[Taxacom] Red List of Insect Taxonomists in Europe

Thu Aug 5 05:08:13 CDT 2021

Hi Mike,

Thank you for the comment. I am not sure that we can not derive interesting
conclusions from the data collected at the present level of granularity. We
have a total number of taxonomists (per country, per taxon, etc.), and part
of them declared themselves as amateurs, part as professionals and part as
professionals but retired (like you). Simple intersections between these
subsets of data would give quite a reliable picture of the current
situation. Prevalence of retired professionals over those who have
positions and the rates of this ratio ratio by country, taxon or total is a
clear (bad) sign, isn't it?

I agree, however, that it is indeed difficult to get data on the dynamic of
jobs loss in taxonomy over the years. It was a lot of discussions how, or
if it is at all possible, to achieve that. For that purpose, we decided to
provide a special online survey for particular large taxa (e.g. Diptera or
Hymenoptera). It can be done only by "manual" collection of data from
people with life-long experience in the field, who could hopefully estimate
at acceptable level of confidence the number of taxonomists working on a
taxon by decades.

I think the key task now is to collect most reliable data on the current
situation to be able to say to the Commission: Hey, here are the insect
groups where there are, for example, only 5 living taxonomists in Europe,
of which 4 are retired.....

Best regards,
Lyubo
-----
Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2186-5033
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On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 12:47 PM Michael Wilson <wilsomichael at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I have registered and entered data as an insect taxonomist, but was
> underwhelmed by the questions asked and fear that the results will not be
> able to answer on 'extinctions' of taxonomists, or advise effectively on
> the other proposals.
>
> We probably all consider that taxonomic positions have been lost in
> Universities and Museums. But it would be difficult or impossible to judge
> extinctions of positions in Institutions from this survey. The individuals
> who have retired may not be extinct but their positions might be.  To give
> an example from my own Institution (where I am now 3 days a week - a semi
> retired category that is not allowed for in the survey).  At our 'peak
> entomologist' we had 4 positions- now we have 1.6 (and one of those is
> mostly a curator/collection manager). The individuals who have retired or
> left their positions are still alive and well- and still producing- so
> their expertise is not yet lost to us- but their positions are!  There
> appears at present little hope of recovering these posts.
>
> In the UK we are lucky that we still have a flourishing 'amateur'
> entomology community, who are very active in field work, recording and some
> producing high quality taxonomic work. Some of these are older and may have
> retired from Institutes - some others were never 'professional'
> entomologists but very serious amateurs.
>
> I remain unconvinced that the survey will be able to adequately portray
> the problems facing taxonomic challenges in Europe. To me it is a lost
> opportunity.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Mike Wilson
> National Museum Wales, Cardiff
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 8:27 AM Lyubomir Penev via Taxacom <
> taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> wrote:
>
>> Dear Taxacomers,
>>
>>
>>
>> We would like to express our immense gratitude to everyone who has
>> self-declared as an insect taxonomist (professional or citizen scientist)
>> on the *Red List of Taxonomists* <https://red-list-taxonomists.eu/>, thus
>> joining in our efforts at the European Commission-supported initiative by
>> CETAF, IUCN and Pensoft, aiming to assess the extent of taxonomic
>> expertise
>> on insects across the European continent *sensu lato*.
>>
>>
>>
>> Still, we know that there are many of you that are not part of this
>> endeavor yet. Please come and join us! By making your taxonomic expertise
>> visible to the European Commission, you are not only helping us identify
>> taxa and countries where the *“extinction” of insect taxonomists has
>> reached a critical point*, but also create a robust knowledge base on
>> taxonomic expertise to prompt further support and funding for taxonomy in
>> Europe.
>>
>>
>>
>> In case you haven’t registered yet, you still can do so by self-declaring
>> yourself as an insect taxonomist via the Red List of Taxonomists
>> registration portal <https://red-list-taxonomists.eu/> until *30
>> September
>> 2021*.
>>
>>
>>
>> We kindly request you to also share the registration website (
>> https://red-list-taxonomists.eu/) with colleagues at your institution,
>> national or international contacts, email groups and social networks to
>> achieve maximum participation from all who care about the future of
>> taxonomy!
>>
>>
>>
>> *You can **read more*
>> <https://wikis.ec.europa.eu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=32112960>* about
>> the initiative on the EU Pollinator Information Hive website.*
>>
>>
>>
>> With thanks and appreciation,
>>
>>
>>
>> Red List of Taxonomists team: CETAF, IUCN and Pensoft.
>>
>>
>> *ANA CASINO*
>>
>> *CETAF, AISBL*
>>
>>
>>
>> *CETAF Executive Director*
>>
>> *DiSSCo Coordination and Support Office (CSO) Deputy Coordinator*
>>
>> *ABS Consultation Forum Representative*
>>
>> P. +32 (0) 2 627 42 51
>>
>> M. +32 (0) 496 79 19 57
>>
>> Email: ana.casino at cetaf.org
>>
>> Skype: ana.casino
>>
>>
>> -----
>> Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev
>> ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2186-5033
>> WoS ResearcherID: O-9982-2019
>> <https://publons.com/researcher/324250/lyubomir-penev/>
>> Founder and CEO
>> Pensoft Publishers <http://pensoft.net>
>> ARPHA Journal Publishing Platform <http://arphahub.com>
>> 13a Geo Milev Street
>> 1111 Sofia, Bulgaria
>> Tel +359-2-8704281
>> Fax +359-2-8704282
>> Publishing services for journals <http://arphahub.com/about/services> I
>> Journals <http://journals.pensoft.net> I Books
>> <http://pensoft.net/books-published-by-Pensoft>
>> Services for scientific projects <http://pensoft.net/projects>
>> Find us on: Facebook
>> <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pensoft-Publishers/170816832934216?ref=ts
>> >,
>> Google+
>> <
>> https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114819936210826038991/114819936210826038991/posts
>> >,
>> Twitter  <https://twitter.com/#%21/Pensoft>
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