Award Abstract # 2027654
iDigBio: Sustaining the digitization, mobilization, accessibility, and use of biodiversity specimen data in U.S. museum and academic collections

NSF Org: DBI
Division of Biological Infrastructure
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Initial Amendment Date: May 5, 2021
Latest Amendment Date: July 16, 2024
Award Number: 2027654
Award Instrument: Cooperative Agreement
Program Manager: Steven Ellis
stellis@nsf.gov
 (703)292-7876
DBI
 Division of Biological Infrastructure
BIO
 Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date: September 1, 2021
End Date: August 31, 2026 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $19,995,068.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $15,917,274.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2021 = $3,883,725.00
FY 2022 = $3,950,956.00

FY 2023 = $4,012,452.00

FY 2024 = $4,070,141.00
History of Investigator:
  • Roy Nelson (Principal Investigator)
    gnelson@floridamuseum.ufl.edu
  • Jose Fortes (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Pamela Soltis (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Austin Mast (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Elizabeth Ellwood (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • David Blackburn (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Florida
1523 UNION RD RM 207
GAINESVILLE
FL  US  32611-1941
(352)392-3516
Sponsor Congressional District: 03
Primary Place of Performance: University of Florida
1659 Museum Road
Gainesville
FL  US  32611-7800
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
03
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): NNFQH1JAPEP3
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Sustained Availability of Biol
Primary Program Source: 01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002223DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT

01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s): 086Y00
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.074

ABSTRACT

Integrated Digitized Biocollections (idigbio.org) at the University of Florida (UF), Florida State University (FSU), and Arizona State University (ASU) is the national coordinating body for the sustained effort to digitize, and make available online, the vast amount of information in the nation's biodiversity collections, which may contain up to 1 billion specimens. For biological specimens, information digitized include names of species, localities and dates of collection, digital photographs, sound, video, and 3-D models created from a variety of sources. This community digitization effort was catalyzed by NSF?s Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) program via Thematic Collections Networks (TCNs), groups of institutions that digitize specimens to address a major research topic such as the relationship between agricultural crops and insects or the impacts of invasive species on natural ecosystems. iDigBio assists in coordinating activities of the TCNs by facilitating development of standards and workflows for digitization of specimens and related information, providing cyberinfrastructure resources to enable long-term preservation of digital data, promoting novel and traditional uses of collections data in research and outreach, and working with the collections community to plan for the long-term sustainability of the national effort and the resources it has produced. The availability of digitized information about specimens greatly enhances the ability to conduct research on biological diversity and to address some of the most fundamental questions in biology.

Over the past ten years, the national effort to digitize information in the nation's biodiversity collections has been significantly advanced by the activities of iDigBio. Collaborations with data providers and users have been developed, goals and priorities defined, best practices related to digitization identified, and global collaborations with biodiversity data aggregators established. Cyberinfrastructure resources, including a national search portal, have been provided. These community-driven activities have led to improved digitization practices, increased involvement in digitization and training, and adoption of instruments and informatics tools that improve the efficiency and scalability of digitization and research workflows in all types of biodiversity collections. iDigBio works with staff in more than 926 collections in 317 institutions distributed across all 50 states. Communication among stakeholders to increase access to collections data has been established through workshops, webinars, and the use of social media. Since 2011, iDigBio has sponsored attendance of 16,768 participants from 1,034 institutions to 430 workshops, webinars, symposia, and events that targeted digitization-related topics. iDigBio has ingested 1,651 record sets containing 128 million specimen records and 41 million media records. All data ingested are indexed to enable queries and other types of index-based access. Searches for data can be done through a Web-based graphical interface or through programmatic APIs. Search and analytical tools enable users to mine diverse data such as taxonomy, location, images, traits, and vocalizations. During this award period, iDigBio to continue its successful strategies with an increasing emphasis on data improvement and use in research and outreach and to incorporate such rapidly developing technologies as artificial intelligence and machine learning in biodiversity data integration. iDigBio is recognized as an essential resource for information on biodiversity and digitization. As the scientific and societal benefits of validated collections data are realized, digitization will become a common and sustained practice in natural history collections.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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(Showing: 1 - 10 of 27)
Bentley, Andrew and Thiers, Barbara and Moser, William E and Watkins-Colwell, Gregory J and Zimkus, Breda M and Monfils, Anna K and Franz, Nico M and Bates, John M and Boundy-Mills, Kyria and Lomas, Michael W and Ellwood, Elizabeth R and Poo, Sinlan and C "Community Action: Planning for Specimen Management in Funding Proposals" BioScience , v.74 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae032 Citation Details
Chepkirui, Purity and Chiawo, David and James, Jumbe and Jemimah, Simbauni and Ellwood, Elizabeth and Mugo, Jane and Ngila, Peggy Mutheu "Niche Distribution Pattern of Rüppell's Vulture ( Gyps rueppellii ) and Conservation Implication in Kenya" Ecology and Evolution , v.14 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70371 Citation Details
Christian, Christine and Gwilliam_III, Gilbert and von_Konrat, Matt and Ahn, June and Bailey, Colleen and Dodinval, Daniel and Ellwood, Elizabeth R and Golembiewski, Kate and Higgins, Lila and Jones, Camille and Martinez, Vanessa and Ordeñana, Miguel and "Embracing inclusivity: the case against the term 'citizen science'" Research Ideas and Outcomes , v.10 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.10.e137412 Citation Details
Elliott, Michael J and Fortes, José_A B "Toward Reliable Biodiversity Information Extraction From Large Language Models" , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1109/e-Science62913.2024.10678666 Citation Details
Elliott, Michael J. and Poelen, Jorrit H. and Fortes, José A. "Signing data citations enables data verification and citation persistence" Scientific Data , v.10 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02230-y Citation Details
Flemming, Adania D. "Studentfocused, careerdriven exploration in natural history museums through experiential education and mentorship: A model to intentionally increase the racial and ethnic diversity of students" Natural Sciences Education , v.52 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/nse2.20097 Citation Details
Folk, Ryan A and Charboneau, Joseph_L M and Belitz, Michael and Singh, Tajinder and Kates, Heather R and Soltis, Douglas E and Soltis, Pamela S and Guralnick, Robert P and Siniscalchi, Carolina M "Anatomy of a megaradiation: Biogeography and niche evolution in Astragalus" American Journal of Botany , v.111 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.16299 Citation Details
Fong, Jonathan J and Blom, Mozes_P K and Aowphol, Anchalee and McGuire, Jimmy A and Sutcharit, Chirasak and Soltis, Pamela S "Editorial: Recent advances in museomics: revolutionizing biodiversity research" Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution , v.11 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1188172 Citation Details
Hodel, Richard G. J. and Soltis, Douglas E. and Soltis, Pamela S. "Hindcastvalidated species distribution models reveal future vulnerabilities of mangroves and salt marsh species" Ecology and Evolution , v.12 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9252 Citation Details
Islam, Sharif and Beach, James and Ellwood, Elizabeth R and Fortes, Jose and Lannom, Larry and Nelson, Gil and Plale, Beth "Assessing the FAIR Digital Object Framework for Global Biodiversity Research" Research Ideas and Outcomes , v.9 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.9.e108808 Citation Details
James, Nicole and Adkinson, Alex and Mast, Austin "Rapid imaging in the field followed by photogrammetry digitally captures the otherwise lost dimensions of plant specimens" Applications in Plant Sciences , v.11 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11547 Citation Details
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 27)

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