Every winter, from December 14 to January 5, bird counts are taking
place. This annual event is the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). First
started in 1900, the counts take place throughout Canada, US, and many countries in the
Western Hemisphere. It is organized by the National Audubon Society,
and carried out by volunteers.
Birds are counted on any one day
within
these 3 weeks, within a specified 24-km diameter circle, over a 24-hour
period. To find and participate in a bird count, check here. Data from
these counts over the years can be accessed here.
Bird
counting enables a great number of people to go out and
collect population and distribution data. It is because of this
community effort, and the enthusiasm of bird watchers and volunteers
that there are data for birds over time. The data that have
been collected and amassed over the years has
become an important source of information for scientific research and conservation biology.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Books and Reviews on Amazon
When I want to find out more about a what a particular book is about, or browse through books on a specific topic, the first resource that comes to mind which helps me do all this is Amazon.
Amazon is an American-based, international online retailer. While they today offer customers a wide range of products to purchase at discounted prices through their website, they started off with, and was led to fame with selling books.
In addition to being an online bookstore, they enabled customers to participate in writing book reviews and ratings, and posted these alongside professional editorial book reviews. While customer product reviews may be seen as the norm today with other websites that advertise and sell products, it was a novel idea at the time when there was nothing like this around. Amazon may inarguably be one of the first, if not the first to do this. As a result of this long-standing service, and the large customer base, Amazon has become the go-to resource for book reviews.
Amazon is an American-based, international online retailer. While they today offer customers a wide range of products to purchase at discounted prices through their website, they started off with, and was led to fame with selling books.
In addition to being an online bookstore, they enabled customers to participate in writing book reviews and ratings, and posted these alongside professional editorial book reviews. While customer product reviews may be seen as the norm today with other websites that advertise and sell products, it was a novel idea at the time when there was nothing like this around. Amazon may inarguably be one of the first, if not the first to do this. As a result of this long-standing service, and the large customer base, Amazon has become the go-to resource for book reviews.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Open Access Scholarly Articles through the DOAJ
In recognition of Open Access Week, a global event that occurs in October each year, I wanted to write about the Directory of Open Access Journals, which is celebrating its 10th year this year.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is an online directory that provides access to peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly articles published from open access journals. The DOAJ defines "open access" using the Budapest Open Access Initiative's (BOAI) definition, as resources that are made freely available to individuals or institutions for use, which includes reading, downloading, printing, copying, and distributing. The aim of the DOAJ is to increase the visibility and use of open access articles, thereby promoting their impact and usage.
The editorial control review process maintains the high quality standard of articles that are included in the directory. As of this posting, there are 9919 journals, over 1 million articles, and 122 countries. The directory can be searched by keywords and publication year, and can be browsed by journal title, subject area, and country of publication.
The influence of open access on society is enormous. It has the potential to remove barriers to accessing information, and contribute to the development of research, benefiting users, researchers, and society at large.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is an online directory that provides access to peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly articles published from open access journals. The DOAJ defines "open access" using the Budapest Open Access Initiative's (BOAI) definition, as resources that are made freely available to individuals or institutions for use, which includes reading, downloading, printing, copying, and distributing. The aim of the DOAJ is to increase the visibility and use of open access articles, thereby promoting their impact and usage.
The editorial control review process maintains the high quality standard of articles that are included in the directory. As of this posting, there are 9919 journals, over 1 million articles, and 122 countries. The directory can be searched by keywords and publication year, and can be browsed by journal title, subject area, and country of publication.
The influence of open access on society is enormous. It has the potential to remove barriers to accessing information, and contribute to the development of research, benefiting users, researchers, and society at large.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Barcoding Earth's Diversity
Last month I wrote about the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL), a resource for accessing information for the various
species on Earth. Another initiative that is also attempting to build a
centralized library for the diverse species on Earth is the
International Barcode of Life Project (iBOL).
What this project aims to do is to genetically identify and catalogue species through DNA barcoding. DNA barcoding is a method of using short segments of DNA to identify species. As DNA will vary from species to species, using a common section of the DNA for each species will differentiate between them, thereby identifying the species in question. These DNA barcodes are stored in digital format and can be accessed through the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD).
This project was officially launched on September 25, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario. An international collaboration of more than 25 countries have been committed towards working on Phase 1 (2010-2015), with Canada, specifically, the University of Guelph, leading the way. While the DNA library is being populated with barcodes, scientists hope that one day mobile devices will be available to read the barcodes in the field.
I first heard about DNA barcoding in my university biodiversity class in the early 2000s. It's exciting to hear how far this idea has come. By being able to quickly and accurately identify species, this resource will have huge impacts on species conservation, food inspection, and human health.
What this project aims to do is to genetically identify and catalogue species through DNA barcoding. DNA barcoding is a method of using short segments of DNA to identify species. As DNA will vary from species to species, using a common section of the DNA for each species will differentiate between them, thereby identifying the species in question. These DNA barcodes are stored in digital format and can be accessed through the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD).
This project was officially launched on September 25, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario. An international collaboration of more than 25 countries have been committed towards working on Phase 1 (2010-2015), with Canada, specifically, the University of Guelph, leading the way. While the DNA library is being populated with barcodes, scientists hope that one day mobile devices will be available to read the barcodes in the field.
