Diatom Taxonomic Certification Committee expands the Diatom Web Academy series
Sarah Spaulding, Sylvia Lee, Meredith Tyree
The Diatom Taxonomic Certification Committee (TCC) has been meeting over the past year and a half, developing the Level 1 Diatom Taxonomic Certification exam. The exam is in place and the Diatom TCC is continuing to contribute to goals in the SFS strategic plan to diversify membership, support professional development of members, and increase the number of certified taxonomists.
In addition to developing exams, the TCC saw the need to offer broader training related to diatoms. We began a webinar series in fall of 2019 that addresses informational needs of managers in agencies, analysts, and ecologists. Between the online participants and participants that access the recorded webinars, we are reaching a large international audience. Through these activities, we are expanding the web-accessible resources available to SFS members and beyond.
We had planned to hold a workshop at the ASLO-SFS meeting on efficient creation of a digital image reference, or voucher flora, for diatoms. Although that workshop is no longer possible, our experience with the webinar series has given us renewed energy! Via the webinars, we are reaching more people than would be possible in our workshop sessions at the annual SFS meeting. We are adapting our workshop into a series of interactive webinars, starting May 12. For details, visit Diatoms of North America.
Webinars that have been aired by the Diatom TCC listed by topic, presenter, presenter affiliation, online attendance, and number of views of the archive (as of 4 May 2020). The series, both upcoming and archive talks, are posted on Diatoms of North America.