Americas Program Workshop: Cyberinfrastructure for International Biodiversity Research Collaboration; Panama; January 2006

0549443/0549456比奇/伊巴拉该美洲项目奖将资助由堪萨斯大学研究中心的詹姆斯·H·比奇博士和佛罗里达国际大学的胡里奥·伊巴拉博士组织的项目开发研讨会。该讲习班将由墨西哥、巴拿马、哥斯达黎加和哥伦比亚的多个科学机构联合主办，主题是新工具和工作方法在生物多样性方面的应用。这些工具源于计算、相关信息技术的进步，以及目前正在全球发展的不断增长的基础设施--网络基础设施。讲习班将于2006年1月初在巴拿马城举行，将探讨机会和突破性活动，目的是促进未来在生物多样性信息学和研究方面的合作。在提供无处不在的数据网络连接之前，生物多样性研究合作需要以实地工作、驻留或其他类型访问的形式进行面对面的专业互动，并主要依靠纸质文件和邮件进行远程协调和沟通。今天，许多研究社区，包括系统学、系统发生学和生态学社区，正处于变革性变化的尖端，这是网络容量的结果，这将使一种新的研究协作类别得以实现，这种协作基于与网络信息服务器和计算服务的即时交互，在一种被称为“网格计算”的范式中。将世界各地科学家的桌面连接在一起的高吞吐量国际主干将有助于在虚拟的、全球的、生物多样性协作环境中与科学家启动一类新的研究合作。为了为北美和中美洲国家之间的研究交流转变做好准备，研讨会将包括来自美国、墨西哥、巴拿马、哥斯达黎加、哥伦比亚和其他中美洲国家的40-50名受邀的领先生物研究人员、网络基础设施技术人员和资助机构代表。它将侧重于确定能够促进北美和中美洲伙伴关系与合作的活动。成果将包括关于后续活动的建议和促进国际信息学合作的投资建议。会议的更广泛影响最终将导致新的合作模式，支持生物多样性研究和分析，以便更好地了解全球生物多样性对生态和社会的影响。这次研讨会得到了环境生物学司、网络基础设施办公室和国际科学与工程办公室的共同支持。

0549443/0549456Beach/IbarraThis Americas Program award will support a program development workshop organized by Dr. James H. Beach of the University of Kansas Center for Research and Dr. Julio Ibarra of Florida International University. The workshop, which will be jointly sponsored by various science agencies of Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia, will be concerned with applications of new tools and working methodologies to biodiversity. These tools derive from advances in computing, related information technologies, and the growing infrastructure-the cyberinfrastructure-that is currently under development globally. The workshop will be held in Panama City, early in January 2006 and will explore opportunities and breakthrough activities with the aim of promoting future collaborations in biodiversity informatics and research. Prior to the availability of ubiquitous data network connectivity, biodiversity research collaborations required face-to-face professional interactions in the form of field work, in-residence stays, or other kinds of visits, and relied mainly on paper documents and mail for remote coordination and communication. Today many research communities, including the systematics, phylogenetics and ecology communities, are on the cusp of transformative change as a consequence of network capacity that will enable a new class of research collaboration based on instant interaction with networked information servers and computational services, in a paradigm known as "Grid Computing." High throughput international backbones linking desktops of scientists around the world will help launch a new class of research collaborations with scientists "wired together" in a virtual, global, biodiversity collaboration environment.To set the stage and prepare for this transformation in research communications among North and Central American countries, the workshop will include 40-50 invited leading biology researchers, cyberinfrastructure technologists, and funding agency representatives from the United States, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, and various other Central American countries. It will be focused on identifying activities that will enable North and Central American partnerships and collaborations. Outcomes will include recommendations for follow-on activities and suggestions for investments to promote international informatics collaboration. The broader impacts of the meeting will, ultimately, lead to new modes of collaboration, supporting biodiversity research and analysis for policy and planning, to better understand the ecological and societal impacts of global biodiversity. This workshop is being jointly supported by the Division of Environmental Biology, the Office of Cyberinfrastructure, and the Office of International Science and Engineering.