Supporting the construction of workflows for biodiversity problem-solving accessing secure, distributed resources

In the Biodiversity World (BDW) project we have created a flexible and extensible Web Services-based Grid environment for biodiversity researchers to solve problems in biodiversity and analyse biodiversity patterns. In this environment, heterogeneous and globally distributed biodiversity-related resources such as data sets and analytical tools are made available to be accessed and assembled by users into workflows to perform complex scientific experiments. One such experiment is bioclimatic modelling of the geographical distribution of individual species using climate variables in order to explain past and future climate-related changes in species distribution. Data sources and analytical tools required for such analysis of species distribution are widely dispersed, available on heterogeneous platforms, present data in different formats and lack inherent interoperability. The present BDW system brings all these disparate units together so that the user can combine tools with little thought as to their original availability, data formats and interoperability. The new prototype BDW system architecture not only brings together heterogeneous resources but also enables utilisation of computational resources and provides a secure access to BDW resources via a federated security model. We describe features of the new BDW system and its security model which enable user authentication from a workflow application as part of workflow execution

‘Gendering Objects at the V&A and Vasa Museums’

This article presents two case studies which are the result of an application of a gendered interpretative tool to the collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum (London) and the Vasa Museum (Stockholm). Objects and their gendered narratives within the museums’ collections have been researched across their lifecycle from commission and manufacture to consumption and display in a museum setting. This research has been developed in close co-operation between researchers/curators/museum professionals. It responds to a need for museums to have gender better integrated into narratives of the past and present. Transforming curatorial and curatorial practice is at the heart of this work, and the research seeks to develop best practice guidance on making diverse gendered history more visible in the museum space. The team of researchers, curators and museum professionals have identified and researched a selection of early modern objects and their gendered narratives within the museum’s collections. This article uses two hats held at the Vasa and V&A to demonstrate this methodology. Woollen and beaver hats are gendered in terms of their intended wearer; the predominantly female labour of the wool industry; the impact of the beaver skin trade on Native American gender dynamics; and the status of headwear as an index of anxiety about gender nonconformity. An innovative outcome of the research has been a raising of the awareness of gender (which encompasses women and men, femininities and masculinities, sexualities and identities) as an important interpretative category within the museum environment, and the important role this can play in generating diverse narratives that have wider societal impact disseminated through curatorial practice, as well as educational and public programming