Web of Linked Data
Abstract
Started in the early 2000’s, the Web of Data has now become a reality [Bizer 2009]. It keeps on growing through the relentless publication and interlinking of data sets spanning various domains of knowledge. Building upon the Resource Description Framework (RDF), this new layer of the Web implements the Linked Data paradigm [Hea ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20232

Speakers
avatar for Franck Michel

Franck Michel

Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inria, I3S


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:15 EDT

[W07] Workshop Activities
Organizers
CG

Christian Gendreau

Global Biodiversity Information Facility - Secretariat, Copenhagen, Denmark
JG

Jeremy Goimard

Canadensys, Montreal (QC), Canada, Canadensys, Montréal QC, Canada
ML

Marie-Elise Lecoq

UMS PatriNat - GBIF France
DM

Dave Martin

Systems Architect, Atlas of Living Australia, CSIRO
SM

Santiago Martínez de la Riva

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Madrid, Spain
MS

Manash Shah

Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) , Stockholm, Sweden

Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:15 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:30 EDT

[S12] Turning Flickr into a useful Citizen Science Resource
Abstract
Flickr is a photo and web hosting social media site created by Ludicorp in 2004 and later (in 2005) acquired by Yahoo. It is largely used by people for hosting social media type photos, but through the judicious use of Tagging (including use of machine tags), APIs, grouping, tag indexing and georeferencing it has been turned int ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20348

Speakers
avatar for Arthur D. Chapman

Arthur D. Chapman

Australian Biodiversity Information Services
Co-Convenor Data Quality Interest Group


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Capitale

11:30 EDT

[S16] A High-throughput Data Ingest Pipeline for Semantic Data-stores
Abstract
Ontologies offer multiple benefits for biodiversity data processing and analysis, including precisely defined vocabularies, robust pathways for data integration, and support for automated machine reasoning. However, ontologies have yet to be widely deployed for biodiversity data processing and analysis. Reasons for this include: ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20208

Speakers
JD

John Deck

University of California at Berkeley


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Ballroom A

11:30 EDT

[S16] [CANCELLED] IndexMEED cases studies using "Omics" data with graph theory
Abstract
Data produced within marine and terrestrial biodiversity research projects that evaluate and monitor Good Environmental Status, have a high potential for use by stakeholders involved in environmental management. However, environmental data, especially in ecology, are not readily accessible to various users. The specific scientific goals and the logics of project organization and information gathering lead to a decentralized data distribution.... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20740

Speakers

Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Ballroom A

11:45 EDT

[S12] Discovering Nature in the City with a Citizen Science Mobile App
Abstract
In the project "Stadtnatur entdecken" (discovering nature in the city) a multidisciplinary team of specialists in biology, informatics, urban ecology and social sciences is looking into how to effectively communicate educational content on environmental topics to young adults and to allow them to contribute as citizen scientists ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20206

Speakers
JH

Jana Hoffmann

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Berlin, Germany


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:45 - 12:00 EDT
Capitale

11:45 EDT

[S16] Using ontologies to explore floral evolution in a non-model plant clade
Abstract
The ability to successfully address the complex, multidimensional process of plant character evolution requires approaches that integrate across domains: genetics, evolution, development, and ecology. Additionally, in order to understand the patterns of plant character evolution across a broad phylogenetic scale, we must continu ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20347

Speakers
AL

Annika L Smith

University of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America


Wednesday October 4, 2017 11:45 - 12:00 EDT
Ballroom A

12:00 EDT

[S12] Panel Discussion
Organizers
Wednesday October 4, 2017 12:00 - 12:30 EDT
Capitale

12:00 EDT

[S16] Panel Discussion
Discussions: What is the biggest impediment to being able to integrate multiple datasets?

Organizers
MC

Matthew Collins

Gainesville, United States of America
RG

Robert Guralnick

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America
avatar for Martin Kalfatovic

Martin Kalfatovic

Associate Director, Smithsonian Libraries / Biodiversity Heritage Library

Wednesday October 4, 2017 12:00 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

12:30 EDT

Lunch pick-up (boxed)
Wednesday October 4, 2017 12:30 - 13:00 EDT
Ballroom C

13:00 EDT

[Field Trip] Canadian Museum of Nature Collections or Pink Lake Hike
Pick-up your boxed lunch in Ballroom C 12:30 PM - 01:00 PM before catching a school bus; there will not be anywhere to buy food. Dietary restrictions communicated with registration will be accommodated.

There will be one bus for the Canadian Museum of Nature Collections tour and one for the Pink Lake hike. Please be sure to embark on the correct bus.

Canadian Museum of Nature’s Research & Collections Facility

Bus departs at 1:00 PM from the side of the Delta Hotel on Albert Street and later departs the Collections Facility at 4:30 PM to make the 25 minute return trip to the Delta Hotel.

Not typically open to the public, this tour will bring participants behind the doors of the museum’s innovative collections facility, which was designed specifically for the management and preservation of natural history specimens. The tour includes the following collections: minerals, fossils, large skeletons (mammals), invertebrates, botany (National Herbarium of Canada), library & archives, conservation lab, and the Molecular Biodiversity Lab (DNA). This tour runs about two hours, with participants divided into smaller groups to promote engaged discussion with the museum’s scientific staff.

Tour Notes:

  • The Facility is a scent-free workplace, please do not wear perfume or cologne
  • No open-toed shoes
  • No food or drink (we'll eat before visiting the collections)
  • No large bags or backpacks in the collections
  • Secure storage will be provided for jackets and bags

Pink Lake Hike in Gatineau Park

Bus departs at 1:15 PM from the side of the Delta Hotel on Albert Street and later departs Pink Lake at 4:30 PM to make the 35 minute return trip to the Delta Hotel.

Participants may choose to do the ~2.5km easy loop trail or simply enjoy the lake area. The lake has a unique ecosystem; no swimming is allowed. Sturdy footwear is recommended. We also recommend that you bring a daypack to contain camera(s) and rainwear in the event of inclement weather.

Wednesday October 4, 2017 13:00 - 17:30 EDT
N/A
 
Thursday, October 5
 

08:30 EDT

Load Talks
Visit your presentation room at this time with your 16:9 PowerPoint talk loaded on a USB flash drive. Name your file room_day_time_name.pptx (e.g. Chaudiere_Monday_1415_Smith.pptx).

