Biodiversity Change in the Anthropocene

• Candidate eligibility

  Specifically, this VIP aims to develop student skills on eco-informatics, and synthesis/meta-analysis research including:
  
  • Time-series data search and data scraping: finding relevant assemblage time-series
  from the literature, and filtering data according to the database inclusion criteria.
  Students will be expected to recruit new relevant datasets from both known and novel
  sources. They will also develop critical thinking skills through conducting quality control
  on data.
  
  • Contacting data collectors and acquiring collaboration skills: making contact with
  potential data providers to pursue contribution of raw data and methodological details
  when not publicly available. As BioTIME adheres to FAIR data principles, students will
  be exposed to best practices in open science and data sharing, which will enhance
  students’ interpersonal skills.
  
  • Time-series data management: data curation to standardize various data formats and
  methodology schemes. Students will learn how to wrangle and use quantitative skills
  in R, follow data protocols and learn SQL for database queries.
  
  • Tasks and project management: students will learn how to use different tools (GitHub,
  QGIS, Slack, Trello) to make research reproducible and collaborate efficiently within a
  research team, namely the BioTIME team.
  
  • Science communication: student will engage with the general public during the poster
  presentation. This will allow students to learn and improve their communication skills.

• Candidate eligibility

  We are keen to engage with students from any academic discipline, who would like to put their
  critical thinking to use and are keen to get involved in global biodiversity research or
  conservation.

  No pre-requisite skills will be necessary, although some familiarity with R is
  advantageous. Students from Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Sustainable Development, Computer Science and Statistics are especially welcome and others with quantitative skills from years 2, 3 and 4.

• Methods and technologies

  Students working on this project will gain experience of following methods and technologies. They will:

  • engage with a range of literary and historical archives to research and reconstruct the physical and imaginative lives of Civil War monuments within the United States and beyond
  • engage with a range of historical and contemporary approaches to monuments management, policy, preservation and removal, and use these to shape the digital presentation of our findings
  • draft and edit textual content for a wide public audience
  • compile and manage a digital archive
  • complete data entry and design, construct, and maintain the project website
  • analyse raw data using different forms of visual mapping
  • research and establish innovative approaches to incorporating visual and audio materials into the project’s output (including the use of photography, soundscapes, and interviews)

• Assessment

  Poster (20%). A group poster summarizing the data recruited by each team.

  Individual Report (60%) An end of semester report of the standardized data including code used for data curation.

  Weekly log (20%) Students submit their log prior to the weekly team meeting with the supervisor(s). The log briefly reflects on progress, challenges, outcomes and possible next steps.