GRA: Biological Information Browsing Environment (BIBE)

[Peter Rauch]

[Crossposted from Entomo-l with minor reformatting. PAR]

Posting number 26549, dated 21 Mar 2000 13:49:10
Date:         Tue, 21 Mar 2000 13:49:10 -0600
Sender:       Entomology Discussion List <ENTOMO-L at LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA>
From:         David Voegtlin <dvoegtli at UIUC.EDU>
Subject:      research assistantship

I thought the following GRA would be interesting to members of this
list.  Please pass on to any interested student.  Contact person is
listed at the bottom of the list.
David Voegtlin
---------

Position Announcement Appointment:

Graduate Research Assistantship (50% time)

Project Description:

The Biological Information Browsing Environment (BIBE) is a
National Science Foundation funded project to develop new
computational tools to aid in the identification of insects and
plants by both professionals and non-professionals.

The areas of research include information-seeking task
performance evaluation, formulating standardized taxonomic
databases (e.g. Illinois butterflies), data visualization,
integration of various database models, and model-driven
information extraction.

The focus group will include citizen scientists from the Illinois
EcoWatch program.

The research assistant will be part of a team that is under the
supervision of the project director from the Graduate School of
Library and Information Science and a faculty member from the
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and
Professional Scientist from the Illinois Natural History Survey.
Other team members include two graduate students in Information
Science and Linguistics, respectively.

Responsibilities:

The graduate assistant will work on the development of
computational specimen identification aids by helping write
taxonomic treatments and interactive keys for butterflies and
other organisms.  The candidate will work with other team members
on the development of networked, multi-media information
retrieval systems and will help with evaluation of the
effectiveness of various identification tools for both experts
and novices. Some field work with Illinois EcoWatch trainers and
volunteers will be required.

Requirements:

The RA should have a BS/MS in a biological field with a working
knowledge of systematics. The RA should have a demonstrable
interest in the interface between the problem of species
identification and the role of volunteers and non-professionals
in biological surveys. Some experience with experimental method
and statistical analysis is required. The position will be filled
as a 50% graduate appointment in an appropriate UI Department.

Preferred:

Computer literacy (such as familiarity with HTML or XML or
knowledge of a programming language) is desirable. Experience
with translating scientific concepts for a lay audience is also a
plus.

Salary:

Competitive RA depending on department (13-15,000 for 9 month
appt.)

Position Available:

June 1, 2000

Contact Person:

Dr. Michael R. Jeffords
Illinois Natural History Survey
607 East Peabody Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
e-mail: jeffords at uiuc.edu
217 333-5986  217 333-4949 fax