Thursday October 5, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
N/A

08:30 EDT

Registration
Thursday October 5, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
Victoria

09:00 EDT

Standards in Action: The Darwin Core Hour
Abstract
Darwin Core Wieczorek et al. 2012 has become broadly used for biodiversity data sharing since its ratification as a standard in 2009. Despite its popularity, or perhaps because of it, questions about Darwin Core, its definitions, and its applications continue to arise. However, no easy mechanism previously existed for the users ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20280

Speakers
avatar for Deborah Paul

Deborah Paul

Florida State University
JW

John Wieczorek

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. CA, United States of America
avatar for Paula F Zermoglio

Paula F Zermoglio

Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (IEGEBA-CONICET), University of Buenos Aires


Thursday October 5, 2017 09:00 - 09:40 EDT
Ballroom A

09:40 EDT

[Keynote] Pamela Soltis - Linking Heterogeneous Data in Biodiversity Research
Abstract
Emerging cyberinfrastructure and new data sources provide unparalleled opportunities for mobilizing and integrating massive amounts of information from organismal biology, ecology, genomics, climatology, and other disciplines. Key among these data sources is the rapidly growing volume of digitized specimen records from natural history collections. ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.21113

Speakers
PS

Pamela S. Soltis

University of Florida at Gainsville


Thursday October 5, 2017 09:40 - 10:30 EDT
Ballroom A

10:30 EDT

Break
Thursday October 5, 2017 10:30 - 11:00 EDT
Ballroom B

10:30 EDT

Posters (Odd Numbers)
Thursday October 5, 2017 10:30 - 11:00 EDT
Ballroom B

10:40 EDT

[Computer Demo] Developing a Module for Generating Formalized Semantic Morphological Descriptions for Morph∙D∙Base
Abstract
We demonstrate the early prototype of a new module for Morph∙D∙Base that allows the generation of highly formalized semantic morphological descriptions (http://escience.biowikifarm.net/wiki/EScience-Compliant_Standards_for_Morphology). The resulting morphological descriptions follow the individuals-based Instance Anatomy data sc ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.15141

Speakers
SM

Sandra Meid

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany
LV

Lars Vogt

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany


Thursday October 5, 2017 10:40 - 10:55 EDT
Ballroom B

11:00 EDT

[S18] Building a community of practice through capacity enhancement mentoring
Abstract
In 2015, GBIF—the Global Biodiversity Information Facility—officially started Biodiversity Information for Development, or BID, a multi-year, €3.9 million programme funded by the European Union with the aim of increasing the amount of biodiversity information available for use in scientific research and policymaking in the natio ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20234

Speakers
avatar for Laura Russell

Laura Russell

Programme Officer for Participation and Engagement, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Copenhagen, Denmark


Thursday October 5, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[Interest Group] Species Information
Organizers
FP

Francisco Pando

Real Jardín Botánico - CSIC

Thursday October 5, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:00 EDT

[S18 - Topic] Bridging Gaps between Biodiversity Informaticians and Collections Professionals
Abstract

The biodiversity informatics standards, tools, and resources developed by TDWG and its members are vital components in the daily work of curators and collections professionals in natural history museum collections. However, opportunities for communication and collaboration between these groups are too often rare and siloed. Therefore, building a mutual understanding of and solid collaboration about how biodiversity informatics concepts are developed and then how they are applied to the mobilization of collections data can be difficult. In 2018, the TDWG meeting will be held in conjunction with the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collection (SPNHC) meeting, providing an invaluable opportunity to address these issues. In order to enhance the effectiveness of the 2018 meeting it is important for each group to develop a better comprehension of the vernacular of the other. This symposium aims to bridge gaps in understanding between the biodiversity informaticians and the ways collections professionals use their work. It will provide examples of how collections are using TDWG standards, applicability statements, and best practices, as well as exploring where this community, along with discipline specific experts, can work to provide more controlled vocabularies for existing terms, participate in development activities of interest and task groups, and identify and contribute solutions to needs as yet unaddressed by current standards.

Organizers
avatar for Gail Kampmeier

Gail Kampmeier

Affiliate, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, Univ of Illinois
Entomologist; Code of Conduct Committee member; TDWG Program Co-Chair; Editor-in-Chief, Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS)
HL

Holly Little

Smithsonian NMNH
avatar for Deborah Paul

Deborah Paul

Florida State University

Thursday October 5, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[W21 - Topic] Biological Interaction Data Workgroup
Abstract

The objective of this workshop is to present the advances of the workgroup, since its creation at the 2016 TDWG Conference, work on specific issues raised during the year, and plan next steps, which may include the creation of an Interest Group on Biological Interactions Data within TDWG.
Scientists use a variety of methods to collect, record, and store biological interaction data (predator-prey, parasite-host, pollinator-plant, etc.). Uses for these data are equally diverse. For example, they could play an important role in building decision support systems for conservation and sustainable use in agriculture. Numerous efforts are underway to aggregate, organize, and efficiently disseminate these data. However, we lack a formal data standard to support this work. The goal of this workshop is to provide an opportunity, for those involved or interested in the digitization of biological interaction data, to share their experiences and ideas so that we can move forward and propose a biological interaction data standard.

Organizers
avatar for Quentin Groom

Quentin Groom

Botanic Garden Meise
JH

Jennifer Hammock

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo

Thursday October 5, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Capitale

11:15 EDT

[S18] What’s Missing From All the Portals?
Abstract
At time of writing there are over 784 million occurrence records in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) portal (gbif.org), 106 million on the iDigBio site (idigbio.org); 68 million in the Atlas of Living Australia (ala.org.au) and 20 million in VertNet (vertnet.org). The list of biodiversity aggregators and porta ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20236

Speakers
avatar for Sharon Grant

Sharon Grant

Technology Liaison to Science, The Field Museum of Natural History


Thursday October 5, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:30 EDT

[S18] An Example of Synergy in Data Mobilization: the Arctos-VertNet Nexus
Abstract
Over the past two decades, the natural history collections community has ramped up efforts to mobilize museum data in order to increase access for biodiversity research. The willingness of collections to participate in these efforts has exceeded expectations and requires a close collaboration between museum staff, database manag ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20098

Speakers
DB

David Bloom

VertNet, Cotati, United States of America


Thursday October 5, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Ballroom A

11:45 EDT

[S18] Towards Insect Digital Collections and Data Publishing: A journey for the GBIF-funded African Insect Atlas Collaborative Project
Abstract
Museums from six African countries (Botswana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique), with support from the California Academy of Sciences, are currently collaborating on the GBIF funded project: African Insect Atlas: unleashing the potential of insects in conservation and sustainability research in Africa (BID-A ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20274

Speakers
BL

Boikhutso Lerato Rapalai

Botswana National Museum


Thursday October 5, 2017 11:45 - 12:00 EDT
Ballroom A

12:00 EDT

[S18] Setting up an Interdisciplinary Data Infrastructure: Why Cooperation between Domain Experts and Computer Scientists Matters - An Experience Report from the GFBio Project
Abstract
The German Federation for Biological Data (GFBio; Diepenbroek et al. 2014) is implementing a national infrastructure for the preservation, integration, and publication of biological data collected in German research projects. GFBio is built upon an archive infrastructure comprised of nine data centers including PANGAEA and the m ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20198

Speakers
JH

Jana Hoffmann

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Berlin, Germany
FL

Felicitas Löffler

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Jena, Germany


Thursday October 5, 2017 12:00 - 12:15 EDT
Ballroom A

12:15 EDT

[S18] Panel Discussion
Organizers
avatar for Gail Kampmeier

Gail Kampmeier

Affiliate, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, Univ of Illinois
Entomologist; Code of Conduct Committee member; TDWG Program Co-Chair; Editor-in-Chief, Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS)
HL

Holly Little

Smithsonian NMNH
avatar for Deborah Paul

Deborah Paul

Florida State University

Thursday October 5, 2017 12:15 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

12:30 EDT

Group Photo
Participants coming from Ballroom A gather at base of stairs in the Delta Lobby, those in Chaudiere or Capitale, gather at top of stairs.

