PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 4:38 PM by Tevita

Australian wins prestigious prize in biodiversity informatics

From: Eurekalert (Courtesy of Luigi)

The 2007 Ebbe Nielsen Prize has been awarded to Paul Flemons of the Australian Museum, Sydney. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) established the Prize in honor of Dr. Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen, who was an inspirational leader in the fields of biosystematics and biodiversity informatics. This is the only Prize in the world that is given in the area of biodiversity informatics.

The yearly award of €30,000 recognizes a researcher who is combining biosystematics and biodiversity informatics research in an exciting and novel way. Speaking about the Prize when he was notified, Flemons said "I am honoured by the award. GBIF is making a significant contribution to biodiversity informatics."

Paul Flemons applies computer-based ecological modeling to help identify places where lots of species occur together, or species that occur only in very restricted geographical areas. This helps biodiversity scientists be more efficient in their efforts to discover and conserve species.

The GBIF Science Committee noted when it announced the 2007 Prizewinner, “Paul Flemons has been a key figure in developing a robust and accessible biodiversity data infrastructure that supports visualization and analysis for use in conservation planning and natural resource decision-making."

Further, the Committee said, "As a software developer, Flemons is particularly attuned to user needs. His work includes innovations that similar developments lack, and he has a rare mix of skill sets." The Prize winner also works on making desktop software tools into web-based tools that can be shared across the Internet. Sharing analytical software in this way promotes collaboration and cooperation among scientists and between scientists and policy-making agencies.

Flemons understands the importance of the interplay between natural history collections data, visualization and analysis tools, and conservation decision-making. He has published in top-tier scientific journals, but at the same time he builds software applications that are intuitive and maximize the user experience for both scientists and non-scientists.

Flemons' Prize will go toward engaging a broader community in the establishment of standards for data and metadata that arise from biodiversity collection and monitoring, and in furthering his work in building tools for online biodiversity analysis. He said " I look forward to using the Prize to broaden GBIF's range of data contributors to include industry and natural resource management agencies, and in further developing its contribution to biodiversity conservation planning.”

###

The Prize will be awarded on Wednesday, 17 October 2007, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where Flemons will make a presentation about his work.



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DIVA-GIS	Monday, June 18, 2007 Posted 4:38 PM by Tevita Australian wins prestigious prize in biodiversity informatics From: Eurekalert (Courtesy of Luigi) The 2007 Ebbe Nielsen Prize has been awarded to Paul Flemons of the Australian Museum, Sydney. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) established the Prize in honor of Dr. Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen, who was an inspirational leader in the fields of biosystematics and biodiversity informatics. This is the only Prize in the world that is given in the area of biodiversity informatics. The yearly award of €30,000 recognizes a researcher who is combining biosystematics and biodiversity informatics research in an exciting and novel way. Speaking about the Prize when he was notified, Flemons said "I am honoured by the award. GBIF is making a significant contribution to biodiversity informatics." Paul Flemons applies computer-based ecological modeling to help identify places where lots of species occur together, or species that occur only in very restricted geographical areas. This helps biodiversity scientists be more efficient in their efforts to discover and conserve species. The GBIF Science Committee noted when it announced the 2007 Prizewinner, “Paul Flemons has been a key figure in developing a robust and accessible biodiversity data infrastructure that supports visualization and analysis for use in conservation planning and natural resource decision-making." Further, the Committee said, "As a software developer, Flemons is particularly attuned to user needs. His work includes innovations that similar developments lack, and he has a rare mix of skill sets." The Prize winner also works on making desktop software tools into web-based tools that can be shared across the Internet. Sharing analytical software in this way promotes collaboration and cooperation among scientists and between scientists and policy-making agencies. Flemons understands the importance of the interplay between natural history collections data, visualization and analysis tools, and conservation decision-making. He has published in top-tier scientific journals, but at the same time he builds software applications that are intuitive and maximize the user experience for both scientists and non-scientists. Flemons' Prize will go toward engaging a broader community in the establishment of standards for data and metadata that arise from biodiversity collection and monitoring, and in furthering his work in building tools for online biodiversity analysis. He said " I look forward to using the Prize to broaden GBIF's range of data contributors to include industry and natural resource management agencies, and in further developing its contribution to biodiversity conservation planning.” ### The Prize will be awarded on Wednesday, 17 October 2007, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where Flemons will make a presentation about his work. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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