WashU's Department of Statistics and Data Science hosted Garden representatives engaged in the RSI effort on Wednesday, April 23, discussing the scope of the project while planting the seed for future collaborations between the two organizations. The featured presenters were Gunter Fischer (Senior Vice President, Science and Conservation Division), Dr. Matthew W. Austin (Curator of Biodiversity Data), and Dr. Jordan K. Teisher (Director of the Herbarium)- all from the Missouri Botanical Garden.
Professor Xuming He, Chair of SDS, welcomed all the participants to come to this special event, which happened to take place the day after this year’s Earth Day. Professor Crickette Sanz, Chair of Anthropology and Co-Director of LEC, made the opening remarks, emphasizing the importance of collaborative research between WashU and its local partners. She also introduced the featured speakers from the Missouri Botanical Garden.
The team from the Missouri Botanical Garden presented the scope of their work around the Revolutionizing Species Identification (RSI) project and outlined several areas of potential collaborations. The project will make 8 million specimens of the MBG Herbarium digitally available as high-resolution images and searchable data fields, opening the door for innovative data science research for constructing a reference library of diverse data types to automatically identify herbarium specimens. The presentations were followed by Q&A on a wide range of issues related to the project.
In addition to SDS members, the event was attended by faculty from Computer Science and Engineering, Anthropology, and several members from the dean’s office, including Dean Feng Sheng Hu. After the presentations, the participants mingled at a reception in Jolley Hall, where they enjoyed their time of sharing ideas and making new connections.
Thank you to the Living Earth Collaborative, our guest speakers from the Botanical Gardens, and all the participants who made this event a success!
The Living Earth Collaborative is a center for biodiversity uniting Washington University, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the St. Louis Zoo. This formal partnership of three globally recognized leaders in biodiversity research and conservation was launched in 2018 with the goal of advancing the knowledge of biodiversity and to ensuring the future of earth's species.