Thursday October 5, 2017 12:30 - 12:40 EDT
Lobby stairs

12:30 EDT

[Interest Group] Technical Architecture Meeting
Organizers
PJ

Paul J. Morris

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

Thursday October 5, 2017 12:30 - 14:00 EDT
Capitale

12:30 EDT

Lunch on your own
Thursday October 5, 2017 12:30 - 14:00 EDT
N/A

14:00 EDT

[S18] A tool for collections-specific searches in genetic databases
Abstract
It is becoming increasingly important for museums and other scientific collections to quantify the amount of genetic resources being derived from their holdings. Genetic database records, such as GenBank and Barcode of Life (BOLD), have an optional field for indicating the specimen that it derived from, and, on the other side, s ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20320

Speakers
avatar for Michael Trizna

Michael Trizna

Smithsonian Institution


Thursday October 5, 2017 14:00 - 14:15 EDT
Ballroom A

14:00 EDT

[W23] Introduction
Speakers
JS

Joel Sachs

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada
PS

Pamela S. Soltis

University of Florida at Gainsville


Thursday October 5, 2017 14:00 - 14:15 EDT
Capitale

14:00 EDT

[S18 - Topic] Bridging Gaps between Biodiversity Informaticians and Collections Professionals
Abstract

The biodiversity informatics standards, tools, and resources developed by TDWG and its members are vital components in the daily work of curators and collections professionals in natural history museum collections. However, opportunities for communication and collaboration between these groups are too often rare and siloed. Therefore, building a mutual understanding of and solid collaboration about how biodiversity informatics concepts are developed and then how they are applied to the mobilization of collections data can be difficult. In 2018, the TDWG meeting will be held in conjunction with the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collection (SPNHC) meeting, providing an invaluable opportunity to address these issues. In order to enhance the effectiveness of the 2018 meeting it is important for each group to develop a better comprehension of the vernacular of the other. This symposium aims to bridge gaps in understanding between the biodiversity informaticians and the ways collections professionals use their work. It will provide examples of how collections are using TDWG standards, applicability statements, and best practices, as well as exploring where this community, along with discipline specific experts, can work to provide more controlled vocabularies for existing terms, participate in development activities of interest and task groups, and identify and contribute solutions to needs as yet unaddressed by current standards.

Organizers
avatar for Gail Kampmeier

Gail Kampmeier

Affiliate, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, Univ of Illinois
Entomologist; Code of Conduct Committee member; TDWG Program Co-Chair; Editor-in-Chief, Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS)
HL

Holly Little

Smithsonian NMNH
avatar for Deborah Paul

Deborah Paul

Florida State University

Thursday October 5, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Ballroom A

14:00 EDT

[W06 - Topic] Data Quality Workshop
Abstract

The goal of the workshop is to present the advances and the status of the three Task Groups of this [Interest Group] TG1 – BDQ Framework, TG2 – BDQ Tools, services and workflows, and TG3 – BDQ Use cases. We will also work on specific issues raised during the year, which need to be addressed by the group, and plan next steps, including how to increase participation of other stakeholders and plans toward a TDWG standard on data quality tests and assertions.

The distributed nature of data acquisition and digitization, the specific difficulties imposed by some of the data sub-domains, such as taxonomic data and geographic data, among other aspects, make it important to discuss DQ in biodiversity so that data made available in portals and other systems can be used for various purposes such as education, science, and decision-making. Although several initiatives in the Biodiversity Informatics community have been developing tools and best practices about DQ, there is no consensus related to concepts, metadata, policies, methodologies and tools about DQ. The size of DQ check pipelines has also posed challenges for existing methodologies and tools and may need to drive some of the discussion on concepts and policies.

A joint TDGW/GBIF Interest Group on DQ was proposed and approved in 2014. Subsequently three task groups were also created: TG1 – BDQ Framework, TG2 – BDQ Tools, services and workflows, and TG3 – BDQ Use cases. They tackle some of the most important issues identified by the attendants to the previous symposia, held at the TDWG meetings in Florence, Italy/2013, Jönköping, Sweden/2014 and Santa Clara de San Carlos, Costa Rica/2016.

The group has been able to meet between TDWG meetings to advance on its activities. In March, 2016, in São Paulo, Brazil, the IG and TGs conveners got together with members from two fitness-for-use groups supported by GBIF on species distribution modeling and agrobiodiversity, and have made good progress towards adopting a common conceptual basis and developing profiles for those two use cases. In October, 2016, in Melbourne, Australia, further advance was made focusing on another fitness-for-use group on alien and invasive species. Another meeting is scheduled to take place in Canberra, Australia, in May, 2017.

By the 2017 TDWG Meeting, in Ottawa, significant advances will have been made in all three Task Groups as well as in Vocabularies.

Organizers
avatar for Arthur D. Chapman

Arthur D. Chapman

Australian Biodiversity Information Services
Co-Convenor Data Quality Interest Group
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo

Thursday October 5, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Chaudiere

14:00 EDT

[W23 - Topic] Towards an Online Atlas of Phenology
Abstract

An on-line phenology atlas would be a platform for integrating phenology data from the many individual researchers, institutions, and citizen science programs that are willing to make their phenology records available. It would provide capabilities for analyzing and visualizing the data with a species-based, location-based, or phenophase-based focus. This workshop will explore possible visions for such an atlas, and possible steps for making it a reality. Goals of the workshop include:
  • A survey of existing initiatives aimed at standardizing and integrating phenology data.
  • Identifying barriers to standardization and integration.
  • Generating use cases.
  • Generating competency questions - i.e. What queries would we want an on-line atlas of phenology to support?
  • Identifying possibilities for future development.
Submissions are invited relating to any of the above. As well, the organizers plan a number of small experiments in phenological data integration prior to the workshop, so that discussion is informed by what’s currently easy, and what’s currently hard. If you would like to participate in these experiments (by contributing data, use cases, or technical capacity), please contact the organizers.

