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In his role as GBIF Nodes Officer, Juan Bello will address requests for assistance expressed by GBIF's Nodes. He will also be the main contact point in the Secretariat for the NODES Committee and provide overall support to the NODES Chair and Vice Chairs. About his successor, Paco Pando said, "I have had the opportunity and pleasure to talk with Juan at length and in-depth about GBIF and NODES issues. We share many views and disagree on a few things, but I can assure you that he is going to be on top of things from the beginning."
About his new position, Bello said, "NODES are the foremost mechanism of GBIF for creating, expanding, and keeping alive an extensive human network that has a shared vision of making the world's biodiversity data openly and freely available for everybody, everywhere. I feel really excited about the opportunity of working for and with the NODES towards achieving this vision, and contributing, through GBIF, to the knowledge, conservation and sustainable use of global biodiversity."
Pleased by the new GBIF appointment, Lawrence Way, Chair of the NODES Committee, said "Juan brings to GBIF his fantastic experience of persuading communities to share data. I am really looking forward to helping him use this experience to the benefit of GBIF and all its Nodes. The vice chairs and I stand ready to help him in every way we can."
Bello is highly qualified for his new duties. He himself has been a Node Manager, for Colombia's designated node, the von Humboldt Institute. Prior to that he was in charge of designing and implementing the Biodiversity Information System of Colombia. His other experience includes holding a Chevening Scholarship, which he served at the WCMC, working on biodiversity information management. Most recently, he has worked on a joint project among GBIF, WCMC, Cardiff University, Microsoft Research UK, and various Latin American partners to develop computational tools for integrating and analyzing biodiversity information, particularly in the context of the Convention on
Biological Diversity's target to reduce the rate of loss of biodiversity by
2010.
The GBIF Nodes Officer will advise the Nodes on overcoming obstacles and challenges, and will provide follow-up services when a new GBIF Participant joins. He will help Participants to take the right steps in setting up Nodes and establishing data provider networks. Bello noted, "Nodes have been growing upon solid bases and a clear vision. I thus consider myself fortunate to start this job with that legacy in place, and am very glad to keep on building upon that."
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