Nodes Committee Chair
Dr Francisco Pando is a researcher of the Spanish's National Science Council (CSIC) and did his PhD through University Complutense (Madrid). He has always navigated between Taxonomy and Informatics. His taxonomic studies have been centered on Myxomycetes (Slime Moulds) whereas on informatics he focused on Information systems for collection management, floristic studies and identification systems.
He has published over 80 scientific articles, done field work in Altai, Equatorial Guinea, Morocco, Panama and Spain, and co-authored a few global check-lists. He has been keeper of the cryptogamic collections at the Royal Botanical Garden (Madrid) and Secretary of the TDWG (now Biodiversity Information Standards Group, 1995-2000). He set-up and directed the Spanish GBIF node in 2003-4, and then worked as programme officer for Nodes at the GBIF Secretariat (2005/6). He is currently back at the head of the Spanish GBIF node.
Nodes Committee Vice Chair
My original training was in Marine Biology at Liverpool University but I have always been particularly interested in the analysis of biological data. On completion of my PhD I worked as a data analyst at the Institute of Zoology (London). Following that I worked at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority exploring the potential use of spatial prediction techniques and it was during that time that I acquired a good grounding in both databases and programming and realised the enormous potential there was in applying this field to biodiversity.
On return to the UK in 1997, I began work for the Joint Nature Conservation Committee where I remain today heading up the Access to Information programme. I have been heavily involved in the establishment of a National Biodiversity Network (NBN) to mobilise the huge volume of biodiversity data available across the UK. The NBN is now a major contributor of data to the GBIF network. I have been closely involved in virtually all aspects of the NBN initiative from this very early stage in both the overall strategic direction and actual practical implementation. I have also been involved with a range of other biodiversity informatics projects including the development and support of a) Recorder 6, a scalable software product capable of capturing and managing multiple ecological field surveys, and of handling millions of data points, b) Marine Recorder an equivalent system for marine biodiversity samples, and I am currently heavily involved UK Government led initiatives to improve access to environmental data generally, particularly in marine, ensuring that biodiversity data is part of the overall picture.
Nodes Committee Vice Chair
He is the coordinator of Biodiversity Databases at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK). NMK has been a lead agency in the promotion and growth of Biodiversity Informatics in the East Africa region and he has been involved in numerous projects on BI locally and in the region. He pioneered the Informatics work in Kenya at NMK in the early 1990s and has been playing the lead role in the establishment of biodiversity databases. He has been a regional consultant on issues of biodiversity informatics and has contributed to the development and strengthening of national and regional policy regarding BI. He worked also with the World Bank project to address environmental problems affecting the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the World, the Lake Victoria located in East Africa. This experience helped him realise the integration between the environment, biodiversity and human activities and the value of collecting data and analyses, in understanding the critical interplay and interrelationships between various factors on the environment.
He graduated in ICT and Physics from Nairobi University and obtained a scholarship to undertake an MSc. Degree in Biometry from University of Reading, UK and currently finalising his PhD. at Kenyatta University. He is interested in enhancing the BI agenda in developing countries and in forming beneficial collaborative linkages between institutions globally. One area of keen interest is in the use of the vast GBIF data holdings to develop products to contribute to learning about the environment and to address the myriad environmental challenges that society faces today.
