[Taxacom] Systematists as holists

[Doug Yanega]

G.B. Edwards wrote:

>I'm surprised that no one has mentioned already the situation that
>existed at INBio and the associated ALAS Project, with their formal
>'parataxonomists' who performed a lot of the functions that Bob
>suggested could be handled by people other than the primary taxonomist.
>This was certainly a workable scenario as long as the money held out
>(always the problem).  Maybe Bob's take on this is one way to get around
>the money problem.

You beat me to it. ;-)

There is definitely a certain *part* of the taxonomic process that 
"parataxonomists" have *proven* to excel at, and it's a truly crucial 
phase for us entomologists: getting bulk samples of unsorted insect 
material sorted, pinned, and labeled. As far as insects go, we 
probably now have VASTLY more specimens already collected, but still 
unprocessed, than we have pinned and labeled in the world's 
collective museums - and, if anything, the pace of specimen 
accumulation is increasing. However, the rate of sample processing is 
not even *close* to keeping pace. Projects like INBio have more than 
convincingly demonstrated the value of parataxonomists in getting 
past this bottleneck, but this example has been followed very few 
times, and - my point in raising the issue here - the ideal situation 
would be to have enough places where such labor was available that 
everyone who had such samples could get them processed in a timely 
manner (and, to complete the fantasy, that such processing centers 
could also *distribute* sorted material to authorities, rather than 
simply returning everything to whence it came, where it might 
languish for decades unlooked-at). THAT is a dream that would require 
lots of funding, for certain, and aside from philanthropy, it's hard 
to imagine where such money would come from. I have no doubt that the 
kind of expertise and coordination it would require is attainable, 
but the taxonomists themselves could never afford to keep processing 
centers like that in operation just using "soft money".

Peace,
-- 

Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314        skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82