Join the GBIF Data Use Club

Open forum for worldwide community of biodiversity data users supports knowledge sharing and development of data skills while showcasing scientific research and analysis enabled by GBIF-mediated data

bg-data-use-club-join
Petty Spurge Euphorbia peplus L. observed in Germany by Alexis licensed under CC BY 4.0

In early March 2022, the GBIF Secretariat kicked off the Data Use Club with an introductory webinar. The Club is envisioned as an open forum where a worldwide community of biodiversity data users can share knowledge, access technical support, develop data skills and showcase research powered by GBIF-mediated data.

Built on the foundation provided by an online course in biodiversity data use first developed for the BID programme, the Data Use Club will support a growing community of practice with quarterly training seminars and webinars about data use that provide equal opportunities to share knowledge and find inspiration for developing solutions to their own challenges.

Register now for the first Data Use Club seminar on 15 June, when Samantha Stefanoff and Randal Greene from NatureServe Canada will share the challenges and experiences they faced in improving spatial planning and protected area networks during the Ecosystem-based Automated Range (EBAR) Range Mapping project.

GBIF has also partnered with DataCamp Donates to offer 150 licenses that GBIF users can use to develop their data literacy skills. DataCamp provides more than 300 online courses in programming, data science, and machine learning, and coordinated teams from seven countries from the GBIF network are already taking advantage of these materials to improve their data-use workflows (learn more and apply for a DataCamp licence).

"It is exciting to support data use through the Data Use Club," said Andrew Rodrigues, programme officer for participation and engagement at the GBIF Secretariat. "Sharing knowledge and providing access to tools that reduce the technical barriers to the use of data will support better scientific research and more effective decision-making worldwide."

For more information, visit gbif.org/data-use-club, and direct questions and comments to datause@gbif.org.