About the Program

PDA unit used to collect inventory and monitoring data in the field. (Photo: National Park Service)	Golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia). (Photo: US Fish & Wildlife Service)	Warbler habitat mapped at Fort Hood, TX. (Photo: Houston Advanced Research Center)

The USGS Biological Informatics Program is one of eight national programs under the Biology Discipline. Staff are located primarily at USGS Headquarters in Reston, Virginia, and the USGS Center for Biological Informatics in Denver, Colorado.  Additionally, we have Program staff co-located at other USGS science centers, cooperative research units, and field stations, to facilitate transfer of technologies, services, and expertise.

Our diverse and experienced staff have expertise and experience in a wide variety of disciplines, including biology; online information systems; database design and management; information science; geographic information systems; remote sensing; data, information, and knowledge management;information technology; and project management.

The mission of the Program is is to create the informatics framework, provide the scientific content, and develop the public and private partnerships needed for the understanding and stewardship of our Nation’s biological resources.

The goals of the Program include:

• increasing the availability and usefulness of biological resources data and information (Content);
• implementing technologies and tools to integrate, analyze, visualize, and apply biological information to natural resource issues (Tools);
• developing, applying, and promoting the adoption of standard practices, protocols, and techniques to enhance knowledge discovery and retrieval from various resources (Infrastructure);
• facilitating information science and technology research that supports the advancement of biological informatics capabilities (Research); and
• applying innovative technologies and best practices to improve the development, description, and dissemination of biological information to customers (User Services).'

Our stakeholders include:

• USGS science programs and disciplines
• land and resource management agencies within the Department of the Interior
• other federal research and natural resources management agencies
• state, local, and tribal governments
• universities and academic institutions
• non-governmental organizations
• the private sector
• the global community
  
  

Major initiatives we manage:

National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII)
A fully digital, interactive, distributed system that provides access to scientifically reliable natural science data and information.

Gap Analysis Program (GAP)
State, regional, and national conservation assessments of native vertebrate species and natural land cover types.

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
An authoritative source of species names and their hierarchical classification.

Vegetation Characterization
Characterizes vegetation on public lands using a consistent methodology supported by national standards.

World Data Center for Biodiversity and Ecology
A node of the World Data Center (WDC) System, this online resource contains data related to federal, state, non-profit, university, and private sector research data and information gathered within the United States, including land cover, species information, and national level data and information related to bird conservation, invasive species, fisheries and aquatic resources, wildlife disease, and amphibian decline.

USGS Science Center-based Informatics Projects
Various project in support of USGS Science Center-based knowledge-sharing projects, planned for and executed at the Center level, that address Center priorities.

These initiatives, in turn, directly provide data, tools, and services to the following national, regional, and global bioinformatics efforts:

Joint Working Group on Ecoinformatics
The Joint Working Group on Ecoinformatics is an initiative between various natural resources research, management, and regulatory agencies from the United States and Europe to collaborate on shared tools, standards, and services for better integration of data and information at hemispheric and international scales. The USGS Biological Informatics Office serves as a technical consultant to the group with respect to data and metadata standards, terminologies, and geospatial applications.

Geospatial One Stop (GOS)
GOS is a Web-based portal for "one stop access" to U.S. maps, data, and other geospatial services that will simplify the ability of citizens and government to find geospatial data and to learn more about current geospatial initiatives. The Biological Informatics Office serves as the Biology and Ecology "channel" for GOS, providing access to relevant geospatial data, map layers, and other resources.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
GBIF's goal is to provide a single access point to species- and specimen-level data held in research facilities and museum collections around the world. The National Biological Information Infrastructure serves as the official U.S. "node" of GBIF. Through NBII, museum collections throughout the United States can provide standardized specimen data to facilitate global access to their collections.

Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN)
IABIN is an initiative of the countries of the Americas to promote compatible means of online collection, communication, and exchange of biodiversity data and information relevant to decision making. The National Biological Information Infrastructure is the official U.S. "focal point" for IABIN.

Program Management

Gladys Cotter, USGS Associate Biology Director for Biological Information
Thomas Lahr, Deputy Director
Kate Kase, Biological Informatics Program Coordinator
John Mosesso, Program Development Manager
Mike Frame, Information Research and Technology Manager
Thomas Hermann, Chief Knowledge Manager