2005 Ebbe Nielsen Prize Awarded to Pablo A. Goloboff

Computer scientist and biologist Pablo Goloboff has won the $35,000 Ebbe Nielsen Prize for programs that can pinpoint regions of the world that are home to a particularly unique range of animals and plants.

The fourth Ebbe Nielsen Prize of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) will be presented to Dr. Goloboff in Brussels on 18 April 2005 at a special ceremony following GBIF’s annual Science Symposium. The Prize will be introduced by Dr. Peter Raven, a friend of Ebbe Nielsen.

This Prize is the only award in the world for excellence in biodiversity informatics, the area of science that develops computer programs and uses the Internet in support of research on the range and spread of life on earth.

Working with his wife, biologist Claudia Szumik, Dr. Goloboff develops computer algorithms that identify so-called areas of endemism – places that are home to many species that exist nowhere else. The programs designed by Dr. Goloboff analyse the kind of data that GBIF makes available – information about where all the world’s species are found.

“Pablo is an especially good choice because Ebbe Nielsen was himself particularly interested in areas of endemism and how they might contribute to conservation and the understanding of biodiversity,” said Dr. Joel Cracraft of the American Museum of Natural History. “Pablo's methodological contributions allow us to take advantage of new data and significantly refine our understanding of endemism.”

Dr. Goloboff’s computer program is an open source development, meaning it is freely available for anyone to use or modify. It is capable of analysing very large amounts of data and focusing on endemism on a more detailed geographical scale than had ever before been possible.

Dr. Goloboff is a scientist who works for Argentina’s Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Regarding his work, Dr. Goloboff said “the value of computer programs is in enabling researchers to apply specific sets of criteria to complex and difficult problems.”

The GBIF Science Committee, which selected Dr. Goloboff from among a number of nominations, noted: “His work is very solid from several perspectives, namely, mathematics, biology (theoretical and pragmatic aspects) and the development of algorithms.”