e-Biosphere 09 Conference Website

Welcome

Dear Colleagues,

During the week of 1 June 2009, e-Biosphere 09, an international conference devoted to Biodiversity Informatics, will be held in London. Biodiversity Informatics brings information science and technologies to bear on the data and information generated by the study of organisms, their genes, and their interactions. This field has undergone explosive growth in the last decade, creating unprecedented access to information on biological species and their role in nature.  The goals of the conference will be to:

• Present and discuss the extraordinary progress made in Biodiversity Informatics over the past decade,
• Provide participants with demonstrations of current capabilities in this field, and
• Bring stakeholders together to create a roadmap for the next decade.

Please join The Encyclopedia of Life, The Natural History Museum (London), and other co-sponsors* to celebrate the many successes of this rapidly expanding field and explore the challenges that lie ahead.  

This Second Conference Announcement provides an overview of the week of events, a preliminary programme, and the timeline for future announcements and deadlines.  Please note several ‘Calls for Participation’  in the document that invite you to: become a conference co-sponsor; propose and lead breakout discussions; present posters, software demonstrations and exhibits; and hold side-events.  The official conference website (http://www.e-biosphere09.org) will provide you with up-to-date information as the conference approaches.  This website will enable you to register for the conference, submit a poster abstract, get information about hotel rooms, and get information for travelers according to the schedule listed below.  The organizers will also be providing travel support, on a competitive basis, to a limited number of students and participants from developing countries.  Eligible participants will be able to submit requests for travel support through the conference website.

We look forward to seeing you all in London in June 2009. Don’t hesitate to contact us at inquiries.e-biosphere09@si.edu.

Best regards,

 * e-Biosphere 09 is hosted by The Natural History Museum London (NHM) and is co-sponsored by: Encyclopedia of Life (EOL); Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL); Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF); JRS Biodiversity Foundation; Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS); European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT); Darwin200; LifeWatch; BioNET-INTERNATIONAL; Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN); Atlas of Living Australia (ALA); and the Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure (PESI).