Organizers
avatar for Scott Chamberlain

Scott Chamberlain

rOpenSci, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
RG

Robert Guralnick

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America
ZP

Zoe Panchen

Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
JS

Joel Sachs

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada
PS

Pamela S. Soltis

University of Florida at Gainsville

Thursday October 5, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Capitale

14:15 EDT

[S18] How Mass Digitization is changing Herbarium Collection Management at the Botanic Garden Meise (BR) – Teaching old dogs new tricks!
Abstract
The Botanic Garden Meise (BR) has been involved in a mass digitization project over the past 2.5 years. At present, over 1.2 million herbarium specimens have been imaged. A third of these images already have minimal data, while the remainder data are presently being captured and should be finished in the coming months. Many less ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20194

Speakers
HE

Henry Engledow

Meise Botanic Garden


Thursday October 5, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Ballroom A

14:15 EDT

[W23] Phenological sensitivity to temperature at broad scales: opportunities and challenges of natural history collections
Abstract
The seasonal timing of biological events (i.e. phenology) has been frequently observed to shift in response to recent climate change. While many of these events now occur earlier due to warmer temperatures, there is considerable variation in the direction and magnitude of these shifts across species. This variation could have co ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20587

Speakers
HK

Heather Kharouba

University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada


Thursday October 5, 2017 14:15 - 14:30 EDT
Capitale

14:30 EDT

[S18] Building community-specific standards and vocabularies: prospects and challenges for linking to the broader community - The SINP Case
Abstract
Biodiversity data may come from myriad sources. From data capture in the field through digitization processes, each source may choose distinctive ways to capture data. When it comes to sharing data more broadly at national or regional levels, it is imperative that data is presented in ways that encourage understanding both by hu ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20297

Speakers
RJ

Rémy Jomier

Natural History Museum
avatar for Paula F Zermoglio

Paula F Zermoglio

Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (IEGEBA-CONICET), University of Buenos Aires


Thursday October 5, 2017 14:30 - 14:45 EDT
Ballroom A

14:30 EDT

[W23] The use of avian museum specimen data in phenology studies: prospects and challenges
Abstract
Museum specimens offer a rich source of data on both long-term averages and temporal trends in organismal phenology. To date much of this work has focused on plants, but animal specimens are also useful in this regard. In particular, bird specimens may include data on age, gonad size and development, and molt, all of which are r ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20324

Speakers
KB

Keith Barker

University of Minnesota, St. Paul, United States of America


Thursday October 5, 2017 14:30 - 14:45 EDT
Capitale

14:45 EDT

[S18] Managing Ex Situ Collections of Wild Species' Seeds: Use of Biodiversity Informatics in the Millennium Seed Bank to Address Challenges
Abstract
The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew manages the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) Partnership, the largest ex situ conservation program for wild plant species in the world. The long-term storage of viable dry seed collections ('orthodox' seeds) in deep-freeze chambers and maintaining their quality, viability and longevity for future use are ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20197

Speakers
UL

Udayangani Liu

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Millennium Seed Bank, Ardingly, West Sussex, United Kingdom


Thursday October 5, 2017 14:45 - 15:00 EDT
Ballroom A

14:45 EDT

[W23] Phenology atlas use cases: a new map of plant phenology across North America and beyond
Abstract
The goal of the phenology atlas workshop is to explore the development of a platform that would provide capabilities for analysing and visualising phenology data from multiple sources. The atlas would incorporate species-based, location-based and phenophase-based views. Here we provide an overview of potential phenology atlas us ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20582

Speakers
ZP

Zoe Panchen

Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada


Thursday October 5, 2017 14:45 - 15:00 EDT
Capitale

15:00 EDT

[S18] Automated Herbarium Specimen Identification using Deep Learning
Abstract
Hundreds of herbarium collections have accumulated a valuable heritage and knowledge of plants over several centuries (Page et al. 2015). Recent initiatives, such as iDigBio (https://www.idigbio.org), aggregate data from and images of vouchered herbarium sheets (and other biocollections) and make this information available to bo ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20302

Speakers
JC

Jose Carranza-Rojas

Costa Rica Institute of Technology, PARMA Group, School of Computing, Cartago, Costa Rica


Thursday October 5, 2017 15:00 - 15:15 EDT
Ballroom A

15:00 EDT

[W23] Panel Discussion
Organizers
avatar for Scott Chamberlain

Scott Chamberlain

rOpenSci, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
RG

Robert Guralnick

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America
ZP

Zoe Panchen

Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
JS

Joel Sachs

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada
PS

Pamela S. Soltis

University of Florida at Gainsville

Thursday October 5, 2017 15:00 - 15:30 EDT
Capitale

15:15 EDT

[S18] SPNHC 2017 Natural History Collections Biodiversity Informatics 101 Short Course Insights
Abstract
Many digitization-focused talks at recent Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC, spnhc.org) meetings illustrate the impact of biodiversity informatics tools, standards, and resources on collections management tasks. Collections and data managers need up-to-date data skills and knowledge to manage and ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20263

Speakers
HL

Holly Little

Smithsonian NMNH


Thursday October 5, 2017 15:15 - 15:30 EDT
Ballroom A

15:30 EDT

Break
Thursday October 5, 2017 15:30 - 16:00 EDT
Ballroom B

15:30 EDT

Posters (Even Numbers)
Thursday October 5, 2017 15:30 - 16:00 EDT
Ballroom B

16:00 EDT

[W17] The EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy, a Brief Overview
Abstract
The Platform for Cybertaxonomy (FUB, BGBM 2011) is an open-source software framework covering the full breadth of the taxonomic workflow, from fieldwork to data publication. It provides a set of tools for editing and management of taxonomic data (individually or collaboratively), fully customizable on-line access to that data, a ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20368

Speakers
AK

Andreas Kohlbecker

Research Assistant, Biodiversity Informatics Projects, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany


Thursday October 5, 2017 16:00 - 16:15 EDT
Ballroom A

16:00 EDT

[W23] The USA National Phenology Network: A Framework for Delivery of Phenology Data Products on Multiple Spatiotemporal Scales
Abstract
The USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN; www.usanpn.org) serves science and society by promoting a broad understanding of plant and animal phenology and the relationships among phenological patterns, climate, and environmental change. Data collected by citizen and professional scientists through Nature’s Notebook – a nationa ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20188

Speakers
LM

Lee Marsh

USA National Phenology Network, Tuscon, United States of America


Thursday October 5, 2017 16:00 - 16:15 EDT
Capitale

16:00 EDT

[W06 - Topic] Data Quality Workshop
Abstract

The goal of the workshop is to present the advances and the status of the three Task Groups of this [Interest Group] TG1 – BDQ Framework, TG2 – BDQ Tools, services and workflows, and TG3 – BDQ Use cases. We will also work on specific issues raised during the year, which need to be addressed by the group, and plan next steps, including how to increase participation of other stakeholders and plans toward a TDWG standard on data quality tests and assertions.

