[Entm-researchstaff] Sept 29th ENTM 250: please sign up for meeting with Dr. Rudolf Meier

[Christiane Weirauch]

Hi all,

Please see below the title and abstract for our first departmental seminar
on September 29th (yes, the quarter is about to start...!). Our speaker is *Dr.
Rudolf Meier, Head of Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery,
Professor, Humboldt University,* a worldwide leader in biodiversity
research and advocate for dark taxa (CV attached).

Please sign up for meeting times, breakfast and/or dinner here
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WNUHTeHVlXBI9sPJNWFwCDEafqrnwaAXKQiWcIE627g/edit?usp=sharing>
.

Best wishes, Christiane

Digitally Native Species Discovery: Tackling Insect Diversity with Robots,
Megabarcoding, and Artificial Intelligence

Most of Earth’s biodiversity remains unknown. Only about 20% of species are
formally described, while the remaining 80% are undescribed. Over the last
250 years, biodiversity science has produced an “analog backlog,” and
generating more of it in an era of machine learning and digital
infrastructures would be counterproductive. Therefore, this talk presents a
vision for digitally native species discovery that unites high-throughput
DNA barcoding with nanopore sequencers, robotic imaging, and artificial
intelligence. Preliminary species hypotheses generated with cost-effective
barcoding are validated with targeted morphological research, before
leading to species descriptions generated with AI-assisted tools. Specimens
serve as anchors for structured digital records that include sequences,
images, metadata, and traits. These records are stored in open
repositories, where they are interlinked, transparent, reproducible, and
reusable for conservation and ecological monitoring. By prioritizing
scalability and interoperability, biodiversity discovery can be accelerated
while generating species descriptions that are both human- and
machine-readable. In doing so, the “dark taxa” that dominate global insect
diversity can finally become visible and tractable, supporting biodiversity
discovery, monitoring, and conservation in a digital age.

[image: F5.large.jpg]
[image: Diversityscanner.jpg]

-- 
Christiane Weirauch
Professor & Chair
Department of Entomology
University of California, Riverside

Ph: 951-827-5707 (Office)
Email: christiane.weirauch at ucr.edu
https://profiles.ucr.edu/christiane.weirauch
<christiane.weirauch at ucr.edu>President, International Heteropterists'
Society (2022-2026)
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