I first heard about DNA barcoding in my university biodiversity class in the early 2000s. It's exciting to hear how far this idea has come. By being able to quickly and accurately identify species, this resource will have huge impacts on species conservation, food inspection, and human health.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Cataloguing Earth's Diversity
An ambitious goal of creating an accessible, centralized, comprehensive resource for every species on Earth came into being in 2008 with the unveiling of the first 30,000 pages from the Encyclopedia of Life.
The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is an international collaborative project between scientists, international organizations, research institutions, and the general public. Here on this site, you can find for each species, information about their classification, biology, ecological patterns and behaviour, evolution and systematics, molecular biology and genetics, and conservation status.
The goal of EOL is to create pages for each of the estimated 1.9 million known species on Earth by 2017. The website has grown dramatically since its launch with the additions of new partners and multimedia content. Today, there are over 200 global collaborators, and more than 1 million pages of species content created.
Through documenting and aggregating together our current knowledge of all life on Earth, this resource can help us identify gaps, and create new opportunities for research. Through understanding species patterns and connections, this resource can help us with conservation efforts to preserve the diversity of species on Earth. With many more species still yet to be discovered, as well as continually building on our current knowledge of known species, this resource will only continue to grow. The Encyclopedia of Life is a testament to global collaboration of making information about Earth’s biodiversity freely available and accessible.
The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is an international collaborative project between scientists, international organizations, research institutions, and the general public. Here on this site, you can find for each species, information about their classification, biology, ecological patterns and behaviour, evolution and systematics, molecular biology and genetics, and conservation status.
The goal of EOL is to create pages for each of the estimated 1.9 million known species on Earth by 2017. The website has grown dramatically since its launch with the additions of new partners and multimedia content. Today, there are over 200 global collaborators, and more than 1 million pages of species content created.
Through documenting and aggregating together our current knowledge of all life on Earth, this resource can help us identify gaps, and create new opportunities for research. Through understanding species patterns and connections, this resource can help us with conservation efforts to preserve the diversity of species on Earth. With many more species still yet to be discovered, as well as continually building on our current knowledge of known species, this resource will only continue to grow. The Encyclopedia of Life is a testament to global collaboration of making information about Earth’s biodiversity freely available and accessible.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Certifying Responsible Forest Management
Do you ever notice the "FSC" label on the back of some envelopes in your mail? The "FSC" refers to the Forest Stewardship Council and it means the paper product came from forests that were grown, harvested, and sold with environmental, social, and economic issues in mind.
The Forest Stewardship Council is a global, non-profit organization that promotes best practices for responsible forest management. They do this through their forest certification system, which recognizes sustainable forest management around the world. Through this process, they also inform consumers about products that come from well managed forests as these products will carry the FSC-certified label.
If you have FSC-certified products, like the ones found in your mail envelopes, you can track the license code back to the company responsible for that particular product by searching the FSC Certified Database. You can also search for FSC-certified products through the FSC Marketplace.
For more information about the Forest Stewardship Council, forest management standards and certification, check their website at http://www.fsc.org. They also have representative offices worldwide. For information specific to Canada, check http://ca.fsc.org.
The Forest Stewardship Council is a global, non-profit organization that promotes best practices for responsible forest management. They do this through their forest certification system, which recognizes sustainable forest management around the world. Through this process, they also inform consumers about products that come from well managed forests as these products will carry the FSC-certified label.
If you have FSC-certified products, like the ones found in your mail envelopes, you can track the license code back to the company responsible for that particular product by searching the FSC Certified Database. You can also search for FSC-certified products through the FSC Marketplace.
For more information about the Forest Stewardship Council, forest management standards and certification, check their website at http://www.fsc.org. They also have representative offices worldwide. For information specific to Canada, check http://ca.fsc.org.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
A View From Space: an Astronaut's Enthusiasm for Our Planet
Canadian astronaut and Commander Chris Hadfield captured the world's attention and hearts during his 5-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). While on board the ISS, he had been snapping photos of Earth and sharing them in real time with the rest of the world.
Through his lens, we were able to see the vastness of Earth's beauty. Yet through his lens, we were also reminded of a planet with bountiful but limited resources. It is a reminder of the only home we have, and of a planet that we should respect and cherish.
Though not the first astronaut to take photos from space, his use of social media, and his ability to engage with the world made him stand out. He connected to us from space through his breathtaking photos and poetic tweets.
As of this posting, Chris Hadfield has over 1 million Twitter followers and is still tweeting and sharing photos even after his return to Earth. Though his mission had ended, and his retirement just around the corner, we could only hope that we'll see more of his enthusiasm for space and of our planet Earth.
You can check Chris Hadfield's photos here:
Through his lens, we were able to see the vastness of Earth's beauty. Yet through his lens, we were also reminded of a planet with bountiful but limited resources. It is a reminder of the only home we have, and of a planet that we should respect and cherish.
Though not the first astronaut to take photos from space, his use of social media, and his ability to engage with the world made him stand out. He connected to us from space through his breathtaking photos and poetic tweets.
As of this posting, Chris Hadfield has over 1 million Twitter followers and is still tweeting and sharing photos even after his return to Earth. Though his mission had ended, and his retirement just around the corner, we could only hope that we'll see more of his enthusiasm for space and of our planet Earth.
You can check Chris Hadfield's photos here:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AstronautChrisHadfield
- Tumblr: http://colchrishadfield.tumblr.com
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