The distributed nature of data acquisition and digitization, the specific difficulties imposed by some of the data sub-domains, such as taxonomic data and geographic data, among other aspects, make it important to discuss DQ in biodiversity so that data made available in portals and other systems can be used for various purposes such as education, science, and decision-making. Although several initiatives in the Biodiversity Informatics community have been developing tools and best practices about DQ, there is no consensus related to concepts, metadata, policies, methodologies and tools about DQ. The size of DQ check pipelines has also posed challenges for existing methodologies and tools and may need to drive some of the discussion on concepts and policies.

A joint TDGW/GBIF Interest Group on DQ was proposed and approved in 2014. Subsequently three task groups were also created: TG1 – BDQ Framework, TG2 – BDQ Tools, services and workflows, and TG3 – BDQ Use cases. They tackle some of the most important issues identified by the attendants to the previous symposia, held at the TDWG meetings in Florence, Italy/2013, Jönköping, Sweden/2014 and Santa Clara de San Carlos, Costa Rica/2016.

The group has been able to meet between TDWG meetings to advance on its activities. In March, 2016, in São Paulo, Brazil, the IG and TGs conveners got together with members from two fitness-for-use groups supported by GBIF on species distribution modeling and agrobiodiversity, and have made good progress towards adopting a common conceptual basis and developing profiles for those two use cases. In October, 2016, in Melbourne, Australia, further advance was made focusing on another fitness-for-use group on alien and invasive species. Another meeting is scheduled to take place in Canberra, Australia, in May, 2017.

By the 2017 TDWG Meeting, in Ottawa, significant advances will have been made in all three Task Groups as well as in Vocabularies.

Organizers
avatar for Arthur D. Chapman

Arthur D. Chapman

Australian Biodiversity Information Services
Co-Convenor Data Quality Interest Group
AM

Antonio M. Saraiva

Universidade de São Paulo

Thursday October 5, 2017 16:00 - 17:30 EDT
Chaudiere

16:00 EDT

[W17 - Topic] The EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy, Current State and Envisaged Integration into the Biodiversity Informatics Infrastructure
Abstract

The EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy has been developed over the past years to support the full taxonomic workflow and to serve as an information broker for all types of biodiversity data. Though a focus has been set on taxon level data it covers all relevant data types from literature to DNA alignment . In the early phase focusing on core functionality it now aims for a deeper integration into existing biodiversity infrastructure landscape by making use of its service oriented architecture.

The workshop will present the current state of the Platform and intends to discuss new features to further integrate the Platform.

Organizers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
AG

Anton Güntsch

Freie Universität Berlin
AM

Andreas Müller

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Thursday October 5, 2017 16:00 - 17:30 EDT
Ballroom A

16:00 EDT

[W23 - Topic] Towards an Online Atlas of Phenology
Abstract

An on-line phenology atlas would be a platform for integrating phenology data from the many individual researchers, institutions, and citizen science programs that are willing to make their phenology records available. It would provide capabilities for analyzing and visualizing the data with a species-based, location-based, or phenophase-based focus. This workshop will explore possible visions for such an atlas, and possible steps for making it a reality. Goals of the workshop include:
  • A survey of existing initiatives aimed at standardizing and integrating phenology data.
  • Identifying barriers to standardization and integration.
  • Generating use cases.
  • Generating competency questions - i.e. What queries would we want an on-line atlas of phenology to support?
  • Identifying possibilities for future development.
Submissions are invited relating to any of the above. As well, the organizers plan a number of small experiments in phenological data integration prior to the workshop, so that discussion is informed by what’s currently easy, and what’s currently hard. If you would like to participate in these experiments (by contributing data, use cases, or technical capacity), please contact the organizers.

Organizers
avatar for Scott Chamberlain

Scott Chamberlain

rOpenSci, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
RG

Robert Guralnick

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America
ZP

Zoe Panchen

Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
JS

Joel Sachs

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada
PS

Pamela S. Soltis

University of Florida at Gainsville

Thursday October 5, 2017 16:00 - 17:30 EDT
Capitale

16:15 EDT

[W17] A Comprehensive and Standards-Aware Common Data Model (CDM) for Taxonomic Research
Abstract
The EDIT Common Data Model (CDM) (FUB, BGBM 2008) is the centrepiece of the EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy (FUB, BGBM 2011, Ciardelli et al. 2009). Building on modelling efforts reaching back to the 1990ies, it aims to combine existing standards relevant to the taxonomic domain (but often designed for data exchange) with requir ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20367

Speakers
AM

Andreas Müller

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany


Thursday October 5, 2017 16:15 - 16:30 EDT
Ballroom A

16:15 EDT

[W23] An Update on the Plant Phenology Ontology and Plant Phenology Data Integration
Abstract
The study of plant phenology is concerned with the timing of plant life-cycle events, such as leafing out, flowering, and fruiting. Today, thanks to data digitization and aggregation initiatives, phenology monitoring networks, and the efforts of citizen scientists, more phenologically relevant plant data is available than ever b ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20487

Speakers
BJ

Brian J. Stucky

Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America


Thursday October 5, 2017 16:15 - 16:30 EDT
Capitale

16:30 EDT

[W17] The CDM Applied: Handling of Names, Taxa and Concepts in a Conservation Context
Abstract
One of the major design features of the Common Data Model (CDM) is the ability to store and handle taxonomic concepts (a.k.a. “potential taxa” -Berendsohn 1995 , “taxonyme” - Koperski et al. 2000, "Assertions" - Pyle 2004, "taxonomic entities" -Kennedy et al. 2005 “taxon circumscriptions”, etc.). A major driver of the critical a ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20364

Speakers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany


Thursday October 5, 2017 16:30 - 16:45 EDT
Ballroom A

16:30 EDT

[W23] Documenting Reproductive Phenology using Herbarium Specimens: Experiences from the New England Vascular Plants Project
Abstract
Herbarium specimens and associated label data are valuable sources of phenological data. They can provide information about the phenological state of the specimen and information about how phenology varies in space and time. In an effort to leverage this tremendous phenological resource, the New England Vascular Plants project ( ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20430

