Coming from a background of practical laboratory experience, it was a huge shift to enter the data world behind the scenes. In-depth research into the world of biodiversity metadata was not only a fascinating experience, but an incredible opportunity to talk with industry experts and get to know the future of the career that I am striving for. Although the original goal of the project this year was to prepare for the International Barcode of Life meeting (IBOL 9) which was unfortunately cancelled, there were still many goals and highlights that came in its stead.
For the majority of the year I worked closely with Local Contexts to help them spread the use of their traditional knowledge(TK) labels. I presented at several conferences throughout the year on the implementation of the TK labels which gave me the opportunity to speak directly to members of the community and in turn listen to all the fascinating projects that were progressing in parallel with WDS from all over the world.
By far, the highlight of the year was the Barcode of Life meeting at the University of Guelph Center for Biodiversity Genomics. Those two organizations presented their most recent projects and discussed future partnership opportunities with Local Contexts, the WDS, The University of Victoria, ENRICH Global, GEO Bon, and special guests Sir Charles Godrey and Adrian Forsyth. The highlights of that day included:
- A fascinating tour of the Center for Biodiversity Genomics where we saw the process of digitizing the millions of insect specimens that have been kept in the University of Guelph archives. This also included a display of the new sequencing technology the university had acquired and the many research services offered by the center;
- A presentation about the International Barcode of Life and their most recent project named BIOSCAN. The BIOSCAN project aimed to revolutionize the way scientists study and monitor biodiversity using DNA barcoding technologies;
- A presentation by Local Contexts on their traditional knowledge labels and the progress they had made allocating them into a currently existing metadata schema. They also highlighted some more success stories and the work that they had been doing with the WDS;
- A presentation from BOLD systems on a new educational program, the Multiplex Barcode Research and Visualization Environment (mBRAVE) which serves as a introduction to digital specimens with enough detail for research purposes but visually simple enough to be used in a classroom setting.
The day ended with a thoughtful discussion on the presentations and ways to build upon their projects.
It has been interesting to hear, learn and research all about how the data collected in the lab or the field gets treated. The tools and skills I’ve learned about will definitely be an asset in my own research in the future. I hope to experience the projects that I’ve seen in their infancy flourish. With everything I’ve learned, I am excited to move forward knowing the information ecosystem will be stronger and healthier as time goes on. Thank you to everyone at the WDS-ITO for this remarkable experience.