Natural history museums often evoke the musty whiff of the Victorian era of expeditions, trophy hunting and display, but any recent trip to a museum will show visitors an updated view of the world. However, the real revolution has occurred behind the scenes in biodiversity informatics that marries natural history collections and cutting edge software and tools to access and make accessible a rich repository of information about our planet that provides a window into our past and present. As the world and the climate rapidly changes, the need for natural history collections is more important than ever. The information on species, their natural history, distribution and health is critical for understanding their persistence and vulnerability in areas and thus essential for predicting their response to change. New webportals, tools in mobile applications and social networking allow citizen scientists to ‘peek behind the glass cases’ and participate in data access and dissemination.

Speaker: Michelle Koo, Biodiversity Informatics & GIS Staff Curator at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ), UC Berkeley

For more information email deepanatarajan@berkeley.edu or visit their website.

Coastal Marine Biolabs in Ventura Harbor is hosting two eight-day summer institutes in biodiversity genomics for 11th and 12th grade high school science teachers. The institute provides teachers with the pedagogical and procedural training, instructional materials, and equipment needed to engage their students in the International Barcode of Life project, a global initiative to create a digital genetic registry of Earth’s biodiversity using a DNA barcoding system.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the summer institutes are offered free of charge.  Additionally, $1000 stipends are provided to participants to help defray the cost of travel expenses.

Developed through a collaboration among academic research scientists and educators, the program curriculum is supported by a comprehensive suite of instructional materials that bridges many life science domains, including ecology, environmental science, evolution, genetics, molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, and bioinformatics. In addition to its integration of content, processes, and principles from different scientific domains, the curriculum engages students in the use of interrelated scientific tools within the context of a complete and integrated workflow. This discovery pipeline culminates in the submission and publication of real data to a landmark scientific initiative of global significance.

Two 8-day institutes will be held in summer 2012:

Session 1: Thursday June 14 – Monday June 21, 2012
Venue:  Coastal Marine Biolabs
1559 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 101
Ventura, CA 93001-5302

Session 2:  Tuesday July 17 – Saturday July 24, 2012
Venue:  Bodega Marine Laboratory
2099 Westside Road,
Bodega Bay, CA 94923-0247

The application deadline is May 31, 2012.  

For more detailed information, please visit our website athttp://www.studentbarcoding.org

Coastal Marine Biolabs in Ventura Harbor is hosting two eight-day summer institutes in biodiversity genomics for 11th and 12th grade high school science teachers. The institute provides teachers with the pedagogical and procedural training, instructional materials, and equipment needed to engage their students in the International Barcode of Life project, a global initiative to create a digital genetic registry of Earth’s biodiversity using a DNA barcoding system.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the summer institutes are offered free of charge.  Additionally, $1000 stipends are provided to participants to help defray the cost of travel expenses.

Developed through a collaboration among academic research scientists and educators, the program curriculum is supported by a comprehensive suite of instructional materials that bridges many life science domains, including ecology, environmental science, evolution, genetics, molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, and bioinformatics. In addition to its integration of content, processes, and principles from different scientific domains, the curriculum engages students in the use of interrelated scientific tools within the context of a complete and integrated workflow. This discovery pipeline culminates in the submission and publication of real data to a landmark scientific initiative of global significance.

Two 8-day institutes will be held in summer 2012:

Session 1: Thursday June 14 – Monday June 21, 2012
Venue:  Coastal Marine Biolabs
1559 Spinnaker Drive, Suite 101
Ventura, CA 93001-5302

Session 2:  Tuesday July 17 – Saturday July 24, 2012
Venue:  Bodega Marine Laboratory
2099 Westside Road,
Bodega Bay, CA 94923-0247

The application deadline is May 31, 2012.  

For more detailed information, please visit our website at http://www.studentbarcoding.org

Dr. Healy Hamilton will lead a fascinating lecture on the effects of global change on local biodiversity and implications for conservation efforts. This free talk will be at Dwight Center for Conservation Science. Light refreshments will be served at a 6:00 pm. Open house with the lecture to follow at 7:00 pm. Advanced registration is not required.

Biodiversity is the foundation of human economic and ecological well being.  As our world changes ever more rapidly, our dependence upon biodiversity will only increase.  Dr. Hamilton will discuss the renewed importance of conserving Earth’s biological heritage, with a focus on our own backyard. She will also talk about the evolving role of scientists, educators, and citizens in the most innovative conservation efforts of our time.

Dr. Hamilton is a biodiversity scientist based at University of California Berkeley and adjunct professor in the Department of Geography at San Francisco State University. Her research projects include developing methods for forecasting species range shifts induced by climate change to support the design and implementation of large landscape wildland networks.

To find directions and more information about Pepperwood Preserve and its programs, visit Education/Event Listings at http://www.pepperwoodpreserve.org.