Speakers
PW

Patrick W Sweeney

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, United States of America


Thursday October 5, 2017 16:30 - 16:45 EDT
Capitale

16:45 EDT

[W17] The CDM Applied: Unit-Derivation, from Field Observations to DNA Sequences
Abstract
Specimens form the falsifiable evidence used in plant systematics. Derivatives of specimens (including the specimen as the organism in the field) such as tissue and DNA samples play an increasing role in research. The EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy is a specialist’s tool that allows to document and sustainably store all data th ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20366

Speakers
AM

Andreas Müller

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany


Thursday October 5, 2017 16:45 - 17:00 EDT
Ballroom A

16:45 EDT

[W23] Panel Discussion
Organizers
avatar for Scott Chamberlain

Scott Chamberlain

rOpenSci, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
RG

Robert Guralnick

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America
ZP

Zoe Panchen

Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
JS

Joel Sachs

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, Canada
PS

Pamela S. Soltis

University of Florida at Gainsville

Thursday October 5, 2017 16:45 - 17:30 EDT
Capitale

17:00 EDT

[W17] EDIT Platform Web Services in the Biodiversity Infrastructure Landscape
Abstract
The EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy is a standards based suite of software components supporting the taxonomic research workflow from field work to publication in journals and dynamic web portals (FUB, BGBM 2011). The underlying Common Data Model (CDM) covers the main biodiversity informatics foci such as names, classifications, ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20363

Speakers
AK

Andreas Kohlbecker

Research Assistant, Biodiversity Informatics Projects, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany


Thursday October 5, 2017 17:00 - 17:15 EDT
Ballroom A

17:15 EDT

[W17] EDIT Platform Projects: What’s Next
Abstract
The EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy has come a long way towards providing a complete, standards-based and reliable set of tools and services supporting the taxonomic workflow (Ciardelli et al. 2009). The Platform is firmly grounded in the organisational structure of the BGBM, with several positions directly dedicated to maintena ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20365

Speakers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany


Thursday October 5, 2017 17:15 - 17:30 EDT
Ballroom A

17:45 EDT

[Social Event] Banquet
Starting 5:45 PM, buses depart every 20min until 7:00 PM beside the Delta Hotel on Albert St. Cocktails are served at 6:30 PM at the Museum, which is open to the public until 8:00 PM. Bring your conference badge. Starting 9:45 PM, buses depart every 20min until 11:00 PM for the return to the Delta Hotel via the ByWard Market for an optional hop-off.

 
Friday, October 6
 

08:30 EDT

Load Talks
Visit your presentation room at this time with your 16:9 PowerPoint talk loaded on a USB flash drive. Name your file room_day_time_name.pptx (e.g. Chaudiere_Monday_1415_Smith.pptx).

Friday October 6, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
N/A

08:30 EDT

Registration
Friday October 6, 2017 08:30 - 09:00 EDT
Victoria

09:00 EDT

[S20] Species Information pages, how are the data discovered, consolidated and presented.
Abstract
A number of different projects consolidate species information from widely disparate datasets and compile them into a single resource. These projects vary in several dimensions, including taxonomic coverage, depth of information and audience, such as humans or machines. Some focus on Life History information, others focus on obs ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20294

Speakers
JG

Jeff Gerbracht

Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, United States of America, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, United States of America


Friday October 6, 2017 09:00 - 09:15 EDT
Ballroom A

09:00 EDT

[W08] AnnoSys – an online tool for sharing annotations to enhance data quality
Abstract
AnnoSys is a web-based open-source information system that enables users to correct and enrich specimen data published in data portals, thus enhancing data quality and documenting research developments over time. This brings the traditional annotation workflows for specimens to the Internet, as annotations become visible to rese ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20315

Speakers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
OT

Okka Tschöpe

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM), Berlin, Germany


Friday October 6, 2017 09:00 - 09:15 EDT
Chaudiere

09:00 EDT

[S20 - Topic] Traits - Data models, sources, vocabulary, interoperability and their presentation and discoverability via species information pages
Abstract

With potentially 3-4 billion specimens globally, the world’s natural history collections offer treasure troves of relevant information. This is complemented by a long historic record of citizen science observations, and recently by molecular sampling. New contributions in both these areas are born digital and are accelerating the growth of contemporary biodiversity occurrence data. Meanwhile, efforts such as the NSF’s Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections Program are increasing the rate of digitization of specimen records, filling in our historic biodiversity record just as rapidly. Occurrence records typically contain locality information, and these georeferenced occurrences have revolutionized our ability to model species distributions and project future distributions based on models of climate change. These records may also contain information, such as body size, phenology, environment, that is relevant to ecological and evolutionary research. Even literature sources, where traits measured are not associated with deposited specimens, contain detailed metadata describing location, environment, lifestage and concurrently measured traits. Textual descriptions, from regional floras, catalogs, monographs and other literature, also contain extensive ecological information, suitable for extraction using semantic analysis. This deluge of data is not without its challenges. Among these is the need to develop ontologies, which are crucial for big data solutions, so that trait data can be extracted and assembled informatically. This requires the development of ontologies, which are crucial for big data solutions.

There is an array of existing ontologies in the biodiversity space, many maintained by active communities like the OBO Foundry. Gaps remain in even the most mature ontologies, but as term adoption by outside projects increases, and new tools developed for terms nomination and other community curation activity, it becomes more practical to develop robust structured vocabulary coverage for the biodiversity space.

There is increasing convergence around traits of urgent concern for conservation and applied research. The Essential Biodiversity Variables, identified by GEO BON as essential for monitoring biodiversity change, highlight key traits needed for this stewardship.

In this symposium, we will explore the breadth of sources of biodiversity trait data, and techniques and consensus needed to support analysis over these diverse sources. With over 780 million occurrence records now available via iDigBio and GBIF, and many millions more appearing every year, now is the perfect time to consider which traits are most significant for ecological and evolutionary research, the ontologies required for meaningful communication and data assembly, and the tools needed for ensuring interoperability of these data.

Organizers
JG

Jeff Gerbracht

Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, United States of America, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, United States of America
RG

Robert Guralnick

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America
JH

Jennifer Hammock

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America
avatar for Deborah Paul

Deborah Paul

Florida State University
PS

Pamela S. Soltis

University of Florida at Gainsville

Friday October 6, 2017 09:00 - 10:30 EDT
Ballroom A

09:00 EDT

[W08 - Topic] Biodiversity data annotations – state of the play and perspectives
Abstract

With the growing number of digitised specimen metadata and images on the world wide web, on-line annotation systems for correcting or enriching label information become increasingly important. The annotation system AnnoSys is one of the systems that provide functional infrastructure for annotating collection information as well as web service interfaces for searching existing annotations and their integration into research workflows. The recent stable release of AnnoSys has been integrated with the GBIF data portal, the World Flora Online Specimen Explorer, the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN) and others and stores all annotations conforming with the W3C Open Annotation Data Model in a centralised RDF repository together with the original specimen data.

