Data standard for sharing ecological and environmental monitoring data documented for community review (Deliverable 9.1)

1st June 20231st June 2023 | adelipalta

Miller, Joe; Robertson, Tim; Wieczorek, John

Deliverable 9.1 for the WorldFAIR Project’s Biodiversity Work Package (WP09). Biodiversity standards are essential for FAIR data, in particular for interoperability. Current standards need to be improved with new data models to better reflect the complexity of biodiversity and serve the information needed to address biodiversity loss and climate change.

This Deliverable D9.1, focused on Task 9.1, describes the FAIR data model being developed in WorldFAIR WP09 with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) leading a community collaboration.

Facilitated by the WorldFAIR project, GBIF’s engagement with the biodiversity community has led to this Deliverable – a new draft core Unified Model. The model was developed in collaboration with the Biodiversity Information Standards Group (TDWG) and through community consultation via webinars, open drafting of documents and solicitation of test datasets from the various stakeholders. A review of comparable standards has led to the development of a draft core model framework that is known to the community which should make adoption easier.

The new model is centred around the ‘Event’ – something happened at some place during some period of time, optimally described by a protocol. This conclusion is based on research which describes how successful models are expressed and the flexibility of the Event to accommodate many types of data. The Unified Model is applicable to all currently-used data types and potential new data to be shared with GBIF. The current community engagement approach (more on which in D9.2) is to test individual components of the model with engagement activities and example datasets. This will continue with new tests expanding the potential utility of the model.

The WP tasks performed to date (collation of previous material, engagement with TDWG and Darwin Core (DwC) standard leads, webinars, use of shared documents to build use cases, building of exemplar datasets for collection management systems, and provision of several avenues for feedback) have resulted in the new provisional model currently under consultation. Testing and community engagement to date indicates that the model will better reflect the complexity of biodiversity data leading to more efficient use of our community’s data in research and policy. The feedback we have received also indicates a steep learning curve for the future implementation of the data model. This feedback is essential for the development of publishing tools.

This work aligns with the overall objectives of WorldFAIR by focused development on improving the interoperability of biodiversity data. Our FAIR Implementation Profile (FIP) will be enhanced by this improved functionality. This work promotes cross-domain interaction, as the Unified Model will enhance sharing of data in related Work Packages such as Agricultural Biodiversity, Oceans, and Geochemistry in the final portion of the WorldFAIR grant period. This work has been undertaken in alignment with the overall WorldFAIR goals, in particular WP02 on Engagement, Synthesis, Recommendations and FAIR Assessment.

The report is available on Zenodo.

New data model: Exploring eDNA data

18th May 202323rd May 2023 | adelipalta

8 June 2023

15:00 – 17:00 CEST

Join us for an informative and engaging community webinar as we explore the latest updates and developments in eDNA and GBIF’s new data model. The agenda includes expert speakers sharing their insights and experiences with eDNA data publishing and a discussion and community engagement session as we explore how eDNA data publishing could look in the future.

Mélianie Raymond, community and capacity manager at the GBIF Secretariat, will moderate the session as attendees learn about the current practice for publishing eDNA data and participate in discussions on ideas for future publishing tools and processes

FIND OUT MORE

WorldFAIR Project webinar series announced

24th April 202326th May 2023 | adelipalta

The WorldFAIR Project is launching a webinar series aiming to promote and discuss all published and upcoming deliverables and project outputs.

The webinars will run from May 2023 to May 2024. They are free to attend.

Please note all webinars will be recorded and uploaded on the WorldFAIR YouTube channel and website.

The following webinars are currently confirmed – more dates will be added soon, so stay tuned!

