Natural Language Generation for Nature Conservation : Automating Feedback to help Volunteers identify Bumblebee Species

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Simple identification tools in FishBase

Simple identification tools for fish species were included in the FishBase information system from its inception. Early tools made use of the relational model and characters like fin ray meristics. Soon pictures and drawings were added as a further help, similar to a field guide. Later came the computerization of existing dichotomous keys, again in combination with pictures and other information, and the ability to restrict possible species by country, area, or taxonomic group. Today, www.FishBase.org offers four different ways to identify species. This paper describes these tools with their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests various options for further development. It explores the possibility of a holistic and integrated computeraided strategy

Understanding citizen science and environmental monitoring: final report on behalf of UK Environmental Observation Framework

Citizen science can broadly be defined as the involvement of volunteers in science. Over the past decade there has been a rapid increase in the number of citizen science initiatives. The breadth of environmental-based citizen science is immense. Citizen scientists have surveyed for and monitored a broad range of taxa, and also contributed data on weather and habitats reflecting an increase in engagement with a diverse range of observational science. Citizen science has taken many varied approaches from citizen-led (co-created) projects with local community groups to, more commonly, scientist-led mass participation initiatives that are open to all sectors of society. Citizen science provides an indispensable means of combining environmental research with environmental education and wildlife recording. Here we provide a synthesis of extant citizen science projects using a novel cross-cutting approach to objectively assess understanding of citizen science and environmental monitoring including: 1. Brief overview of knowledge on the motivations of volunteers. 2. Semi-systematic review of environmental citizen science projects in order to understand the variety of extant citizen science projects. 3. Collation of detailed case studies on a selection of projects to complement the semi-systematic review. 4. Structured interviews with users of citizen science and environmental monitoring data focussing on policy, in order to more fully understand how citizen science can fit into policy needs. 5. Review of technology in citizen science and an exploration of future opportunities

An Open Context for Near Eastern Archaeology

The common use by archaeologists of ubiquitous technologies such as computers and digital cameras means that archaeological research projects now produce huge amounts of diverse, digital documentation. However, while the technology is available to collect this documentation, we still largely lack community-accepted dissemination channels appropriate for such torrents of data. Open Context aims to help fill this gap by providing open access data publication services for archaeology. Open Context has a flexible and generalized technical architecture that can accommodate most archaeological datasets, despite the lack of common recording systems or other documentation standards. It includes a variety of tools to make data dissemination easier and more worthwhile. Authorship is clearly identified through citation tools, including web-based publication systems that enable individuals to upload their own data for review, and collaboration is facilitated through easy download and "tagging" features. Near Eastern archaeologists will benefit from Open Context's flexibility to share a variety of content from diverse projects, no matter how large or small. This article was originally published in Near Eastern Archaeology (ISSN 1094-2076), Volume 70, Number 4, December 2007

ALIGNING DESIGN AND THE SOCIAL INNOVATION APPROACH

Based upon the experience of research and applications in social innovation, this article seeks to present, relate, and discuss experiments carried out in conjunction with social entrepreneurs, traditional communities, and the mariculture sector in Santa Catarina, Brazil. This study was carried out at the Design Management Nucleus of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, integrated with the graduate program in Design. Based upon the phenomenological method, which concerns itself with direct descriptions of experiences, and support from the theoretical references within this theme, it was possible to better comprehend the contribution of design in social innovation through a qualitative approach, exemplified in the three cases described above. Complementary to this, the use of direct observation techniques, interviews, accompanying activities, as well as photographic and video registries permitted a detailed description of each situation considered, which was represented by an individual in the case of social entrepreneurs who presented the action of reutilizing vegetable oil as fuel for maritime vehicles, as soap, and organic fertilizer. The traditional communities were represented by the Taboa action, which reunites a group of women located in Guarda do Embaú, SC, Brazil. The mariculture sector was represented with an association of mariculturers from the south of “Santa Catarina Island” (Ilha de Santa Catarina) called Amprosul, composed of 27 members. Social innovation may be defined as changes in the manner in which individuals or a community act in order to resolve its problems or create new opportunities. In this sense, design presents itself with an important role with respect to sustainability with its ability to design alternative solutions to be applied to a sustainable future. This is fortified further with the consideration that one of the auxiliary principles of design is to improve the quality of life of people and to promote well-being. Others are to look at social innovation, identify promising cases, utilize sensibility, capacity, and the abilities of the designer in order to design various artifacts, and to indicate new directions in technical innovation. The results of this study permit us to visualize design’s contribution in social innovation, referring as much to social processes of innovation as social interest innovation

A Robust and Universal Metaproteomics Workflow for Research Studies and Routine Diagnostics Within 24 h Using Phenol Extraction, FASP Digest, and the MetaProteomeAnalyzer

The investigation of microbial proteins by mass spectrometry (metaproteomics) is a key technology for simultaneously assessing the taxonomic composition and the functionality of microbial communities in medical, environmental, and biotechnological applications. We present an improved metaproteomics workflow using an updated sample preparation and a new version of the MetaProteomeAnalyzer software for data analysis. High resolution by multidimensional separation (GeLC, MudPIT) was sacrificed to aim at fast analysis of a broad range of different samples in less than 24 h. The improved workflow generated at least two times as many protein identifications than our previous workflow, and a drastic increase of taxonomic and functional annotations. Improvements of all aspects of the workflow, particularly the speed, are first steps toward potential routine clinical diagnostics (i.e., fecal samples) and analysis of technical and environmental samples. The MetaProteomeAnalyzer is provided to the scientific community as a central remote server solution at www.mpa.ovgu.de.Peer Reviewe