The Biodiversity Institute seeks to make biodiversity information - data, questions, experiments and "gee-wizz!" ideas - more available and accessible to anyone who wants it. We believe that a partnership with citizens all over Wyoming and beyond is good for everyone: we can learn from the public and vice versa.
The Biodiversity Contributions Award publicly recognizes individuals in Wyoming who have made significant contributions in their careers to biodiversity research or education but haven't necessarily been publicly thanked for it. Through a nomination process, selection process and banquet reception, one individual or team will be identified and given this award each year.
> Click here for nomination information.
> Click here to download the nomination form.
The Wyoming Biodiversity Publications are a series of books, reports, guides and more that illustrate and document aspects of biodiversity. This includes, for example, maps of distribution or abundance, and graphical and textual summaries about natural history and biodiversity within the state. All volumes will have a strong web presence to keep information up-to-date and to enable dynamic user interactions.
The first two editions are near completion, Mountains and Plains by Dennis Knight and Mammals of Wyoming by Steve
Buskirk; the third volume will focus on ungulate migration.
> For questions relating to these publications, contact Director Carlos Martinez del Rio.
Wyoming Biodiversity Citizen Science Initiative is a collection of programs that involve the general public in data collection, interaction, education and biodiversity
promotion. The first program, WyoBio Web Portal, is a web-based project designed to create a community of professional and non-professional scientists interested in
Wyoming’s natural heritage. WyoBio will provide a visually stunning and scientifically rigorous forum for scientific inquiry by enabling participants to input data, access
and visualize data, and communicate among members. It will be a place for citizen scientists to see and interact with their and others' data!
This program is under development.
Also part of the Initiative, the Citizen Science Program will advance collaboration between biodiversity scientists and citizens by organizing year-long, state-wide data collection projects and other public events that focus on specific aspects of Wyoming’s biodiversity. This program builds on an already strong partnership between the Biodiversity Institute and the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database. The topic for the 2013 citizen science program will be announced soon!
In 2012, we focused on pollinators - maybe you remember! Click here to learn more about our pollinator work.
This program is under development.
Broader Impacts Catalyst ProgramMany UW researchers, both faculty and students, are involved in biodiversity studies that would be of interest to the public, especially students. By hosting blogs, research reports, public presentations, and workshops, the Biodiversity Institute will become the premier organ for the sharing of these exciting works-in-progress. Many researchers are required by funders to disseminate information; the goal of the Broader Impacts Catalyst Program is to help researchers find effective methods for research synthesis and communication that will inspire young people to become natural historians and conservationists.
> Contact Project Coordinator Brenna Marsicek with questions or if you're interested in partnering on a broader impacts section!
The Biodiversity Institute will bring one world-class speaker to the University of Wyoming each year, to broader our understanding, inspiration and scope of biodiversity science and studies. This speaker will be an expert in a field related to biodiversity science, with broad appeal and innovative ideas and projects.
This program is under development.
Music and Film SeriesMusic and movies are a critical component of biodiversity studies, in that they express scientific concepts through sensory vehicles. We can all relate to sound and sight, and the wonder of a beautiful view of nature or a harmonized quintet of wind instruments is another way to experience the natural world around us. The Biodiversity Institute hosts the BioMusica Concert Series, a monthly program dedicated to bridging music and biodiversity exploration. We also host the Biodiversity Movie Night once a month, showing films with a different focus relating to biodiversity and its conservation.