The workshop focusses on practical demonstration of available annotation systems and their integration into the international biodiversity informatics landscape. We will discuss potential new features and future developments with a focus on semantic interoperability and synchronisation or aggregation mechanisms for distributed annotation repositories.

Organizers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
AG

Anton Güntsch

Freie Universität Berlin
LS

Lutz Suhrbier

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, FU Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanischen Museum
OT

Okka Tschöpe

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM), Berlin, Germany

Friday October 6, 2017 09:00 - 10:30 EDT
Chaudiere

09:00 EDT

[W14 - Topic] Standards for Citizen Science Biodiversity Studies
Abstract

The TDWG Citizen Science Interest Group was chartered at the beginning of 2017. This workshop represents the first time the group can meet together and discuss community development and standards needs. Topics will include policies and standards for common name, symbols for non literate observers and data quality. An important aspect of the meeting will be to establish links to other TDWG working groups and to learn about efforts by groups outside the TDWG organization such as the Citizen Science Association Meta Data working group, the European Citizen Science Association, CoData, RDA Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, and the Camera Trap Federated Minimum Data Standard about their efforts to draft standards. The PPSR_CORE meta standard has been defined. We will review this standard and its implementation.

Organizers
Friday October 6, 2017 09:00 - 10:30 EDT
Capitale

09:15 EDT

[S20] Building semantics in the domain of trait data: an OBO Library approach
Abstract
As the volume and diversity of digitised trait data grows with ever-increasing speed, there is a clear need to capture the knowledge which contextualises it. Many researchers are addressing similar challenges by using ontology-based approaches to represent knowledge and use it to better structure data across resources, however, ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20293

Speakers
avatar for Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Pier Luigi Buttigieg

Digital Knowledge Steward / Senior Data Scientist, Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration / GEOMAR Helmholtz Institute for Ocean Research
I research and develop advanced, operational-grade, and internationally adopted knowledge representation (KR) technologies for ecology, planetary science, and Sustainable Development. I apply these solutions in mobilising and analysing complex and high-dimensional data sets, while... Read More →


Friday October 6, 2017 09:15 - 09:30 EDT
Ballroom A

09:15 EDT

[W08] Annosys – hands on session
Organizers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
AG

Anton Güntsch

Freie Universität Berlin
LS

Lutz Suhrbier

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, FU Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanischen Museum
OT

Okka Tschöpe

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM), Berlin, Germany

Friday October 6, 2017 09:15 - 10:00 EDT
Chaudiere

09:30 EDT

[S20] Traits in a graph
Abstract
Biodiversity data are well-indexed by taxonomic names. While names reconciliation remains a challenge, there has been tremendous progress in recent years, and integration with available phylogenetic information can support sophisticated analyses for evolutionary questions. However, organisms are also linked to each other by rela ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20289

Speakers
JH

Jennifer Hammock

Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States of America


Friday October 6, 2017 09:30 - 09:45 EDT
Ballroom A

09:45 EDT

[S20] VicFlora: a dynamic, service-based Flora
Abstract
VicFlora (https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au), launched in September 2016, combines the Flora of Victoria and the Census of Vascular Plants of Victoria. VicFlora is used by government agencies, conservation agencies and consultancies: analytics indicate that on weekdays VicFlora is used by between 200 and 250 people. Content of Vic ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20525

Speakers
NK

Niels Klazenga

Biodiversity Informatics Developer, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria


Friday October 6, 2017 09:45 - 10:00 EDT
Ballroom A

10:00 EDT

[S20] Documenting Marine Species Traits in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS): Current status, Future Plans and Encountered Challenges
Abstract
The importance of describing species patterns and the underlying processes explaining these patterns is essential to assess the status and future evolution of marine ecosystems. This requires biological information on functional and structural species traits such as feeding ecology, body size, reproduction, life history, etc. To ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20337

Speakers
LV

Leen Vandepitte

Flanders Marine Institute/Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ), Oostende, Belgium


Friday October 6, 2017 10:00 - 10:15 EDT
Ballroom A

10:00 EDT

[W08] Integrating AnnoSys into your specimen data portal
Abstract
Access to AnnoSys from your portal makes it possible to (1) annotate and to (2) show existing annotations for specimen data records. To this end, weblinks from the page displaying the individual specimen record to AnnoSys are incorporated into your website. In the current (XML-based) system, the portal should provide a link call ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20313

Speakers
LS

Lutz Suhrbier

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, FU Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanischen Museum


Friday October 6, 2017 10:00 - 10:15 EDT
Chaudiere

10:15 EDT

[S20] Traits as Essential Biodiversity Variables
Abstract
Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) are harmonized biodiversity variables and their asssociated measurements needed for developing indicators of global biodiversity change. EBVs can serve the important purpose of aligning biodiversity monitoring efforts, much as Essential Climatic Variables (ECVs) help align allied efforts i ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20295

Speakers
RG

Robert Guralnick

Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, United States of America


Friday October 6, 2017 10:15 - 10:30 EDT
Ballroom A

10:15 EDT

[W08] Panel Discussion
Organizers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
AG

Anton Güntsch

Freie Universität Berlin
LS

Lutz Suhrbier

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, FU Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanischen Museum
OT

Okka Tschöpe

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM), Berlin, Germany

Friday October 6, 2017 10:15 - 10:30 EDT
Chaudiere

10:30 EDT

Break
Friday October 6, 2017 10:30 - 11:00 EDT
Ballroom B

11:00 EDT

[Contributed] Setup of BIOfid, a new Specialised Information Service for Biodiversity Research
Abstract
In order to promote the accessibility of biodiversity data in historic and contemporary literature, we introduce a new interdisciplinary project called BIOfid (FID=Fachinformationsdienst, a service for providing specialized information). The project aims at a mobilization of data available in print only by combining digitization ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19803

Speakers
MK

Markus Koch

Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Dept. Information Technology and Biodiversity Informatics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany


Friday October 6, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[W08] Semantic Annotations of Text and Images in Morph∙D∙Base
Abstract
Creating an application for recording and documenting morphological data in a semantically transparent and reproducible way used to be a challenging task due to the heterogeneous nature of data within this domain. To provide a system for morphologists and taxonomists to work with their research data, collaborate and publish it, ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.14778

Speakers
CK

Christian Köhler

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität


Friday October 6, 2017 11:00 - 11:15 EDT
Chaudiere

11:00 EDT

[Contributed - Topic] Topics in Taxonomy and Ontologies
Organizers
avatar for David Shorthouse

David Shorthouse

Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada

Friday October 6, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:00 EDT

[Interest Group] Natural Collections Description Meeting
Abstract
The Collections Description Interest Group is dedicated to developing and supporting the Natural Collections Description (NCD) data standard for describing entire collections of natural history materials. Examples include collections of specimens, observation data, original artwork, photographs, and materials from the many voyag ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20322

Organizers
avatar for Deborah Paul

Deborah Paul

Florida State University
AT

Alexander Thompson

iDigBio, Gainesville, United States of America

Friday October 6, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Capitale

11:00 EDT

[W08 - Topic] Biodiversity data annotations – state of the play and perspectives
Abstract

With the growing number of digitised specimen metadata and images on the world wide web, on-line annotation systems for correcting or enriching label information become increasingly important. The annotation system AnnoSys is one of the systems that provide functional infrastructure for annotating collection information as well as web service interfaces for searching existing annotations and their integration into research workflows. The recent stable release of AnnoSys has been integrated with the GBIF data portal, the World Flora Online Specimen Explorer, the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN) and others and stores all annotations conforming with the W3C Open Annotation Data Model in a centralised RDF repository together with the original specimen data.

