e-Biosphere 09 Conference Website

Scientific Programme

Monday, 1 June 2009
0900 - 0910 Opening
0910 - 0915 Introduction
0915 - 0930 Welcome
Session 1: Impact and Integration of Biodiversity Informatics
0930 - 1030 Two plenary keynote speakers will provide overviews of the impact that Biodiversity Informatics is having on research and societal applications, and the importance of building globally integrated capabilities for biodiversity information.
0930 - 1000 Cristián Samper, Director, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
1000 - 1030 Sandra Knapp, The Natural History Museum (London)
1030 - 1100 Break
Session 2: The Major Initiatives
1100 - 1300 Six members of a discussion panel will give very brief presentations on some of thelargest and most important initiatives in Biodiversity Informatics. These introductory remarks will be followed by a full-panel discussion and interactions with the audience.
  • Dave Roberts, European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT)
  • Joanne Daly, Atlas of Living Australia (ALA)
  • Nick King, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
  • Karen Wilson, Catalogue of Life
  • David Patterson, Encyclopedia of Life
  • Robert Hanner, University of Guelph
1300 - 1430 Lunch
Session 3: The e-Biosphere 09 Street Fair
1430 - 1600 Conference participants will have several hours to visit the e-Biosphere 09 "Street Fair". They are invited to view poster presentations, see demonstrations of biodiversity databases and software, and visit commercial exhibits.
1600 - 1630 Break
Session 4: Looking to the Future
1630 - 1730 Two plenary keynote speakers will offer their views of the future directions, opportunities, and challenges for Biodiversity Informatics, including the need to bridge the ‘Digital Divide’.
1630 - 1700 Townsend Peterson, Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas
1700 - 1730 Stella Simiyu, SCBD/BGCI Programme Officer, Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, IUCN ESARO Offie, Nairobi, Kenya
1730 - 1900 Reception

 

Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Session 5: Biodiversity Informatics at Work
0900 - 1000 Three plenary speakers will show how advances in informatics now make it possible to bring together information about biodiversity from a wealth of online databases and both historical and current literature. These approaches allow information to be recombined and used in support of research and planning in ways that may not have been foreseen by those who first produced it.
0900 - 0915 Roger Hyam, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
0915 - 0930 Richard Pyle, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI
0930 - 0945 Nico Cellinese, University of Florida, Gainesville
0945 - 1000 Audience/ Speaker discussion
1000 - 1030 Break
Session 6: Cultural Challenges and Changes
1030 - 1230 Six members of a discussion panel will present their views on how the growth of Biodiversity Informatics is changing community policies and practices in areas such as data sharing, intellectual property rights, and open access publication. These introductory presentations will be followed by discussion among panelists and with the audience.
  • Donat Agosti, American Museum of Natural History
  • Vishwas Chavan, Global Biodiversity Information Facility
  • Cynthia Par, Encyclopedia of Life
  • John Wieczorek, University of California, Berkeley
  • Erick Mata, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
1230 - 1400 Lunch
Session 7: Planning Ahead I: Setting the Stage
1400 - 1500 This session begins the second half of the International Conference, in which participants will play the major role by contributing their ideas for the future development of Biodiversity Informatics. Three plenary speakers will set the stage for the second half of the Conference by framing the major challenges ahead, such as:
  • What technical and cultural challenges will we face in creating a seamless global web of biodiversity information?
  • What capabilities will users want from Biodiversity Informatics in the next 5-10 years?
  • How can we ensure global participation in and access to Biodiversity Informatics?
1400 - 1420 Jorge Soberón, Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas
1420 - 1440 Nancy Knowlton, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
1440 - 1500 Robert Scholes, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa
1500 - 1530 Break
Session 8: Planning Ahead II: Setting the Stage
1530 - 1730 The Conference organizers propose the following preliminary list of topics for separate break-out discussions relating to the future of Biodiversity Informatics.
 
  • Developing world
  • Conservation and land use
  • Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and economic development
  • Public Health
  • Ecology and ecosystems, environmental sustainability, and climate change
  • Taxonomic groups
  • Uses in public, K-12, and higher education
  • Basic biodiversity science research
  • Training in Biodiversity Informatics
  • Citizen Science
1730 - 1900 Breakout Session conveners and rapporteurs meet to collate results and plan for presentations on Day 3
1930 - 2130 Conference Dinner at the Natural History Museum

 

Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Session 9 Planning Ahead III: Results of Break-Out Discussions
0900 - 1030 The rapporteurs of the break-out discussions will present the findings and recommendations of Session 8.
1030 - 1100 Break
Session 10 Planning Ahead IV: The User's Perspective
1100 - 1200 A small discussion panel will react to the results of the break-out discussions from the perspective of potential users of Biodiversity Informatics, and will engage the audience in a discussion of future needs.
Session 11 Summing Up
1200 - 1300 This final plenary session will bring together the recommendations of the Conference participants for the future of Biodiversity Informatics. These recommendations will provide critical input to the Planning Meeting that will follow the International Conference.
1300 - 1400 Lunch
Session 12 Street Fair (continued) and Side Events
1400 - 1700

Participants will have the final afternoon of the Conference to re-visit the posters, computer demonstrations, and exhibits of the e-Biosphere 09 Street Fair. The Conference organizers will also work with groups that wish to hold side-events during this session.