Highlights for January 29, 1998
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• BRD Participates in G7 Environment and Natural Resources Management Project: On February 5-6, Gary Waggoner will participate in the G7 Environment and Natural Resources Management Biological Diversity Topic Working Group meeting on the island of Vilm, Germany. Waggoner is the U.S. representative on this working group, which is dealing with making biological diversity data and information accessible to the world on the Internet through the adoption of international information standards. (Gary Waggoner, Denver, 303/202-4222)

• BRD State Partnership Program Funds National Fisheries Database: On February 9-11, Donna Mahoney of CBI will represent OBIO at the National Freshwater Fisheries Database Summit in San Diego. The Summit is part of the ECRC-Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR)-Wisconsin DNR-Wyoming Game and Fish Department project, "Development of a national freshwater fisheries database status report and strategic plan for database integration and access," funded by the BRD State Partnership Program in 1997. A nationwide survey of fisheries database systems has been conducted as part of the Summit. Representatives from all 50 states will discuss the survey and will develop a plan to advance state fisheries information systems by working on database content, structure, access, and metadata. (Donna Mahoney, Denver, 303/202-4238)

• BRD Leads Symposium at AAAS Annual Meeting: On February 14, Gary Waggoner, CBI, is chairing the symposium "Systematic Biology In the New Millennium" at the 1998 American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting and Science Innovation Exposition in Philadelphia. Waggoner will be presenting a paper entitled "Recognizing the Need for Taxonomic Information: A New Federal Perspetive." Other papers in the symposium will be presented by speakers from the American Museum of Natural History; the Natural History Museum, England; the National Science Foundation; and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. (Gary Waggoner, Denver, 303/202-4222)

• NBII Metadata Training Workshop: On February 3-6, Sharon Shin (CBI) and Jennifer Gaines (OBIO) will present a National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Metadata Training Workshop at the NOAA Coastal Services Center in Charleston, SC. The NBII metadata standard will support increased access to, sharing, and use of biological data and information among users on both a national and an international basis. It will also help to broaden the understanding and implementation of the Federal Geographic Data Committee geospatial metadata content standard within the biological resources community. NOAA has provided local logistical assistance for the training session. Participants represent both NOAA and the USGS. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303/202-4230)
  

• BRD Participates in National Computer Technology Conference: On April 9, the paper "Development of a National Biological Information Infrastructure," by Frank D'Erchia (CRO), Anne Frondorf (OBIO), Maury Nyquist (CBI), Susan Stitt (CBI), and Gary Waggoner (CBI) will be presented at the 9th National Computer Technology Meeting in St. Louis. The WRD sponsors a National Computer Technology Meeting every 24 months, alternating between Regional locations, to focus on computer training, policy, and science applications. The meeting has typically drawn 250 attendees, and as in the past, professionals from all divisions will sponsor and participate in sessions. The technical sessions will focus on the application of computer technology for supporting the vision and strategic plans of the USGS. (Gary Waggoner, Denver, 303/202-4222)

IV. Press/Media Inquiries: No report.