Do you need to share your data, images, and analyses with collaborators at multiple institutions? Do you work with big data? Have you developed a new algorithm that you want to make available for anyone to use, regardless of whether or not they have command line experience? The iPlant Collaborative (http://www.iplantcollaborative.org/) provides free cyberinfrastructure to all biologists and bioinformaticians to address these very challenges. iPlant is an initiative funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation with a mission to facilitate the transformation of life sciences research and education through computational infrastructure and expertise.  Despite the name, iPlant’s scope includes any life sciences research, be it genomic or ecological, in plants, animals, or microbes, from single-researcher investigations to community-wide collaborations. The cyberinfrastructure is suitable for biodiversity research that requires access to shared data storage, very large datasets, high performance computing, or cloud computing. iPlant also provides platforms for developers and informaticians to share their tools and algorithms.

The iPlant Workshop at TDWG 2015 will be hands on and geared toward beginners, although advanced iPlant users are very welcome. It will be divided into two ninety minute sessions: 1) Overview and Working with Data, 2) Analysis Platforms. This first session will begin with an overview of the tools and services available through iPlant, with an emphasis on their utility to biodiversity researchers. These include: data storage, sharing, and metadata mark-up; cloud-based computing through Atmosphere; web-based access to dozens of applications through the Discovery Environment; data publishing through the iPlant Data Commons; Application Programming Interfaces (APIs); image management and analysis with Bisque; and Educational, Outreach, and Training (EOT) resources. Hands-on activities during the first session will allow users to upload and share data using the Discovery Environment and Cyberduck. It is recommended, but not required, that you attend this session if you plan to attend the second section. If you want to take part in the hands-on activities, you will need to register for an iPlant account at http://user.iplantcollaborative.org/, request access to Atmosphere and Bisque, and download and install Cyberduck. This should be done at least one day prior to the workshop. Full instructions and a more detailed agenda for the workshop are at http://bit.ly/1euy02s.