History
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) hosts the U.S. Node to GBIF since the U.S. joined GBIF in 2001. The USGS-coordinated National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) served first as the primary implementation vehicle for the node. Since NBII’s cancellation in 2010, the USGS Core Science Analytics, Synthesis and Libraries Program implements the node. The Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation (BISON) project comprises most node activities.
Mission
The U.S. node to GBIF represents an integral part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s activities to collect, organize and share biological information. As with other initiatives, the U.S. GBIF node streamlines access to U.S. biodiversity information and links it with broader geoscience data to address critical societal issues.
Structure
BISON is the primary project contributing to the node. It provides a specialized view of GBIF records for the U.S. and assists with provision of U.S. records to GBIF.
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) coordinates EcoINFORMA, a broader U.S. government effort to organize and share data on biodiversity, environmental health and ecosystem services.
The Biological and Ecological Informatics Working Group is made up of representatives from numerous U.S. government agencies. It helps organize and prioritize contributions to both EcoINFORMA and BISON.
Funding
Since establishing the node in 2001, the United States Geological Survey has fully funded direct implementation of the U.S. Node to GBIF as a key contribution to its broader biodiversity informatics activities.
The basic financial contribution to GBIF is made by the National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
