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🎊 Congratulations to the four winners of the 2026 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge! 🏆 BioRisk AI (Argentina) 🏆 OBIS Species Distribution Models (SDMs) (Belgium) OBIS 🏆bioReportR (Canada) 🏆georeference.it (Portugal) Read about the ENC winning projects: 🔗gbif.link/ENC-2026-w...

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GBIF @gbif.org · 8h

✍️Meeting once per year, the GBIF Governing Board discusses critical work for both the Secretariat and the broader network, updates from the GBIF Committees, review of the GBIF budget for the next financial year and other emerging priorities. 💚 Thank you to our GB33 hosts @gbifnorway.bsky.social!

Collage of pics from the first day of the governing board meeting

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GBIF @gbif.org · 29/09/2026

🌱 A wonderful evening last night at Klimahuset in Oslo 🌕 with GBIF Norway and the Director of the Naturhistorisk Museum opening the icebreaker event ahead of the 33rd GBIF Governing Board Meeting. 💚 📸 Mélianie Raymond

Photo of senior delegates from GBIF and the natural history museum

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GBIF @gbif.org · 29/09/2026

🕷️ Introducing community metrics: a new pilot set of national-level metrics that are designed to quantify data gaps in GBIF and help to identify priorities for biodiversity data mobilization. 🔎 Explore the metrics and share your feedback! 🔗data-blog.gbif.org/p...

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GBIF @gbif.org · 28/09/2026

Following #TDWG2026 last week, we've got another full week in #Oslo! ⭐ Monday: Meetings of the GBIF Committees 🐝 Tuesday - Thursday: The 33rd meeting of the GBIF Governing Board 🧬Friday: GBIF Science Symposium 🔗gbif.link/SciSympOslo Thank you to our hosts @gbifnorway.bsky.social

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GBIF @gbif.org · 25/09/2026

And that's a wrap! A huge shout-out to the incredible #TDWG team for bringing to life such a wonderful conference. 💙💚 It's been great to connect with so many talented biodiversity professionals, catch up with old friends and hear about the work happening across the community!

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GBIF @gbif.org · 25/09/2026

🚀 Wrapping up the last day of #TDWG2026 with a presentation by Dmitry Schigel at 09:15: Handling evidence: a cross-disciplinary perspective.

Schedule showing Dmitry's talk at 0915 on Friday

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GBIF @gbif.org · 24/09/2026

⭐ More #TDWG2026 highlights from the past few days including conference talks, side-meetings, booth conversations and excursions 🎨 @tdwg.org

A collage of pics of attendees at the TDWG 2026 conference

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GBIF @gbif.org · 24/09/2026

You won't want to miss these talks at #TDWG2026! ✍️ Today you can catch Executive Secretary Joe Miller's talk on GBIF after 25 year and Training Officer Laura Anne Russell is speaking in the session CO4 FAIR data in practice - eDNA, modelling and biodiversity concepts. 🦋 @tdwg.org

Calendar lineup of GBIF talks on thursday

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GBIF @gbif.org · 23/09/2026

🦋 Four projects have been selected for funding through the 2026 round of #CESP! This initiative addresses specific capacity needs identified through the GBIF Participant networks. 🔗gbif.link/CESP-2026 SNIBgt #AtlasofLivingAustralia @dissco.bsky.social NLBIF

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GBIF @gbif.org · 22/09/2026

It’s been a busy day for GBIF at TDWG! 🌎 💚Thanks to everybody who attended the GBIF presentations and participated in the engaging discussions! #TDWG2026 @tdwg.org

Collage of different peoples presentations at TDWG

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GBIF @gbif.org · 22/09/2026

⭐ Celebrating 25 years of GBIF! ⭐ To mark GBIF’s 25th anniversary, a new open access article in the Biodiversity Data Journal provides a comprehensive overview of GBIF’s history, network and infrastructure. 📖 Read the article:🔗https://gbif.link/gbif25paper-news @bdj.pensoft.net @pensoft.net

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GBIF @gbif.org · 22/09/2026

🔍 We've got a packed agenda ahead for day 2 of #TDWG2026! ⭐ Catch presentations by Matt Blissett, John Waller, Joe Miller, Esteban Marentes and Marie Grosjean from the Secretariat (see below for more details), and head over to the GBIF booth to chat to the team. @tdwg.org

A picture of Laura, John and Mikhail at the GBIF booth

Schedule poster titled “Where to find GBIF today” for TDWG 2026 talks: “The GBIF data index: crawling and crawled” by Matthew Blissett, “GBIF Rule Based Annotations” by John Waller, “Reconsidering the original vision for a global biodiversity information facility” by Joe Miller, “Digital curation across the biodiversity data lifecycle…” by Esteban Marentes Herrera, and “The Latimer Core standard and the Global Registry of Scientific Collections” by Marie Grosjean

