iDigBio Paleo Digitization Working Group Workshop

The iDigBio Paleo Digitization Working Group is now accepting applications to attend a workshop focused on georeferencing for paleo collections, to be held in Salt Lake City April 27-29, 2020. This workshop is sponsored by iDigBio and funding for travel to Salt Lake City may be available. 

To apply, please fill out this application by Friday, January 10, 2020.

About the workshop: As the paleo collections community wraps up several TCNs we recognize that a significant amount of digitization work remains to be done and that georeferencing is one of the next big roadblocks. Across all collection types, there are major issues with the quality of georeference data currently available on biodiversity data aggregators such as iDigBio and GBIF. For paleo collections, there are additional issues related to applying existing georeferencing workflows in the paleontological context, as well as to sharing georeference data publicly. This workshop will take advantage of the momentum catalyzed by ADBC funding in the paleontological collections community to address critical issues related to georeferencing workflows and georeferencing data quality. We will bring representatives from the paleo TCNs/PENs together with participants representing perspectives external to the existing ADBC community, to:

• Address the lack and poor quality of specimen georeference data shared on biodiversity aggregators, e.g. the iDigBio Portal, by determining recommendations for the paleo collections community on best practices and workflows for generating and sharing this data.
• Identify technical barriers to implementing these recommendations and discuss a strategy for communicating them to standards organizations, aggregators, collection management software solutions, and georeferencing software tools.
• Disseminate the findings of this workshop widely, both within the paleo collections community (including to collectors) and as a resource discoverable by other domains. Findings will include a “toolkit” to share the recommendations on best practices and workflows determined by this workshop.

More information can be found on the workshop wiki page.

Analytical Paleobiology Workshop Materials available now online!

The organizers of the Analytical Paleobiology Workshop are pleased to announce that the course materials for the 2018 edition of the workshop are now freely accessible online at www.analytical.paleobiology.de. Please click on ‘course materials’ tab to access the materials.

The 2018 Analytical Paleobiology Workshop, dedicated to analytical training of graduate students in paleobiology, was motivated by the success of the Fossilworks Intensive Workshop in Analytical Palaeobiology (http://fossilworks.org/?page=workshop) developed and coordinated by John Alroy (Macquarie University).

The 2018 workshop, hosted by the Florida Museum of Natural History (University of Florida), was made possible thanks to generous support of the Paleontological Society, NSF Sedimentary Geology & Paleobiology Program, NSF-Funded Research Coordination Network (Earth Rates), and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The materials posted at www.analytical.paleobiology.de, provided by 2018 instructors and other contributors, offer diverse materials: lectures, R-tutorials, and exercises. These materials introduce common analytical methods used in paleontological research. Instructors have posted by now most of the course materials. However, not all instructors uploaded all their files. Additional materials will be forthcoming in the near future.

The course materials for the 2019 edition (June - July 2019, UC Riverside) will be posted on the same website in the next several months.

Thanks to the teachers and organizers for making these materials available!

Organizers: Shanan Peters, Seth Finnegan (chairs, 2019), Wolfgang Kiessling,  Rowan Lockwood, Charles Marshall, Alycia Stigall, & Michal Kowalewski. 

Teachers: Gene Hunt, Jessica Blois, Katrina Jones, David Polly, April Wright, Phil Novack-Gottshall, Steve Holland

NSF- Updated report from the Geomicrobiology and Microbial Geochemistry Workshop

Below is a link to an updated report from the Geomicrobiology and Microbial Geochemistry Workshop sponsored by the Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry program at the NSF.  This update was prepared for the NAS decadal review of the Earth Sciences Division “Catalyzing Opportunities for Research in the Earth Sciences” (CORES).  The Geobiology Society has kindly offered to host the pdf file of the report and we are distributing the link to the community.  We welcome your comments and feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

https://www.geobiologysociety.org/news-and-blogs

Enriqueta Barrera and Philip Bennett

Program Directors, Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry

Division of Earth Sciences, National Science Foundation

2415 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA 22314

2019 Geobiology Course

The International Geobiology Course is now accepting applications!

For additional course information and requirements, please visit our website: http://web.gps.caltech.edu/GBcourse/

Applications must be submitted by February 8, 2019. http://web.gps.caltech.edu/GBcourse/application.html

2018 Analytical Paleobiology Summer Course

Interested in analytical Paleobiology? Check out the summer workshop below!

We are now accepting applications for the 2018 Analytical Paleobiology Summer Course.  To apply for course admission and also to learn more about the course and application process, please visit our website at http://www.analytical.palaeobiology.de/.The 2018 edition of the course will be hosted at the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL, USA) from THURSDAY JULY 19 thru WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15, 2018.

This 4-week course, sponsored by the NSF, the Paleontological Society, and the EarthRates RCN NSF initiative is designed to introduce graduate students to a range of analytical methods that are foundational to or at the cutting edge of paleobiological research. The topics, taught sequentially by rotating expert instructors, will include probability theory, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, resampling techniques, correlation and regression, multivariate ordinations and tests, methods of measuring biodiversity, morphometrics, phylogenetic methods, spatial and time-series analyses and other related topics. The course will also provide practical hands-on training in statistical programming and data visualization in R.

