The International Congress of Dipterology is the major international congress in the science of dipterology (the study of true flies) and attracts delegates from around the world. ICD9 is the first Conference to be held in Africa. Hosting the Congress in Africa for the first time has created a unique opportunity for Namibian and other African delegates, who would not ordinarily be able to attend such an event, to participate via oral presentations, poster presentations, and interaction with international colleagues. Such opportunities are essential for the advancement of science and for professional network development in Africa, invariably leading to international scientific collaborations, as well as exposure to new and innovative scientific concepts.

With an emphasis on taxonomy and systematics of Diptera, many of those delegates attending ICD9 are key stakeholders in the use of biological collections in sub-Saharan Africa and generate baseline biodiversity knowledge (such as specialist identifications and descriptions of new taxa), that feed into the quality of biodiversity informatics in the region. The symposium on “Biodiversity informatics of Diptera” will actively promote this theme during the Congress and assist with the dissemination of biodiversity data and informatics to a larger African contingent. The Congress also includes a symposium, led by Dr. Kurt Jordaens, Project Director of the JRS Biodiversity Foundation supported JRS Biodiversity Foundation supported PINDIP project on the theme, “The importance of Diptera in plant-pollinator networks.”

• Abstracts from presentations will be made available at the Congress website.
• Presentations from the conferences will be publishedat the Congress website.

The JRS grant supported two post-graduate students from the University of Namibia were funded to attend the Congress. An additional travel grant recipient intended to attend, but encountered insurmountable issues relating to obtaining a travel visa. The remainder of the funds were used to cover other events for the Congress, including the official launch of the Manual of Afrotropical Diptera. The experience was a reminder on the challenging process of obtaining visas which present yet another hurdle to African scientists to participate in international professional networks. A major take away from this conference experience was to encourage African attendees to apply as early as possible to obtain the visas.

Ashley H. Kirk-Spriggs obtained a Post-graduate Diploma in Applied Insect Taxonomy (with distinction, 1984) and Master of Philosophy (1994) from University of Wales College of Cardiff and a PhD from Rhodes University, South Africa (2012). He participated in the Royal Entomological Society’s Project Wallace Expedition to Sulawesi in 1985 and has travelled and collected widely in South-east Asia, Europe and throughout Africa. He was previously employed at the National Museum of Wales, the National Museum of Namibia (with VSO) and the Albany Museum and is currently employed as Head of Entomology at the National Museum, Bloemfontein (South Africa). He has published over 100 scientific and popular articles.

JRS is thrilled to join the National Museum Bloemfontein and the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in support of the 9th International Congress of Dipterology. This conference ties two important elements of our work: capacity development in pollinator biodiversity and partnership building through investing in networks. This grant is an opportunity to bring biodiversity informatics to the topical conference sphere. We are excited, too, that Dr. Jordaens will share results and lessons learned by himself and partners, Mr. Georgen, Dr. Copeland, Mr. Njoroge, Dr. Kirk-Spriggs, Dr. Midgley, Prof. Hamer, and Dr. Janssens, from the ongoing Royal Museum of Central Africa project to colleagues in the Diptera research community.