The workshop focusses on practical demonstration of available annotation systems and their integration into the international biodiversity informatics landscape. We will discuss potential new features and future developments with a focus on semantic interoperability and synchronisation or aggregation mechanisms for distributed annotation repositories.

Organizers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
AG

Anton Güntsch

Freie Universität Berlin
LS

Lutz Suhrbier

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, FU Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanischen Museum
OT

Okka Tschöpe

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM), Berlin, Germany

Friday October 6, 2017 11:00 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:15 EDT

[Contributed] SOCCOMAS: A Self-Describing and Content-Independent Application for Semantic Ontology-Controlled Web-Content-Management-Systems
Abstract
Ontologies are usually utilized for representing knowledge. Here, we extend this use and demonstrate that ontologies also can be used for describing and controlling semantic Web-Content-Management-Systems (WCMS). We call the resulting application SOCCOMAS: a self-describing and content-independent application for semantic ontolo ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20033

Speakers
SM

Sandra Meid

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany
LV

Lars Vogt

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany


Friday October 6, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Ballroom A

11:15 EDT

[W08] Annotating out the Way to the Linked Biodiversity Data Web
Abstract
Image annotation is a common approach for biodiversity detection by labeling features of interest from images. However, annotation tools and data structures are usually developed and combined as platform for specific purposes. It makes tools hard to be adopted by different domains and hinders the interoperability of potentially ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20270


Friday October 6, 2017 11:15 - 11:30 EDT
Chaudiere

11:30 EDT

[Contributed] OntoPilot: New Software to Simplify and Accelerate Ontology Development and Deployment
Abstract
Ontologies (formal descriptions of the concepts and relationships that can exist in knowledge domains) provide the conceptual foundations for modern knowledge representation systems and knowledge bases, and they are a core component of automated reasoning pipelines that infer new facts from existing data. Although a variety of s ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20192

Speakers
BJ

Brian J. Stucky

Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America


Friday October 6, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Ballroom A

11:30 EDT

[W08] AnnoSys - future developments
Abstract
AnnoSys (Tschöpe et al. 2013, Suhrbier et al. 2017) is a web-based open-source system for correcting and enriching biodiversity data in publicly available data portals. Users are enabled to annotate specimen data, and these annotations become visible to researchers who subsequently observe the annotated specimen. The AnnoSys sea ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20317

Speakers
LS

Lutz Suhrbier

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, FU Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanischen Museum


Friday October 6, 2017 11:30 - 11:45 EDT
Chaudiere

11:45 EDT

[Contributed] The Taxonomic and Biodiversity Software Stack in R
Abstract
High quality R software for taxonomy and biodiversity occurrence data are important, both because there are a large number of biologists who use R, and because R allows reproducible and open science. I will do an overview of the software that our non-profit organization rOpenSci (https://ropensci.org) produces for both taxonomy ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20219

Speakers
avatar for Scott Chamberlain

Scott Chamberlain

rOpenSci, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America


Friday October 6, 2017 11:45 - 12:00 EDT
Ballroom A

11:45 EDT

[W08] Panel Discussion
Organizers
WG

Walter G. Berendsohn

Freie Universitaet Berlin, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
AG

Anton Güntsch

Freie Universität Berlin
LS

Lutz Suhrbier

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, FU Berlin, Botanischer Garten und Botanischen Museum
OT

Okka Tschöpe

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM), Berlin, Germany

Friday October 6, 2017 11:45 - 12:30 EDT
Chaudiere

12:00 EDT

[Contributed] Building a Taxonomic Data Editor: ITIS Taxonomic Workbench 6.0
Abstract
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS - www.itis.gov) provides a regularly updated global database that currently contains over 840,000 scientific names and their hierarchy. A new rich Internet application for adding and editing ITIS data, Taxonomic Workbench 6.0, is being developed using the AngularJS framework. Ang ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.19965

Speakers
avatar for David Mitchell

David Mitchell

Data Development Specialist, Integrated Taxonomic Information System, Washington, United States of America, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, United St


Friday October 6, 2017 12:00 - 12:15 EDT
Ballroom A

12:15 EDT

[Contributed] Catalogue of Life, China and Taxonomic Tree Tool
Abstract
Since 2008, the Species 2000 China Node, with the support of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Biodiversity Committee, has organized scientists to compile and release the Catalogue of Life, China (CoL China) each year. It follows the Standard Data Set of Species 2000’s global Catalogue of Life to collect and release Chinese speci ... https://doi.org/10.3897/tdwgproceedings.1.20394

Speakers
LJ

Liqiang Ji

Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences


Friday October 6, 2017 12:15 - 12:30 EDT
Ballroom A

12:30 EDT

Lunch provided
Friday October 6, 2017 12:30 - 14:00 EDT
Ballroom C

12:30 EDT

Poster take-down
Friday October 6, 2017 12:30 - 14:00 EDT
Ballroom B

14:00 EDT

Business Meeting: Reports from Treasurer, Interest and Task Groups; Preview of TDWG2018; Closing Remarks
Speakers
avatar for Dimitris Koureas

Dimitris Koureas

Director, International Biodiversity Infrastructures, Naturalis Biodiversity Center | Distributed System of Scientific Collections - DiSSCo
Chair, TDWGCoordinator, DiSSCoTechnical Advisory Board member, RDACoordinator, Distributed System of Scientific Collections - DiSSCoco-Chair, RDA BDI IG, DCF IG & ASDOC WG
avatar for William Ulate

William Ulate

Sr. Project Manager, Missouri Botanical Garden
Currently working at the Center for Biodiversity Informatics, Missouri Botanical Garden. William does research in Semantics, Systematics (Taxonomy) and Data Mining. Their current project is 'World Flora Online'.


Friday October 6, 2017 14:00 - 15:30 EDT
Ballroom A
 
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