We’re gearing up for National Science Week (12-20 August 2023). The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is proud to be hosting three free virtual events!
Hear from STEM leaders about the importance of open science and how we practise this in the ALA, learn the basics of how to use ALA’s {galah} tool with demonstrations of both the R-Studio and Python versions, and find out how to collect better metadata through citizen science!
Make sure you register for the events and submit your questions ahead of time to make the most out of each session.
Webinar Event: ALA National Science Week: {galah} 101 – Beginner’s guide
Tuesday 15th August 2023, 1-2PM AEST
Are you interested in getting more out of data in the ALA? We’ve developed the ALA {galah} tool to enable users to deep-dive and transform species occurrence information. Whether you want to locate and download species records, investigate taxonomic information and associated media such as images or sounds, or restrict queries to certain taxa or locations, {galah} can do it all! This tool has been developed for both the R-Studio and Python coding languages.
At this beginner-friendly workshop, Dax Kellie and Amanda Buyan will take you through a step-by-step introduction to using both {galah} for R-Studio and Python.
If you’re already an advanced coder or have a specific question, you can submit your questions ahead of time for the Q&A at the end of the session.
*Please note we strongly recommend that you download R-Studio (from this link) and/or Python (following the instructions below) ahead of this session.
ALA {galah} Python Package download instructions:
- Download Jupyter Notebook, which allows you access to Anaconda.
- Launch & locate “Anaconda Navigator”.
- From the main screen of Anaconda Navigator, locate “Environments”.
- Click the “Create” button to create a new environment, selecting Python as the software.
- Click the “play” button and then click “open with terminal”.
- Run command “pip install galah-python.”
Submit your questions ahead of time to communications@ala.org.au.
Webinar Event: ALA National Science Week: All is F.A.I.R in open science & data
Wednesday 16th August 2023, 1-2PM AEST
Open science is the practice of making scientific knowledge, research and information accessible. As Australia’s national biodiversity data aggregator, we explore why open science is so important to delivering strong biodiversity outcomes.
Hear ALA team members Ely Wallis, Peggy Newman and Dax Kellie discuss:
- How the F.A.I.R. (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) principles are used through copyright and licencing in the ALA
- How the ALA supports open science through its data infrastructure and services
- How open science facilitates transparent, robust research.
Submit your questions ahead of time to communications@ala.org.au.
Webinar Event: ALA National Science Week: Maximising your metadata for citizen science
Thursday 17th August 2023, 1-2PM AEST
Citizen science is an accessible gateway for anybody to engage in science regardless of age, location or demographic. Integrated citizen science apps take in millions of species occurrence records each year, which are then verified before being fed through to the ALA to become open and accessible data.
In this workshop, learn from industry experts about what makes a great species observation record, and learn tips and tricks for collecting the best quality metadata – data about data. Higher quality metadata (attributes like location, images, date of collection, etc.) helps to paint a more detailed picture of Australia’s biodiversity. More accurate metadata also helps to identify native vs. invasive species more readily for better biosecurity monitoring.
Submit your questions ahead of time to communications@ala.org.au.