News: DNA Barcoding Planning Meeting

Dear colleagues,

From an educational standpoint, DNA barcoding is remarkable for its ability to span systematics, ecology, environmental science and policy, molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, genetics, applied mathematics, and various forms of ICT. Although public engagement with science and nature is consistently cited as a central goal of the Barcode of Life project, efforts to recruit the direct involvement of non-professionals in this landmark scientific initiative have been slow to materialize.

You are cordially invited to participate in a collaborative planning meeting that seeks to develop effective strategies to broaden the participation of students and other non-professionals in DNA barcoding as citizen scientists. The meeting, which will bring together scientists and educators for this important objective, will be hosted at Coastal Marine Biolabs’ harbor-based biosciences laboratory on August 2 and August 3, 2009.