The North America Invasive Species Management Association hosts weekly webinars on various invasive species topics. April 22’s featured speaker will be Chuck Bargeron from the University of Georgia.
EDDMapS, North America’s leading resource for reporting occurrences of invasive species, is getting its biggest update in over a decade. Whereas previous iterations of the EDDMapS website and smartphone applications focused on regional needs (and, thus, regional versions of each existed), the new EDDMapS One unifies regions into one collective website and app. Concurrent to this, the EDDMapS API has also been redesigned for improved performance, increased usability, and easier implementation with a broader user base. This will allow for easier and more precise data sharing among individual users and aggregate databases alike.
EDDMapS has been a resource for invasive species occurrence data since 2005. In this time, EDDMapS has grown from a citizen science database focused on invasive plant data in the southeast to an aggregate database soliciting data on all invasive species taxa and biological control agents across the US and into Canada. As technology has advanced, it has allowed for more features and tools to be developed and made available to EDDMapS’ partners.
This webinar will:
give an overview of EDDMapS history and capabilities
instruct participants on how to access EDDMapS One on their browser and smartphone
answer questions about merging data from multiple platforms
Chuck Bargeron is the Director of the University of Georgia, Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health and a faculty member in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Chuck has been with UGA for 21 years where his work focuses on invasive species and information technology. Websites that he designed have received over 1.7 billion hits since 2002. Recently, Chuck has focused on mapping invasive species and tools for Early Detection and Rapid Response. He has led the development of 66 smartphone applications including the first apps for the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service. He was appointed to the National Invasive Species Advisory Council in 2013 and elected as Chair in 2018. Chuck is President-Elect of the North American Invasive Species Management Association