Topic	Date/time	Description	Speakers	Registration	Webinar recording
WorldFAIR Project: Introduction to the WorldFAIR webinar series.	26 May, 13:00 – 14:00 UTC	This webinar ran by WP14 will present the WorldFAIR project and give an overview of the work carried out by the WPs in the context of EOSC and the international data landscape.	Ari Asmi (RDA AISBL Director), Hilary Hanahoe (RDA Secretary General), Javier López Albacete (Policy Officer, EC)	Register here	TBC
WorldFAIR Output Webinar Series: Overview of the projects first round of disciplinary reports: Updates from the Social Surveys and Cultural Heritage.	14 June 2023, 08:00 – 09:00 UTC	This webinar will present the following deliverables completed by WP6 and WP13 respectively: – Cross-national Social Sciences survey FAIR implementation case studies (6.1) – Cultural Heritage Mapping Report (13.1)	Steven McEachern (WP6), Beth Knazook (WP13)	Register here	TBC
WorldFAIR Output Webinar Series: WorldFAIR FAIR Implementation Profiles (FIPs), the Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF) – and more. (v1)	28 June 2023, 13:00 – 14:00 UTC	WP2 will provide an update on D2.1 and the FAIR Implementation Profiles as well as about the engagement with the Case Studies on their data, identification of ‘interoperability interfaces’ and the implications for the Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF).	Simon Hodson, Arofan Gregory (WP1, WP2)	Register here	TBC
WorldFAIR Output Webinar Series: Overview of the projects first round of disciplinary reports: Updates from Chemistry and Nanomaterials.	13 September 2023, 14:00 – 15:00 UTC	This webinar will present the following deliverables completed by WP3 and WP4 respectively: – Digital recommendations for Chemistry FAIR data policy and practice (3.1) – Nanomaterials domain-specific FAIRification mapping (4.1)	Leah Rae McEwen, Fatima Mustafa, Ian Bruno, Stuart Chalk (WP3); Iseult Lynch (WP4), more speakers TBC	Register here	TBC
WorldFAIR Output Webinar Series: Overview of the projects first round of disciplinary reports: Updates from Biodiversity and Agriculture	20 September 2023, 13:00 – 14:00 UTC	This webinar will present the following deliverables completed by WP9 and WP10 respectively: – Data standard for sharing ecological and environmental monitoring data documented for community review (9.1) – Agriculture-related pollinator data standards use cases report (10.1)	Joe Miller (WP9); Debora Pignatari Drucker, Maarten Trekels, Quentin Groom (WP10)	Register here	TBC
WorldFAIR Output Webinar Series: Overview of the projects first round of disciplinary reports: Updates from Population Health and Urban Health	October 2023, date TBC	This webinar will present the following deliverables completed by WP7 and WP8 respectively: Population Health Data Implementation Guide (7.1) Urban Health Data – Guidelines and Recommendations (8.1)	Jim Todd (WP7); Ana Ortigoza (WP8)	TBC	TBC
WorldFAIR Output Webinar Series: Overview of the projects first round of disciplinary reports: Disaster Risk Reduction Updates	15 November 2023, 20:00 – 21:00 UTC	This webinar will present the following deliverables completed by WP12: – Disaster Risk Reduction Case study report (12.1) – Disaster Risk Reduction Domain-specific FAIR vocabularies (12.2)	Jill Bolland, Bapon Fakhruddin T+T (WP12)	Register here	TBC
WorldFAIR Output Webinar Series: Overview of the projects first round of disciplinary reports: Cultural Heritage and Social Surveys updates v2		This webinar will present the following deliverables completed by WP13 and WP6 respectively: Cultural Heritage Recommendations (13.2) Cross-national Social Sciences survey best practice guidelines (6.2)	Steven McEachern (WP6), Beth Knazook (WP13)	TBC	TBC

the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

2nd September 202211th May 2023 | aasmirda

GBIF—the Global Biodiversity Information Facility—is an international network and data infrastructure funded by the world’s governments and aimed at providing anyone, anywhere, open access to data about all types of life on Earth.

Coordinated through its Secretariat in Copenhagen, the GBIF network of participating countries and organizations, working through the participant nodes, provides data-holding institutions around the world with common standards, best practices and open-source tools enabling them to share information about where and when species have been recorded. This knowledge derives from many different kinds of sources, including everything from museum specimens collected in the 18th and 19th century to DNA barcodes and smartphone photos recorded in recent days and weeks.

The network draws these diverse data sources together through the use of data standards, including Darwin Core, which forms the basis for the bulk of GBIF.org’s index of hundreds of millions of species occurrence records. Publishers provide open access to their datasets using machine-readable Creative Commons licence designations, allowing scientists, researchers and others to apply the data in about four peer-reviewed publications (along with more policy papers) every day. Many of these analyses—which cover topics from the impacts of climate change and the spread of invasive and alien pests to priorities for conservation, food security and human health—would not be possible without the data provided by the GBIF network.

VISIT GBIF