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Malawi joins GBIF network as Associate Participant

Publicerat av GBIF.org --

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Malawi has signed the GBIF Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) making the African nation the eighteenth member of GBIF’s African region and the 92nd Participant of the GBIF network.

“Joining GBIF will help Malawi gathering biodiversity data relevant for policy makers,” says Lyson Kampira of the National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST) and the GBIF Node Manager in Malawi. “We expect that, by taking part in the GBIF network, we can mobilize more data and information for Malawi’s commitments to intergovernmental processes like the CBD and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services."

According to its 2014 report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Malawi’s richest concentrations of species occur in Lake Malawi, the Nyika plateau’s evergreen forest and high-altitude grasslands, and the forests of Mulanje Mountain. Aquatic habitats cover nearly 20 per cent of the country’s surface area, supporting more than 850 fish species, accounting for 15 per cent of the world’s known freshwater fish. Lake Malawi alone is home to more than 800 of these—nearly all of them Cichlid species occurring nowhere else in the world—making it a globally important location for fish diversity.

As of February 2015, GBIF.org provides access to 249 datasets containing 110,545 records of species occurrences in Malawi drawn from publishers in 23 other countries.

 

Photo: Mount Mulanje, Malawi. By David Davies. CC BY-SA 2.0

Senior Lecturer in Environmental Sciences with focus on ecosystem based environmental risk- and impact assessment

Publicerat av GBIF-Sweden --

Type of employment
Permanent post
Extent
100 %
Location
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Gothenburg
First day of employment
According to agreement
Reference number
PER 2014/491

Subject area

Environmental Sciences with focus on ecosystem based environmental risk- and impact assessment

Specific subject description

At the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences (BioEnv) we have teaching and research activities that stretch from the alpine ecosystem, through forests, cultivated land and streams, all the way into the marine environment. In these environments we study different levels of biological organisation from genes, individuals and populations, to communities and ecosystems. We work within ecology, evolution, physiology, systematics and combinations of these fields in order to understand the impact of natural and anthropogenic changes of the environment.

We are looking for a senior lecturer focused on ecosystem based environmental risk- and impact assessment with experience and interest in conducting interdisciplinary research linked to both natural and social sciences. We expect the applicant has skills and ability to perform research and teaching in cooperation with both terrestrial and aquatic biologists as well and with social scientists.

http://www.gu.se/omuniversitetet/aktuellt/ledigaanstallningar/??id=19142&ref=L&tjanstNamn=L%26auml%3Brare%2F+postdoktor


Bengt Gunnarsson
Dept of Biological and Environmental Sciences
University of Gothenburg
bengt.gunnarsson@bioenv.gu.se

Kew söker biodiversitetsinformatiker

Publicerat av GBIF-Sweden --

Senior Biodiversity Informatician to Kew Gardens, London

This is a role for a pro-active and enthusiastic developer. You will be tasked with contributing to the delivery of cutting edge, globally recognised science projects. You will have expertise in IT software development, a desire to build a career in biodiversity informatics and an enthusiasm for science.

Hours of work: Full time

Number of posts: 1

Contract Type: Permanent

Salary: £26,067 - £35,505 dependent on experience

Directorate Science Department Scientific Ref. (post number) 8265 Location Kew Gardens, Richmond

Closing Date 15/02/2015

Documents: Employee benefits- RBG Kew.pdf (PDF, 314.86kb https://careers.kew.org/vacancy/senior-biodiversity-informatician-208856.html); Job Description - Senior Biodiversity Informatician.doc (Word, 192.5kb https://careers.kew.org/vacancy/senior-biodiversity-informatician-208856.html)

