Tuesday 18 February 2025
The ITINERIS project is coordinated by the CNR (National Research Council). It started in November 2022, and during 30 (+6) months will carry out an ensemble of cross-disciplinary actions across the different environmental sub-domains, with the main aim to build the network of the Italian environmental Research Infrastructures, connect it to the user community and establish access, trough the ITINERIS HUB, to the vast array of knowledge, data, analytical tools, and service produced by the participating RIs.
More info: https://itineris.cnr.it/news/
Thursday 30 January 2025
by Della Rocca G, Abdoun F, Emiliani G, Danti R, Arcidiaco L, Chiapparini M, Garcia Palacios Z, Pandin M, Gardin L, Gardumi G, Prada O, Moya Sanchez B, Moya Sanchez J, Cherubini P
Until the early 1800s in Europe, there was skepticism regarding the existence of a mythical and elusive forest believed to grow in the heart of the Sahara Desert. Those who inspired the idea faced significant criticism. In the Western countries, it was often dismissed as imaginary, fanciful, or impossible. However, for the inhabitants of the Tassili n'Ajjer plateau in southern Algeria and their ancestors, this forest was an ancient and tangible reality. Even today, some remnants of their homes, doors, and everyday objects used by the Tuareg people are made from the wood of a tree they refer to as "Tarout", known scientifically as Cupressus dupreziana A. Camus. [in Italian]
See the related dataset: https://www.gbif.org/dataset/18e92f1b-5474-4e33-a782-63ae8d276827
More info: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389735649
Monday 27 January 2025
The inaugural ceremony of the Winter School Interdisciplinary Biodiversity 2025 took place today at the Sala Marino Berengo of Ca’ Foscari University. This interdisciplinary training program involves 30 young researchers, graduate and postgraduate students, from all over the world, selected by a scientific committee composed of scientists and humanists from the CNR and Ca’ Foscari University. The Winter School is organized by the School for International Education of Ca’ Foscari University in collaboration with the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR) and sponsored by the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC).
Thursday 14 November 2024
On November 14, 2024, a meeting of the UOs DiSSCo ITINERIS at Botanical Garden of the University of Florence, organized by the OU UNIFI-SMA. Eighteen people of the DiSSCo-ITINERIS staff (from CNR-ISMAR-VE, CNR-IRSA-BO, CNR-IBBR-BA, CNR-IBBR-FI, CNR-IRSA-VB, CNR-IRSA-TA, UNIFI-SMA) were present either in-person or online, and took part to the discussions. The following topics have been discussed: (i) procedure and status of digitalization of collections on GBIF; (ii) creation of the DiSSCo-ITINERIS Portal on GBIF; (iii) drafting of shared standard data policy for DiSSCo-IT. Moreover, Dr. Eleonora Fornaro (CNR-IBBR-BA) has illustrated the content of the ITINERIS course: "Access to Research Infrastructures: process and Modalities", which she participated in on Oct 24-25, 2024, in Rome, Italy.
More info: https://www.sma.unifi.it/vp-244-orto-botanico.html
Wednesday 07 June 2023
Longyearbyen, Svalbard, 6-7 June 2023 - The Svalbard Global Seed Vault has welcomed 40,507 new seed samples from nine genebank depositors, including collections from Latvia, Morocco, Taiwan, the USA, the Netherlands, Israel, Poland, Zambia, and Italy. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Vault, and with these new deposits from nine institutions—comprising international, regional, and national genebanks, as well as smaller collection holders—the total collection has surpassed 1.25 million seed samples. The Institute of Biosciences and BioResources from Bari, Italy (CNR-IBBR) has deposited seeds for the first time, becoming the 99th genebank to utilize the Seed Vault as a secure storage option for their seed samples. “We are pleased to back up our oldest collection, which dates back to our first collecting missions in the 1970s, when many of these accessions have since become extinct. Safeguarding agro-biodiversity is fundamentally important for the future of humanity, which depends on agriculture and food. Preserving and providing seeds to scientists and breeders is an increasingly vital and urgent need,” says Gaetano Laghetti of the CNR-IBBR in Italy.
More info: https://www.seedvault.no/2023/10/03/securing-the-foundation-of-our-food-supply-at-18-celsius/
