Research
The American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT) "promotes research and teaching in the taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny of vascular and nonvascular plants." One particularly useful online service from ASPT is a Current News section which provides information about a variety of relevant post-docs, internships, and fellowships; awards and other funding opportunities; upcoming meetings and symposia around the world; herbaria news; and more. The site also provides ASPT specific information about graduate research grants, bylaws, membership, publications, and the upcoming Botany 2005 Annual Meeting (held in conjunction with the American Fern Society, Botanical Society of America, and American Bryological and Lichenological Society). In addition, ASPT provides access to a membership database, email addresses for officers and committee members, and a Herbaria electronic mailing list. [NL]
The Microarray Gene Expression Data Society is an international organization composed of computer scientists, data analysts, and biologists "that aims to facilitate the sharing of microarray data generated by functional genomics and proteomics experiments." Hosted by the European Bioinformatics Institute, this website connects to information about six major Data Society workgroups (e.g. the Ontology Working Group, the Reporting Structure for Biological Investigations Working Groups, the Data Transformation and Normalization Working Group). The Data Society website also offers a News Archive; several downloadable publications from the past few years; a number of PowerPoint presentations from past Society meetings; contact information for Society Board Members; and links to information about upcoming and past Society meetings. [NL]
http://cmave.usda.ufl.edu/~formis/
Hosted by the USDA's Center for Medical, Agricultural, and Veterinary Entomology, this Master Bibliography of Ant Literature, entitled FORMIS, "is a composite of several ant literature databases. It contains citations for a large fraction of the world's ant literature (about 32,000 references). FORMIS contains all known ant taxonomic literature (through 1996)." In addition, FORMIS features comprehensive bibliographies of fire ants, Russian wood ants, and leaf-cutting ants. The website offers options for online searches and downloads. The site was last modified in April 2004; however, it should be noted that FORMIS has not been updated since 2003, thus users should not expect to find the most recent literature. Despite the lack of up-to-date literature, FORMIS remains a substantial resource for myrmecologists and other researchers. Furthermore, the editors are requesting assistance for the continued expansion and updating of FORMIS. [NL]
http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/hcol/french_guiana/index.asp
From the New York Botanical Garden's Virtual Herbarium, this "specimen database of flowering plant collections is part of a larger project designed to document the fungal and plant diversity of central French Guiana." A greater goal of the project "is to provide the fungal and plant inventories needed for understanding the evolution and ecological relationships of the fungi, plants, and animals that inhabit this, one of the last tropical wilderness areas of the world." The website provides engines for basic searches as well as detailed searches with fields for Scientific Name (e.g. Family, Genus, Species), Collector/Number, Collector Location (e.g. Country, City, Province/State, County), Type Status, Substrate, and more. Site visitors can also locate specimen records by browsing a Families list and link to more information at the Fungal and Plant Diversity of Central French Guiana Homepage. [NL]
http://ntddb.abcc.ncifcrf.gov/cgi-bin/nltissue.pl
The Oncogenomics Normal Tissue Database is "a high-density gene expression database derived from 42,000 clone cDNA microarrays containing 18,927 unique genes for 158 normal human samples from 19 different organs of 30 different individuals." The Database was released by the Oncogenomics Section of the National Cancer Institute's Pediatric Oncology Branch. Genes can be queried based on Gene Ontology Terms, IMAGE Clone ID, Gene Symbol, Chromosome, Cytoband, and more. Users can view results "by either a heatmap for multiple genes grouped by organ type or a bar-chart for individual genes also grouped by organ type." Note: After completing a free and simple registration process, users may access the whole dataset. [NL]
http://www.biostat.wustl.edu/~genetics/iges/
The International Genetic Epidemiology Society (IGES) is composed of "geneticists, epidemiologists, statisticians, mathematicians, biologists, related biomedical researchers and students interested in the research of the genetic basis of the diseases, complex traits and their risk factors." Hosted by the Division of Biostatistics at Washington University School of Medicine, the IGES website provides information about annual scientific meetings; organizational information such as bylaws; the official IGES journal, Genetic Epidemiology; books of interest; relevant courses and training programs, and meetings for related organizations. Notably, the site posts an extensive list of available positions (at institutions in a number of countries) such as post-docs, research fellows, faculty positions, research associate positions, and more. The website links to an IGES membership directory as well. [NL]
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projects/algae/Alg-Coll.htm#menu%20alg-coll
The Algal Collection of the U.S. National Herbarium, part of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, "is represented by over 219,548 accessioned and inventoried herbarium specimens preserved on herbarium sheets." The Collection includes estuarine, marine, freshwater, airborne, and terrestrial algae; however, macroscopic and marine comprise the principal holdings. In addition to information about the Collection, this website contains information regarding loan requests, scientific visits, and the Research Database. At present, only the Type Algal Collection can be searched online, but research inquiries of the main collection may be requested. Site visitors will also find information about staff members, algae collection and preservation, and marine floras in the Americas. Additionally, site visitors can view lists and selected abstracts of publications by Collection staff members. [NL]
The Archive of American Folk Medicine is the result of more than 50 years of work by UCLA-associated folklorists who "documented beliefs and practices relating to folk medicine and alternative healthcare. In order to make the data more readily available to the worldwide community of researchers and medical practitioners, the Online Archive of American Folk Medicine was established in 1996 under the direction of Dr. Michael Owen Jones, a professor of folklore and history at UCLA." The Archive draws from over 3,200 published works, and is intended to serve folklorists, sociologists, and historians. The website provides basic and advanced search options; and records include brief entries for Citation, Condition, Belief, Method of Treatment, and more. Users should be aware that the Archive website has not been updated in several years but it remains a valuable resource for researchers and others interested in folk medicine. [NL]
