USGS Scientist to participate in 26th Session of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Assembly

On June 28, Mark Fornwall, Manager USGS OBIS-USA, will participate as a member of the U.S. delegation to the Twenty-sixth Session of Assembly of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). As chair of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) ad hoc Steering Group, he is needed to participate in consideration of the Group’s recommendations adopted this past March to integrate the OBIS project office within the IOC’s International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) program. Dr. Fornwall manages OBIS-USA, the US component to the international OBIS effort. OBIS serves as the global focal point for the management and integration of marine biogeographic. The OBIS data schema (extension of Darwin Core) is an international standard for sharing and integrating marine biological data (e.g. presence-absence-abundance). OBIS-USA and partners are building a national data resource that will help to address important ocean science and societal issues (climate change, minerals and energy, ecosystems, hazards, health, coastal marine spatial planning are a few examples). USGS; Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE); U.S. Navy; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and National Science Foundation (NSF) are key contributors and have supported the program with both data and funding.

Pacific Biodiversity Infromation Forum (PBIF) Pacific Islands Roundtable

The Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas met in Apia, Samoa, this past summer. A key topic for the meeting was the monitoring and reporting of conservation efforts in the Pacific. PBIF currently chairs the monitoring working group. PBIF also supports the monitoring effort by providing online access to the reporting form(s) and maintaining the database for review and analysis. The Roundtable reviewed the results and supports the nascent reporting program.

(Photo: Lobelias in the understory of a native Hawaiian wet forest, Puu Kukui, Maui. Image: Elizabeth Speith (Public Domain))

Metadata Training To Be Offered in Alaska

On January 21, 2011, the USGS Core Science Systems Biological Informatics Program will offer two Introduction to Metadata workshops in Anchorage, AK, in conjunction with the Alaska Marine Science Symposium. This training is critical for scientists to be able to properly document datasets using approved federal standards so that data can be discovered and reused by other scientists. Metadata records can be accessed through the USGS National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Metadata Clearinghouse.  (For more information, send an email to Viv Hutchison, USGS, Denver, CO)

(Photo: Black-footed ferret. Photo credit: Paul Marinari.)

Bird Monitoring Data Management Paper Published

A paper summarizing results from a bird monitoring data management session led by Bird Conservation Node Manager Elizabeth Martín at the 2008 Fourth International Partners in Flight Conference is now published and available online as part of the Partners in Flight Conference Proceedings. The paper titled “Gathering, Organizing, and Accessing Data for Use in Bird Conservation across the Americas” can be accessed here; it was authored by Ms. Martín and NBII partners’ staff Bruce Peterjohn (USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center) and Steve Kelling (Cornell Lab of Ornithology). This paper and session, which identified data management needs for bird monitoring data in North America and provided recommendations for addressing those needs, served as an initial step for some of the bird monitoring data management activities now being undertaken by the U.S. Monitoring Subcommittee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI).

NBII Represented at National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) Eastern Regional Workshop

Northeast Information Node (NIN) manager Marcia McNiff and Biological Information Specialist Bernadette LeMasters represented the NBII at the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) Eastern Regional Workshop held at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center May 6-7. During the breakout sessions, they participated in the Northeast and Southeast discussions respectively, and had the opportunity to meet with colleagues from a number of organizations located across the Eastern part of the country. Regional Workshops for the Central and Western regions were held in June.

Summaries from the three regional workshops are available on the Center’s Web site:

NCCWSC Eastern Workshop Summary (PDF, 28 KB)

NCCWSC Western Workshop Summary (PDF, 28 KB)

NCCWSC Centeral Workshop Summary (PDF, 28 KB)

(photo by John Mossesso)

NBII and GBIF booth at ESA Conference 2009 in Albuquerque, New Mexico

The USGS National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) will have a joint booth in the exhibits hall. The USGS-NBII is the U.S. national node of GBIF. You are especially invited to come and learn how to install and use the new GBIF Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT), for enabling access to, sharing, and integration of your specimen and observation records with those of the international community.

The Ecological Society of America 94th Annual Meeting will be held August 2-7, 2009 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Visit the ESA website for more information and registration.

On Friday, August 7, 2009 from 8:00 AM-11:30 AM in the Brazos, Albuquerque Convention Center, Annie Simpson from the US Geological Survey will be leading the session on Standards, Protocols, and Tools for Sharing Ecological Information: Data Interoperability on a Global Scale (session OOS 49). Liz Sellers will be facilitator for this oral session. Other USGS representation will include Annette Olson, Viv Hutchison, and Lisa Zolly. For more details, visit the OOS 49 session page of the ESA website.

Organizer: Annie Simpson, US Geological Survey
Co-organizers: Elizabeth Sellers, National Biological Information Infrastructure, and Viv Hutchison, US Geological Survey