PhD students from any degree-granting institution worldwide are eligible for admission. Applications from junior scientists who completed their PhD recently and from future PhD students (i.e., advanced undergraduate students and MS students interested in research-oriented careers in paleontology) will also be considered. The maximum course enrollment is 15 students. Admission decisions will be based on student applications and recommendation letters.

The course is free for admitted applicants. Also, we are pleased to inform you that lodging will be provided free of charge to all participants. Financial aid to assist participants with travel costs may be available, but we encourage applicants to pursue additional funding at their home institution or other sources.

To submit your application, please visit http://www.analytical.palaeobiology.de/.  Applications and recommendation letters are due on April 1, 2018. Admission decisions will be made before the end of April 2018.

If you have questions about the course or the application process, please email Michal Kowalewski at kowalewski@ufl.edu.

C-DEBI Professional Development Webinar Series

Do you have questions like: How do I put together (or understand) a budget? How do I improve my work-life balance? How can I use social media to help my science career? If so, then the C-DEBI webinar series is for you!   Tomorrow's Seminar is: How to Negotiate in Academia Led by Karen G. Lloyd, Assistant Professor, Microbiology Department, University of Tennessee TOMORROW, August 24th, 11am PT / 2pm ET @ http://usccollege.adobeconnect.com/cdebiremote/ The webinar will cover: Why negotiation is essential Tips for how to do so successfully What to expect from post-doc and assistant professorship job negotiations Missed the last seminar on Proposal Writing, Management, and Budget Planning? Watch it on YouTube.

2017 International Workshop on Konservat-Lagerstätten; July 15-16, 2017 in Cork (Ireland)

Join us at the 2017 International Workshop on Konservat-Lagerstatten from July 15-16 2017 in Cork (Ireland). This workshop will explore frontier research on fossil deposits preserving soft tissues of animals and plants and includes an exciting line-up of invited speakers. We welcome contributions on any aspect of the palaeobiology, taphonomy, and sedimentological context of Konservat-Lagerstatten. For more information see http://lagerstaetten.ucc.ie/. 

 

Abstract submission closes on 31st May 2017.

For More information contact: Dr Maria McNamara

Demystifying the IODP Proposal Process for Early Career Scientists: Northern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico

January 23-25, 2017 in Austin, Texas, USA

Workshop Committee: Chris Lowery (Univ. Texas Austin), Andy Fraass (Natl. Mus. of Nat. Hist., SI), Molly Patterson (SUNY Binghamton), Justin Dodd (North. Illinois Univ.), Jason Coenen (North. Illinois Univ.)
Steering Committee: Steve D’Hondt (Univ. of Rhode Island), Sean Gulick (Univ. Texas Austin), Susan Humphris (WHOI), Christina Ravelo (Univ. of California, Santa Cruz)

Deadline to Apply: Extended to November 23, 2016, to encourage more participation from the Deep Biosphere, Earth Connections, and Earth in Motion themes of the IODP Science Plan.

Participation support is available from the Consortium for Ocean Leadership for a limited number of graduate students and early career researchers (i.e., completed their PhD within the past 10 years) from U.S. institutions and organizations. Past research experience in Gulf of Mexico and/or Atlantic Ocean basins is not required. Participants will share rooms.

U.S. scientists who are interested in participating in the workshop should send: (1) a 2-page CV or biographical sketch (NSF-style); and (2) a 1-page statement of interest to Andy Fraass (FraassA@si.edu) no later than November 23, 2016. In the statement of interest, please identify your research specialty and the IODP theme that you most identify with (see IODP Science Plan). The deadline has been extended to November 23rd to encourage more participation from the Deep Biosphere, Earth Connections, and Earth in Motion themes.

MOTIVATION: Scientific ocean drilling is central to the study of Earth’s climate history, tectonic evolution, and deep biosphere. A large, dynamic, and diverse ocean drilling community is vital to the health of the program; engaging early career scientists in cruise planning and leadership is critical to the future of IODP. For early career scientists who are new to the community, developing an IODP proposal from conception to drilling is a daunting task that can appear insurmountable. This workshop for early career researchers aims to correct that. Participants will hear a series of speakers explain the structure of IODP and how early career scientists can become more deeply involved. Then, they will work on the initial stages of developing real drilling proposals (to be vastly expanded post-workshop) in the Northern Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.

This workshop will:
1) Provide early career scientists with direct experience in the IODP proposal process,
2) Build an interdisciplinary community of early career researchers that will be able to develop active research programs in coordination with the evolving landscape of ocean drilling research,
3) And develop drilling proposal ideas to investigate the North Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, where the JOIDES Resolution is expected to be drilling in FY20-21. Prior research experience in these basins is not required for participation.

OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this workshop is the development of the next generation of IODP scientists, both by educating participants about upper-level IODP functions and building collaborative relationships within our peer-group. We aim to attract a diverse array of specialties (geophysics, paleoceanography, deep biosphere, tectonics, etc.) to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations. To achieve these goals, groups of participants will work together on developing the initial ideas for real IODP proposals. We expect to leave the workshop with “roadmaps” for drilling proposals, which can then be extensively developed in the following months into Preliminary Proposals for submission to IODP. Experienced ocean drilling researchers will give talks on the IODP proposal process, mentor groups as they work on their proposal ideas, and provide a mock review at the end of the workshop.

Questions?
Contact Chris Lowery (clowery@utexas.edu) or Andy Fraass (FraassA@si.edu)