Over last summer, Rete LTER-Italia and LifeWatch Italia have walked and ridden together with citizens three different routes discoverying ecosystems and biodiversity, and introducing the public to science on the field.
Three documentaries tell us about this initiative.
Today, Il Sole 24 Ore, Italian leading newspaper, dedicates a full page article to LufeWatch Italia, in its section “Eventi – Programmi & Progetti” de “Il Sole 24 Ore”.
Digital version in attachement.
On 16 December, from 10:00 to 13:30, the LifeWatch Italy Annual Conference will be held in Rome, the library of the Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze (Villa Torlonia, via Spallanzani 1/A).
During the conference will be discussing LifeWatch use from a user perspective, issues related to open data; ongoing activities will be presented and strategic priorities highlighted.
All presentations and contributions are available here.
In the framework of the Taxonomy Training, LifeWatch Italy, together with the Distributed European School of Taxonomy, will hold the course “Entomological research in protected areas”.
The aim is to teach students and young researchers how to organise and do field research on insects (mainly Coleoptera), how to set and identify the collected material and how to prepare a report on the results of the field study.
Deadline for application 1st March 2016, course start May 2016, duration 1 week
Duration of training
1 week (5 days, from Monday to Friday)
Training period
May 2016 – dates to be confirmed
Target Audience
MSc students, PhD students as well as early career researchers.
The course will only take place if a minimum of 4 participants is reached.
Practical experiences
– Techniques (collection, preparation)
– Ecological sampling techniques (e.g. fresh water invertebrates)
– Management of the entomological collection in a Museum
– Identification of the main families of various Insect orders using keys
– Literature search, use of catalogues
Field experiences
– Entomological survey in the Maremma Natural Park (Tuscany coast) OR – in alternative – an entomological survey in an hilly site in central Tuscany
Seminars
The Red Book of the Insects of Tuscany
An example: the entomological researches of the Museum in the Prato province
Alien species
Course language
English
Name of mentor / supervisor
Dr. Luca Bartolozzi
Institution and training venue
Museo di Storia Naturale – Sezione di Zoologia – Università di Firenze
Zoology Section – Department of Entomology
“La Specola”, via Romana 17, 50125 Firenze, Italy
Course organiser
Distributed European School of Taxonomy (DEST)
Registration fee
€ 250 (EURO)
Participants are responsible for their own travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses.
Registration
Deadline for registration: 1 March 2016.
Click here for the registration form.
Payment
Payment details and deadline will be provided upon acceptance to the training.
Grants from the Museo di Storia Naturale of Firenze and from the Distributed European School of Taxonomy
The Museum of Natural History, University of Florence, is offering two grants of 650 EURO each to attend this course.
In addition, DEST is offering as well two grants of 650 EURO each to attend this course.
Granting priority will be given to trainees living and studying/working in Low-income economies, Lower-middle-income economies or Upper-middle-income economies (following the classification of the World Bank, see list of eligible countries).
If awarded, the participant will receive 400 EURO in cash as refund upon arrival, plus waive of the registration fee (250 EURO). Please write your motivation for applying for a grant within the ‘grant request’ space of the registration form. If a grant is requested, a recommendation letter should be sent by one referee (e.g. your supervisor) before the registration deadline of 1 March 2016 to dest-training@naturalsciences.be
Family farming is the most widespread form of food production in vast areas of the world. In such areas, food security is jeopardized by global phenomena like climate change, limited access to land and resources, social conflicts and inequality, and rural abandonment. Agrobiodiversity has an important role to play in the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change and in making family farming sustainable.
This seminar, in line with the theme of the 2016 World Food Day, highlights the key role of Agrobiodiversity – tackled at the genetic, species and habitat level – to address global challenges for food production and family farming and to provide locally viable solutions. The seminar draws upon the experience of the International PhD Programme on Agrobiodiversity, run by Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Italy since 2004 in collaboration with the National Academy of Sciences. Students from Asian and African countries will present the state of family farming in their own countries and how their PhD project may help provide tailor-made solutions based on Agrobiodiversity.
The programme is available here.
The European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) General Assembly will take place in Barcelona on October 28th and 29th.
The annual General Assembly is the mayor decision-making body of ECSA and LifeWatch Italy’s needs will be brought to its attention by Dr. Oggioni (LTER Italy Network).
Please find attached the ECSA constitution, Rules of Procedure and the Preliminary Agenda.