What are we missing? Identifying plant knowledge gaps in Ghana
University of Kansas Center for Research
Biodiversity Informatics Training for Africa and the World
Project Details
Grantee Organization:
University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc.
Grant Amount:
$414,858
Contact:
A. Townsend Peterson town 'atsign' ku.edu
Funding Dates:
6/15/12 - 12/31/16
Last Updated: February 2nd, 2023
UPDATE: JRS awarded follow-up grant to continue the work of the project. Please click here to view.
Background
Biodiversity informatics covers the creation, improvement, 
integration, analysis, and interpretation of data on biodiversity, with considerable importance in applied dimensions of biodiversity science (conservation, public health, agriculture, etc.). Research in this field includes many new and evolving techniques that are nowhere well summarized; indeed, textbooks and syntheses are only beginning to appear, and few opportunities exist for advanced training. The JRS Biodiversity Foundation has a focus upon Africa due to regions of high biodiversity on the continent yet relatively low capacity for the biodiversity informatics that is essential for the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
Key Objectives and Activities
Following on a series of courses that the Project Director organized for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility that focused on niche modeling, the team carried out nine detailed, in-person training sessions across Africa by teams of experts covering most major themes within the broader field of biodiversity informatics. These sessions directly trained cadres of biodiversity researchers in major regions of Africa, and impacts were broadened by recording presentations and digitizing resources, making them available online, worldwide.
This project aimed to lower barriers of access to the informatics tools and methods via detailed training efforts across the field, both in person, to relatively small numbers of trainees via courses in multiple African countries, and to the global community via freely available online tools. The overall goal was to equip young scientists and conservationists across Africa and globally with the intellectual tools to develop their own biodiversity analyses, position them to become trainers themselves, and equip them to harness biodiversity data for research and policy analysis in their own regions.
Planned Outputs
- Detailed in-person training to approximately 180 scientists, decision makers, and conservation biologists from across Africa (9 sessions, 20 trainees each).
- Each training session captured digitally, supplemented with reading materials and practice data sets, and made globally available via online resources.
- Generation of a comprehensive, centralized resource library with modular curricula on biodiversity informatics. Topics ranged from data capture, integration, and improvement, to data analysis and interpretation.
Planned Outcomes
This project aimed to solve the information-and-tools gap at least partly for Africa, a continent with particularly significant needs. While major progress is being made in making biodiversity data more available, the human resources capable of using that information effectively in situ is largely lacking across the continent. The trainings and curricula helped create a network of trainees at diverse levels who will make possible ‘endemic’ biodiversity analyses, as well as downstream training that will further magnify project impacts. As a consequence, many African countries will be better able to develop their own evaluations of biodiversity phenomena, effectively empowering them for locally-based decision-making.
Key Challenges in Informatics
Results to Date
The BITC project successfully completed all 9 in-person courses, and the associated videos, curricula, and materials are published and freely available online. Each of the courses brought expert instructors from around the world to South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Uganda. More than 140 students and research scientists from 22 African countries have participated in person, some of then returning to become course instructors themselves. As of 2017, follow-on training courses in Ghana, Benin, Madagascar, Tanzania, and South Africa there are training courses being offered in Ghana, Benin, Madagascar, Tanzania, and South Africa are being offered by former participants. The BITC also hosts frequent webinars (currently up to 29) as part of a global online seminar series focusing on skills in and background on Biodiversity Informatics. Ongoing work focuses on translating the 500+ videos into as many languages as possible, to broaden their utility and impact worldwide.
Via trainings and content dissemination, the projected has cultivated an active community of biodiversity informatics trainees and professionals. The team manages a Facebook page of over 3,700 members and a Google+ group of over 385 subscribers that facilitate direct communication about tools, training, and techniques. The project YouTube channel has over 1100 direct subscribers and sees massive usage: 105,561 users watched project videos for a total of 560,792 minutes. Furthermore, the project launched an open access, online journal, Biodiversity Informatics, in part as a venue for research resulting from course participation.
Primary Software Platforms
Originally, this project considered using Moodle, the open-source learning platform. However, some pilot exploration indicated that this platform was not sufficiently accessible to potential users in parts of Africa. Therefore, the project opted for a relatively simple HTML site to host materials and curriculum, supplemented by extensive integration with video content on YouTube.
Lessons Learned
Even after doing homework and background research on platforms, there were still new lessons to be learned about the best ways to ensure the materials were truly globally accessible. In some regions, for instance, YouTube is not universally viewable; the project therefore explored disseminating content via USB keys. In addition, videos are now being translated and subtitled by crowd-sourcing to expand the potential audience.
Additionally, the team experienced several challenges in dealing with the logistics of international research and teaching. Several uncertain political situations and a massive Ebola outbreak in west Africa forced the cancellation of some scheduled BITC courses; however, the team adapted by holding an online course with a curriculum expanded to included a focus on Public Health Applications.
Overall, the project was an exciting adventure in teaching complex, and little understood ideas to an enthusiastic audience across Africa, and around the globe. The team instructed over 140 trainees from 22 African countries and created a social network actively used by hundreds, if not thousands, of young biodiversity informatics professionals.
Project Director Biography
A. Townsend Peterson is University Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas. He works in close coordination with global colleagues (current collaborations in 21 countries), both individuals and research groups, including in Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya. He is author of more than 370 peer-reviewed research articles, and a recent first book-length synthesis of niche modeling, entitled Ecological Niches and Geographic Distributions. Peterson has presented biodiversity informatics training courses in Mexico, Poland, India, Brazil, and the USA, and seminars and workshops in many other countries; he is considered an authority on primary biodiversity data and mapping biodiversity.
Notes from JRS
JRS recognizes that availability of experts to generate, curate, communicate and use biodiversity information and knowledge is a key constraint that limits scientific research and the decision-making needed to conserve biodiversity in Africa. Technical training in biodiversity informatics is a very important component to capacity development in addition to experiential learning through applied projects, work experience, and engagement with key stakeholders in biodiversity information and its use. We are keenly interested in the results this effort. We already see that the course attendees are forming collaborative relationships with each other and with the course instructors and JRS’ own grantees are forming networks and exchanging information. The assessment of training is challenging and we hope that this project lets JRS move beyond merely the numbers of course attendees and post-course evaluations and toward long-term evaluation of the impact of training upon the students’ daily work and upon new professional opportunities and projects. The effort was a major undertaking and contribution of time from Dr. Peterson and his many colleagues and JRS remains grateful for the tremendous reach of the project and the many people whose appreciation of and skills in biodiversity informatics were elevated by this work!