Font Size: 

The annual TDWG conference is the place to learn about the latest advances in Biodiversity Informatics.  Participation in TDWG by biodiversity information specialists from Sub-Saharan African countries has traditionally been very low.  In an effort to change this, the Belgian Development Cooperation (BDC) and the JRS Biodiversity Foundation (JRS) have been supporting the travel of small numbers of Sub-Saharan African biodiversity specialists to TDWG conferences since 2011.  Responses to a survey of past BDC and JRS travel awardees, conducted to assess the quality of the conference experience, suggest that African participants would benefit more from TDWG conferences if they received hands-on training on the kinds of biodiversity informatics technology discussed at the conferences. When past BDC and JRS travel awardees were asked why they haven’t participated in TDWG conferences in the years since they received a travel grant, respondents reported that they lack the financial resources to sustain their participation in TDWG conferences.  In recognition of TDWG’s first meeting on the Africa continent, the JRS Biodiversity Foundation is supporting the participation of 35 Sub-Saharan African Biodiversity specialists in the 2015 TDWG Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, and a Biodiversity Informatics training workshop the week before the conference.  This presentation reports on the outcome of the 2015 Pre-TDWG Training Workshop. It also presents a roadmap for sustaining African participation in future TDWG conferences by forging collaborations among Africans biodiversity information specialists and frequent TDWG conference attendees.  A recent research collaboration involving the author and collaborators from the National Museums of Kenya and the University of Nairobi is offered as an example of how such collaborations can form and be sustained long term.