CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR TAXONOMISTSbiodiversityadvisor.sanbi.org/wp-content/uploads/... · CAREER...
Transcript of CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR TAXONOMISTSbiodiversityadvisor.sanbi.org/wp-content/uploads/... · CAREER...
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CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR TAXONOMISTS –
typical skills necessary to build a career in taxonomy
Tshifhiwa Mandiwana-NeudaniDepartment of Biodiversity
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Let me hear your expectations about this talk…..What do you think I should
touch on?
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9 – 10 yrs apart …..have something in common?
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OVERVIEW• The different contexts of Taxonomy &
Taxonomists
• Where is the greatest need for Taxonomy skills - areas and numbers?
• What do Taxonomists do?
• What skills do Taxonomists require?
• What does the career path (learning and work placement) of the Taxonomists look like?
• What are the issues that the emergent Taxonomists experience?
• Where do Taxonomists work (the network)?
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THE CONTEXTS OF TAXONOMY –Main roles of taxonomists:
o Discovering and describing species / other taxa (what have we got?), providing revisions
o Classifying / organising species into groupings based on evolutionary history (understanding of evolution – predictions, uniqueness)
o Identification of biological material and developing tools for this (for wide range of stakeholders)
o Understanding the distribution of species / other taxa (for Red List assessments, conservation, use, understanding impacts of climate and other changes)
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….contexts of taxo
Different approaches:• Morphology only – what it looks like
• Morphology and molecular analyses combined – using DNA as an extra character to describe
• Molecular approaches only– Fungi, bacteria – where this is the only way to
identify them
– Animals – molecular specialist but without knowledge of morphological characters
– Genetic variation within species / evolution (phylogeography)
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Assessment of capacity in taxonomy (2012/13) – posts filled
• Plants: 19 SANBI, 16 universities, 9 citizen scientists, 5 technicians, 13 retired = 62
• Animals: 13 retired (minimum activity), 7 retired but still active, 14 some activity but not main function, 65 at museums, universities, science councils = 99
• Fungi: 20 (not all are dedicated to taxonomy)
• Algae: none full time, 9
• Bacteria: 15 (not dedicated taxonomy)
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How do we measure capacity in taxonomy? ….controversial!!
• Main drive – to name the Earth’s
species before they go extinct (Castello et al., 2013a)
• Increased outputs?(Beber et al., 2014)
• The number of people actually doing the tasks
• The number authors in taxonomic publications ….Wheeler (2014) disagrees
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WHERE IS THE GREATEST NEED?Based on numbers of species and number of
taxonomists, and needs identified in strategy:
• Entomology – especially beetles, moths, some of the
smaller groups of insects
• Marine invertebrates – crustaceans, molluscs
• Plants – mesembs (vygies), Hyacinthaceae
• Fungi – indigenous ones in natural habitats, macrofungi
• Bacteria – indigenous habitats, soil
• Algae – marine (excl. seaweeds) and freshwater
CHALLENGE: WE TRAIN STUDENTS IN GROUPS WHERE
THERE IS EXPERTISE – SO WE DON’T ADDRESS THE GAPS!
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WHAT DO TAXONOMISTS DO?
• Field work to collect specimens (should be quantified sampling)
• Sorting, labelling, data capture of material collected and incorporation into collections
• Identification of material in collections using the literature / other tools
• Describing new species and re-describing those that need additional information , illustrating characters using drawing, photography
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…cont.• DNA analysis – extraction of DNA,
sequencing, comparison with global repositories of sequence data to match or identify new sequences
• Analyses to look at relationships
• Extracting data from collection, data checking & cleaning
• Mapping and interpretation of distribution maps
• Writing papers
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SKILLS NEEDED BY TAXONOMISTSAbility to dissect specimens
Drawing, photography, microscopy
Laboratory techniques – DNA work
Data capture, management and manipulationInterpreting DNA sequence/molecular data and using repositories
Scientific writing
Literature searches, use of existing literature
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SUMMING IT UP
OVERARCHING SKILL
-
Doing all meticulously
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ATTRIBUTES
• Attention to detail
• Patience and perseverance
• Powers of observation
• Organised
• Real desire to be a taxonomist
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CAREER PATH FOR TAXONOMISTS
• Level 1: MSc completed & working on PhD; work
mostly under supervision
• Level 2: PhD completed, work with some
guidance/ mentorship, but able to write papers independently
• Level 3: Raise own funding for research projects
and conferences, designs and develop own projects, present research nationally / internationally at conferences, may collaborate with other specialists on large papers; may supervise Honours and MSc students, Y-rated.
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…cont.
• Level 4: Supervise PhD students, develop and
lead implementation of large projects, raise funds for team projects, recognised as a leader in own field, publishes books on speciality; C-rated
• Level 5: Supervise postdocs, young scientists
and lead large teams, provide national / international leadership for taxonomy more broadly than own field or recognised globally as an expert; B-rated
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SOME POINTS ABOUT DEVELOPING A CAREER
o Understand the milestones and achievements that are needed to build a career and work on these
oMentorship VERY NB. – not necessarily within-institution and not necessarily a supervisor
o Look for opportunities to gain skills, to collaborate and be part of bigger projects with experienced researchers
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…cont.o Look at how your research contributes to
the country or your institution or to the development of others (avoid only focussing on your own agenda)
o Scientists must publish – practice, get input and comments from others and have the confidence and courage to submit to a journal
o Take criticism – reflect on it and take it in a positive way.
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WHERE DO TAXONOMISTS WORK?• Universities - academics, curators & researchers
• Research institutes - museums, herbaria, science councils etc.
• Government agencies - public health, agriculture, wildlife management and forestry
• Environmental Impact Assessment companies that do biodiversity surveys
• Private industries - pharmaceutical companies, commercial suppliers of plants and animals, agricultural processors,
• Botanical gardens
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GOOD OLD DAYS!!!
#taxonomy