More details: Kew is the world-leader in plant diversity science, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a major visitor attraction that shows the importance of plants in all our lives. Kew’s mission is to inspire and deliver science-based plant conservation worldwide, enhancing the quality of life. Biodiversity Informatics needs software developers! This is an exciting time to join a newly established Biodiversity Informatics and Spatial Analysis Science Department at Kew. The Biodiversity Informatics team is undertaking an ambitious programme of work, including the development of the Plants of the World Online Portal (POWOP), and this role will play a crucial part in its delivery. Over time, you will develop an in-depth understanding of biodiversity informatics and botanical sciences, and help deliver projects of great impact to managers, users and stakeholders. You will have a degree, or equivalent, in IT/Computer Science, or equivalent work-based experience and hands on experience of IT software/applications development using Java and related technologies and PostgreSQL, MySQL or similar. Most importantly of all, you will also need to have the technical ability, aptitude and desire required to become a strong Biodiversity Informatician and learn complex science. Early career stage software developers with an interest in science and informatics are particularly encouraged to apply.

Open call for bids to host the Swedish e-infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (provisional acronym SeIBER)

Publicerat av GBIF-Sweden --

Background. SeIBER is a consortium of national e­infrastructures for biodiversity and ecosystem research. The consortium currently includes the Swedish nodes of GBIF (gbif.se), SLW (swedishlifewatch.se), WRAM (slu.se/wram), and CAnMove (canmove.lu.se), and acts as an umbrella organisation for these and similar e-­science programs. The main purpose of the SeIBER umbrella is to better coordinate all relevant national and international e-infrastructure initiatives, enable the transfer of technology and know-­how between related infrastructures, and establish common operations within the consortium. The umbrella organisation will be used to seek long-­term support from the Swedish Research Council’s Research Infrastructure Program (RFI) and speak with one voice to related infrastructure initiatives in Sweden and abroad.

Purpose of the call. The objective of the call is to collect declarations of interest for hosting the umbrella organisation from all potential host universities/bodies in the country, and thereafter identify the best-­qualified applicant through an open evaluation process. The reason why SeIBER launches a competitive announcement is to promote long-term sustainability and self-­governance of the Swedish e-science infrastructures through institutional support.

Host assignment. The host will run the secretariat of the organisation and be responsible for the overall coordination within the partner consortium. The host will furthermore be responsible for the overall communication of the infrastructure program to users (please note, this will not include training and support services), and administrate the finances and budget allocations of the consortium partners. The host may represent the consortium in legal and financial agreements with international consortia, such as e.g. European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC), or delegate this responsibility to a qualified consortium member. The host will also maintain the communication with the steering group, coordination group, advisory bodies, and related national and international infrastructures.

Terms and conditions. The call is open to all state-­run universities, or university colleges covered by the Higher Education Act, as well as public agencies with a research mission. All co-/applicants have to be consortium members in the SeIBER umbrella organisation. The applicant is the vice-­chancellor/Director General of the university/body.

Qualifications. We encourage applications from universities/bodies with a distinct commitment and abilities to sustain the host assignments in the long-term. The applicant should likewise have established firm links to relevant international networks and European ESFRI infrastructure programs. More specifically, the applicant will be evaluated based on the following criteria

(i) Strategic incentives and administrative capabilities that contribute to the sustainability of the infrastructure consortium

(ii) Commitment from the host to support the infrastructure as a whole, i.e. in-kind (and possibly in-­cash) provision of staff and resources to maintain central functions within the consortium.

Content of the application. The application should include a description of the host’s role in the envisioned SeIBER organisation in terms of economic, legal, and administrative responsibilities, with reference to the long-­term goals of the consortium as well as the quality criteria described above (maximum 4 A4 pages).

Applications should be submitted as a single pdf document to matthias.obst@bioenv.gu.se.

Evaluation process. The SeIBER consortium will use the steering committees of existing partner infrastructures to evaluate the applications against the quality criteria stated above,rank the applicants, and appoint the host.

More information. To obtain more information or guidance, please contact Matthias Obst, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, matthias.obst@bioenv.gu.se.

Time line. 22. December 2014: Call opens and is published on the SeIBER partner websites. 30. January 2015: Call is closed and evaluation process initiated 20. February 2015: Evaluation process finished and host is appointed