Highlights for May 2, 1997
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• CBI Participates in Open House with Metropolitan State College: On April 26, Sharon Shin (CBI), representing the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), co-hosted an open house at Metropolitan State College's Denver Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department. The open house attracted nearly 40 attendees from Federal and local governments, the private sector, and academia. The Department proudly opened to guests their new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Laboratory--largely funded through alumni donations--and students showcased their GIS projects with various government agencies and private businesses. It was noted that many Department students are hired directly from the GIS program prior to graduation. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303/202-4230)
  
  
• USGS/BRD-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program in Theodore Roosevelt NP Will Assist in Exotic Species Control Efforts: On April 29-30, Frank D'Erchia (CBI) conducted a USGS/BRD-National Park Vegetation Mapping Program scoping meeting at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Attendees included representatives from the BOR, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Park staff. BOR and TNC staff will conduct the field work to develop the vegetation classification system for the Park, and will be doing photointerpretation of aerial photography and mapping of the classes to generate a vegetation map of the Park's North and South Units and a 5-mile buffer around the Park. Efforts will be made to coordinate with neighboring representatives of the Forest Service and the BOR on the field work and mapping project. The Park is actively managing an invasive species, leafy spurge, and has a specific need to map the extent of this exotic plant and to analyze the effectiveness of biological and chemical controls. Field efforts will commence this summer and final products should be available by summer 1998. (Frank D'Erchia, Denver, 303/202-4259)
  
  
• Chinese Scientists Visit CBI: On April 30, Maury Nyquist (CBI) was visited by Drs. Roger Hoffer, Professor and Director, Remote Sensing and GIS Program, Colorado State University; Xiaoming Ma, Deputy Director, Center for Environmental Studies, Peking University; and Hoggan Wu, Institute of Resource Information Techniques, The Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing. Nyquist provided a briefing on CBI activities, with special emphasis on the use or linkage of geospatial data technologies in such program areas as Gap Analysis, Land Use History of North America, National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), National Technical Means and NPS-USGS Vegetation Mapping and how cross-governmental activities such as the Federal Geographic Data Committee, NBII, and National Spatial Data Infrastructure are progressing in making standardized data and information more readily available for everyone's use. (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303/202-4217)
  
  
• CBI to Provide MetaMaker Training to Colorado DOW Interns: On May 5, Sharon Shin (CBI) will provide NBII MetaMaker training to six Colorado Division of Wildlife student interns. NBII MetaMaker is a metadata data entry program developed by the BRD. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303/202-4230)
  
  
• Accuracy Assessment and PLGR GPS Training at Tuzigoot National Monument: On May 5-9, Ralph Root and Karl Brown (both CBI) will coordinate accuracy assessment field work for the draft vegetation map at Tuzigoot National Monument in Clarkdale, Arizona. In conjunction with the field work, which will involve six to eight USGS-BRD, NPS, and university participants, training will be conducted in the use of PLGR Global Positioning System equipment and vegetation alliance/association identification. (Ralph Root, Denver, 202-4232)
  
  
• Colorado Ecosystem Partnership: On May 6-8, Sharon Shin (CBI) will attend the Colorado Ecosystem Partnership (CEP) Information Resources Management (IRM) Subcommittee Meeting and the CEP Steering Committee meeting at the U.S. Forest Service Building in Lakewood, Colorado. The CEP is a collaboration of nine Federal agencies, seven State agencies, local government entities, academia, and private citizens and organizations whose goal is to achieve ecologically sustainable, economically feasible, socially acceptable resource management and protection. The IRM Subcommittee will establish strategies, priorities, and time frames to ensure effective participation. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303/202-4230)
  
  
• CBI Represents DOI at GPS/GIS Conference: On May 14, Karl Brown (CBI) will present a paper at the Global Positioning System (GPS)/Geographic Information Systems Conference in Annapolis on DOI status and use of GPS and emerging applications. (Karl Brown, Denver, 303/202-4240)
  
  
• Management Scale Ecological Research Workshop: On June 2-5, Maury Nyquist (CBI) has been invited to participate in the Department of Defense (DOD)/Department of Energy (DOE)/Environmental Protection Agency-sponsored Management Scale Ecological Research Workshop at Airlie House, Virginia. The goals are to: (1) characterize the status of ecological research at the management scale, (2) identify ecological research needs and opportunities to better address DOD user needs, and (3) link academic and other researchers with the user communities of the DOD and DOE. The joint agency Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program has commissioned the Center for the Study of the Environment to develop a white paper and direct this workshop. (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303/202-4217)
  

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives:

• FGDC Vegetation Subcommittee Home Page Updated: During the week of April 28-May 2, Gary Waggoner and Mike Zavori (both CBI) made significant updates to the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Vegetation Subcommittee WWW home page, including posting of the draft Vegetation Classification and Information Standard, currently in the final phase of review by the FGDC Standards Working Group. A full text posting has also been made of formal comments and responses to the previous draft standard, which was published in the Federal Register for public comment June 3, 1996. CBI is serving the FGDC Vegetation Subcommittee home page on its Denver server. (Gary Waggoner, Denver, 303/202-4222)
  
  
• NBII and International Species 2000 Conference: On May 6-7, Gladys Cotter (OBIO) and Gary Waggoner (CBI) will meet with Dr. Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis; Dr. Brien Meilleur, Director, Center for Plant Conservation; and other Botanical Garden staff members to discuss NBII activities of mutual interest, including the new Center for Botanical Informatics at the Gardens. In addition, they will attend the International Species 2000 Conference which is being hosted by the Missouri Botanical Gardens. (Gary Waggoner, Denver, 303/202-4222)
  
  
• ITIS Federal Partnership Meeting: On May 13-15, Gary Waggoner (CBI) will attend the Spring meeting of the Interagency Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Federal partnership at the National Ocean Data Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. The meeting will provide an update on the status of the online ITIS database (http://www.itis.usda.gov/itis), the electronic "workbench" software tool for data entry and analysis, and other partner agency activities related to ITIS. Waggoner will also present a demonstration of the new Taxonomic Resource and Expertise Database developed by CBI in partnership with the Association of Systematics Collections. (Gary Waggoner, Denver, 303/202-4222)
  

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries:

• CBI Staff Members Assist with Media Queries: During the week of April 28-May 2, several CBI staff members provided contact information and expert identification for media queries.
  
  

  Susan Stitt forwarded a query by Wildbird Magazine on island ecology to Kevel Lindsay, the Island Resources Foundation biodiversity expert in Antigua and a leading birder in the area.
  
  

  Paul Opler and Gary Waggoner (both CBI) responded to a query by Zoogoer, the magazine of the National Zoo, regarding invasive exotic plants. Waggoner also responded to a query regarding natural sponges by supplying taxonomic expert names and addresses.
  
  

  A query by Today's Smart Parent Magazine about the educational benefits of collections (rocks, insects, stamps, etc.) to elementary school students was answered by Waggoner by supplying expert contact information and describing an Association of Systematics Collections joint session with the American Association of Museums which discussed "Natural History Collections, Research, and Public Education: An Integration."
  

V. FOIA Requests: No report.