The INRAM Biodiversity Database Project

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The INRAM Biodiversity Database Project

• Christopher K. Frazier, Timothy K. Lowrey
• INRAM Biodiversity Program Manager and
  Biodiversity DirectorUniversity of New
  MexicoAlbuquerque, NM, USA
• and
• Daniel J. Howard
• INRAM DirectorNew Mexico State UniversityLas
  Cruces, NM, USA

TDWG Annual Meeting Indiatuba, SP,
Brasil 2002-10-20
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INRAM

• Funded via the NSF Experimental Program to
  Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and the
  state of new Mexico.
• 3-year funding started March, 2002.
• Mission To provide natural resource information
  and analysis tools to support science,
  conservation, management and general knowledge of
  NM natural resources.

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INRAM

• Collaborative effort of NM universities
• UNM, NMSU, NMT, ENMU, WNMU, Highlands, Dine
  college
• And other organizations
• NM EPSCoR state office, LTER Network, LTER
  Sevilleta, LTER Jornada, USGS SWGap, NMMNH, EDAC,
  NMNHP, SNL, LANL others

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Six INRAM Divisions

• LEC Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry
  (NMSU)
• Land Management (Highlands University)
• Hydrology (NMT)
• LESA Laboratory for Environmental Spatial
  Analysis (NMSU)
• Biodiversity (UNM)
• VCE Virtual Center for the Environment (UNM)

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Six INRAM Divisions

• LEC Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry
• Land management
• Hydrology
• LESA Laboratory for Environmental Spatial
  Analysis
• Biodiversity
• VCE Virtual Center for the Environment

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INRAM Divisions With Biodiversity Components

• Biodiversity
• Accumulate, georeference, and provide information
  on NM biodiversity including museum specimen
  info.
• LESA Laboratory for Environmental Spatial
  Analysis
• Provide geospatial NM natural resource data sets
  and analytic tools provide GIS consultation,
  training and support.
• VCE Virtual Center for the Environment
• Education/outreach arm of INRAM. Education
  oriented web site.

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INRAM Shared Resources

• Biodiversity, LESA and VCE
• Shared hardware (Sun Fire 280R Webserver, Dell
  PowerEdge 4600 fileserver)..
• Shared development teams (sys admin, web site,
  database design)..
• Shared data resources (museum biodiversity data
  set, geospatial natural resources data).

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INRAM Biodiversity

• First year goals
• Create an all-taxa, combined database of specimen
  records from four NM collections (UNM, NMSU,
  ENMU, WNMU).
• Provide a web-based query interface to these
  data.
• Create multiple output options including html
  format, text, and mapped data sets..
• Imposed deadline
• Create a demo of capabilities within six months
  from funding inception (October, 2002).

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INRAM Biodiversity

• Staff support for participating collections
• Hired collection managers at three universities.
• Undergraduate and graduate support
• Provided to hire students for data entry and
  quality control.
• Equipment and support
• Provided computers and network solutions.
• Providing support for choosing and implementing
  database software.

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Museum Challenges

• Some collections databased, some not started.
• Different database softwares and database models.
• Different degrees of technological advancement.
• Large state, collections are far from each other.
• Different degrees of interest in combined data
  sets.
• Different data release policies and concerns.

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Network Design
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Link Back to Data Providers
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Philosophical Foundations

• Real data are the specimens and the expertise of
  collection managers and curators.
• Use open source technology whenever possible.
• Modular and flexible development scheme.
• True collaborative effort.
• Deliver useable product.

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Query Interface
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HTML Output
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Exact Locality Map Output
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County Map Distributions
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Future Directions

• Georeference specimen data.
• Create taxonomic thesaurus.
• Add access to other biodiversity data
  sets(Heritage Program data, checklists, range
  maps, etc.).
• Develop data use agreements and protocols.

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IRAM

• Dan Howard INRAM Director (NMSU)
• Tim Lowrey Biodiversity Director (UNM)
• Mike DeMers LESA Director (NMSU)
• Bruce Neville VCE Director (UNM)
• Chongbing Liu INRAM Programmer (NMSU)
• Chris Stubben - INRAM Programmer (NMSU)
• Vince Gutschick INRAM Advisor (NMSU)
• Brook Milligan INRAM Advisor (NMSU)
• And many others

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• Visit us at
• INRAM.org