Plenary Sessions
During the week of 1 June 2009, leaders in biodiversity informatics gathered to discuss the capabilities and achievements in the field, along with the challenges and approaches for the next ten years of research.
| Monday, 1 June 2009 | |
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| 0900 - 0915 | Norman MacLeod, Natural History Museum London Welcome Address  |
| 0915 - 0920 | Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary, CBD Opening Address |
| Session 1: | Impact and Integration of Biodiversity Informatics |
| 0930 - 1030 | Two plenary keynote speakers provided 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 Bioinformatics for a Sustainable World |
| 1000 - 1030 | Sandra Knapp, The Natural History Museum (London) Why Go Global? |
| 1030 - 1100 | Break |
| Session 2: | The Major Initiatives |
| 1100 - 1300 | Seven members of a discussion panel gave very brief presentations on some of the largest and most important initiatives in Biodiversity Informatics. Their introductory remarks were followed by a full-panel discussion and interactions with the audience.
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| 1300 - 1430 | Lunch |
| Session 3: | The e-Biosphere 09 Street Fair |
| 1430 - 1600 | Conference participants spent several hours visiting the e-Biosphere 09 "Street Fair": 180 poster presentations, 49 exhibits and demonstration booths with biodiversity databases and software. |
| 1600 - 1630 | Break |
| Session 4: | Looking to the Future |
| 1630 - 1730 | Two plenary keynote speakers offered 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 Biodiversity Informatics: Future Directions, Opportunities, and Challenges |
| 1700 - 1730 | Stella Simiyu, SCBD/BGCI Programme Officer, Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, IUCN ESARO Offie, Nairobi, Kenya Addressing the Digital Divide |
| 1730 - 1900 | Evening Reception at Natural History Museum |
| Tuesday, 2 June 2009 | ||
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| Session 5: | Biodiversity Informatics at Work | |
| 0900 - 1000 | Three plenary speakers showed 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. | |
| 0900 - 0915 | Roger Hyam, TDWG (Biodiversity Information Standards) Why you should care about data standards |
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| 0915 - 0930 | Richard Pyle, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI Taxonomy Comes of Technological Age |
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| 0930 - 0945 | Nico Cellinese, University of Florida, Gainesville A biodiversity bank bailout: Recognizing the value of our investment |
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| 0945 - 1000 | Audience/ Speaker discussion |
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| 1000 - 1030 | Break | |
| Session 6: | Cultural Challenges and Changes | |
| 1030 - 1230 | Six members of a discussion panel presented 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 were followed by discussion among panelists and with the audience.
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| 1230 - 1400 | Lunch | |
| Session 7: | Planning Ahead I: Setting the Stage |
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| 1400 - 1500 | This session began the second half of the International Conference, in which participants played the major role by contributing their ideas for the future development of Biodiversity Informatics. Three plenary speakers set the stage for the second half of the Conference by framing the major challenges ahead, such as: | |
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| 1400 - 1420 | Jorge Soberón, Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas Whither is Fled the Visionary Gleam? |
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| 1420 - 1440 | Nancy Knowlton, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC Ocean Biogenomics: Analyzing and Tracking Biodiversity without Names |
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| 1440 - 1500 | Robert Scholes, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa The co-evolution of user needs and observation system technology |
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| 1500 - 1530 | Break | |
| Session 8: | Planning Ahead II: Setting the Stage | |
| 1530 - 1730 | Participants divided into the ten break-out discussion groups listed below. Discussions were devoted to creating their vision for the future of Biodiversity Informatics. For results of these discussions, click here. |
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| 1730 | Adjournment | |
| Wednesday, 3 June 2009 |
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| Session 9 | Planning Ahead III: Results of Break-Out Discussions | |
| 0900 - 1030 | The rapporteurs of the break-out discussions presented the findings and recommendations of Session 8. | |
| 1030 - 1100 | Break | |
| Session 10 | Planning Ahead IV: The User's Perspective | |
| 1100 - 1200 | Four members of the discussion panel reacted to the results of the break-out discussions from the perspective of potential users of Biodiversity Informatics, and engaged the audience in a discussion of future needs.
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| Session 11 | Summing Up | |
| 1200 - 1300 | This final plenary session brought together the views of the Conference participants for the future of Biodiversity Informatics. These views provided critical input to the Planning Meeting that followed the International Conference.
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| Session 12 | Street Fair (continued) and Side Events | |
| 1300 - 1430 | Participants had their final opportunity to re-visit the computer demonstrations and exhibits of the e-Biosphere 09 Street Fair. | |
| 1400 - 1700 | The JRS Biodiversity Foundation hosted a side-event in the Guild Room. | |
| 1800 | Conference closed. | |
