Registration is now open! IGAD Coffee Break Webinar on 6 October 2021 from 13:00 to 13:30 CEST

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The next webinar part of the Research Data Alliance Interest Group for Agricultural Data (IGAD)’s new Coffee Break initiative will take place on 6 October from 13:00 to 13:30 CEST. The webinar titled, Developing an information system to support agrobiodiversity conservation in Mexico will feature Dr. Alicia Mastretta Yanes and Irene Ramos, from the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO).

CONABIO is a governmental agency which coordinates biodiversity data collection and analysis in support of the sustainable management of natural resources in Mexico. Agrobiodiversity Information System (SIAgroBD) is a comprehensive project that is part of the Mexican Agrobiodiversity GEF project, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). SIAgroBD’s objective is to produce and systematize data in order to generate knowledge that enables the conservation of traditional agricultural practices and native crops which have a large global importance.

SIAgroBD is in a late development stage, and is currently testing with users the publication of the first datasets. During this webinar, Dr. Alicia Mastretta Yanes and Irene Ramos will discuss lessons learned while integrating pre-existing datasets on nutritional information, qualitative and quantitative agronomic data, and qualitative assessments of local use of agrobiodiversity. They will also discuss how they are implementing a workflow that facilitates FAIRness across the data lifecycle, from collection to publication. This includes the adoption of field data collection tools, vocabulary standards, reproducible methods for data cleaning, open data training for participants, and the development of a custom data integration platform.

Registration is now open. Interested participants can register for the webinar here.

Presenter
Dr. Alicia Mastretta Yanes 

 

Speaker

Dr. Alicia Mastretta Yanes coordinates the development of SIAgroBD. She is a CONACYT Research Fellow at CONABIO, Mexico. The broad aim of her research is incorporating evolutionary processes into the conservation and management of Mexican biodiversity. She has studied the genetic implications of domestication and human management of crops, crop wild relatives and trees, and she has collaborated with local communities to apply the results of basic science into maize breeding and forest management. She also has experience developing computational tools for data management.

 

 

Presenter
Irene Ramos 

 

Speaker

Irene Ramos is a data manager at CONABIO and a PhD student in Sustainability Science at UNAM. Her research focuses on the technical, conceptual and social challenges of integrating socio- ecological data. She aims to document the data journeys from collection to policy implementation, taking SIAgroBD as a case study.

 

 

 

 

More about the IGAD Coffee Break

The new IGAD Coffee Break webinar series, which will feature eight different webinars from eight different presenters running from 16 June to 27 October 2021. The innovative initiative will help to create an ongoing dialogue and encourage the exchange of experiences on agricultural research and innovation within the IGAD community and beyond.