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GBIF @gbif.org · 21/09/2026

Starting day 1 of #TDWG2026 off with a bang! ✨ We’re looking forward to meeting colleagues, catching up with familiar faces and discussing new concepts throughout the week. Congratulations to the Engineering team on their fantastic presentation today! 💙 @tdwg.org

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GBIF @gbif.org · 21/09/2026

⭐ Kicking off the week at #TDWG2026 in Oslo! Today you can catch a presentation by members from the Secretariat's Engineering team on the progress toward integrating the new Darwin Core Data Package standard into GBIF infrastructure. 📍 14:45, Aula UiO @tdwg.org

Green and white calendar stating the time, place and talk being presented at TDWG on Monday 21 September

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GBIF @gbif.org · 18/09/2026

1) 🌱 Can open data and AI make environmental impact assessments (EIAs) more transparent and rigorous? A recent study using the Tren Maya railway project in Yucatán, Mexico explores this question. Researchers compared biodiversity information in the EIA with 67,232 species occurrences from GBIF.

Photograph of a spectacular speckled lizard

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GBIF @gbif.org · 17/09/2026

📣 Reminder: Register for the 2026 Virtual Data Mobilization Workshop for Southern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia!🐍 📍English version: Application deadline 18 September🔗gbif.link/ECA-worksh... 📍 Russian version: Application deadline 27 September 🔗gbif.link/ECA-worksh...

A Caucasus viper on a forest floor among leaves

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GBIF @gbif.org · 15/09/2026

✍️ Join our last Data Use Club event for the year: Sequence data on the new GBIF.org This session provides an overview of using the sequence search function, including discussions of best practices for using the sequence data. 📍 19 November 09:00-10:30 CET 🔗gbif.link/DUC_sequen...

Poster with a pale cream background and a black-and-gray illustrated fish. Text reads: “Data Use Club,” “Sequence data on the new GBIF.org”

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GBIF @gbif.org · 14/09/2026

🥁 Announcing our 2026 GBIF Graduate Researchers Award winners: Masters: Karen D. Sarmiento-Arias (Mexico/Colombia) PhD: Rachel Haderlé (France) Read about Karen's and Rachel's award-winning research here: 🔗 gbif.link/GRA-Karen 🔗 gbif.link/GRA-rachel

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GBIF @gbif.org · 11/09/2026

1) 🕷️Our spidey senses are tingling 🕸️ Invasive spiders are thriving in North America, but where will they spread next? The Jorō spider (Trichonephila clavata), an orb weaver native to Asia, was introduced to the southeastern United States around 2010 and has since rapidly expanded its range.

A colorful Jorō spider with a yellow, black, and red abdomen and long black legs hangs on its web against a blurred green background. Text reads “GBIF” and “Jorō spider (Trichonephila clavata) observed in United States by John Deitsch (CC BY-NC 4.0)”.

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GBIF @gbif.org · 10/09/2026

🌺 You won't want to miss this one! You're invited to join the GBIF Science Symposium! The theme of the event, “From Open Data to Living Knowledge."🧬 This event is free to join in person at Universitetet i Oslo or through virtual livestream. 🔗 www.gbif.no/events/2... @gbifnorway.bsky.social

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GBIF @gbif.org · 07/09/2026

🔎 Learn about modelling location, date and time for survey and monitoring (SAM) data in our latest data blog post! Authored by Marie Grosjean and Kate Ingenloff, this blog is the third installment in our Good SAMaritans series. 🚀 Take a journey through space & time🔗: data-blog.gbif.org/p...

Illustration of a secretary bird looking at a tardis

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GBIF @gbif.org · 03/09/2026

🧬 Deep-diving DNA in Denmark! This week, the Secretariat and #danbif are hosting a workshop to support users and publishers in Denmark increase the visibility and reuse of their biodiversity data by publishing it through GBIF using the Metabarcoding Data Toolkit. #NovoNordiskFoundation.

Group photo of attendees at the SPLICE eDNA event in Copenhagen this week

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GBIF @gbif.org · 02/09/2026

1) 🐢 What tortoises taught us about speciation A recent study of Sonoran and Mojave desert tortoises explores how species can diverge even when they still occasionally hybridize.

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GBIF @gbif.org · 01/09/2026

🟡 Acacia you haven't heard, it's #NationalWattleDay! Wattles (Acacia) are the largest genus of plants in Australia. Many species are known for their iconic green and gold colours, 💚💛 but there is variation in flower colour and leaf and stem structure among Acacias. 🔗 www.gbif.org/taxon/LV7

wattle that is brown with red rings and black seeds

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GBIF @gbif.org · 01/09/2026

📢 Announcement: Dataset crawling and indexing paused Stick with us as we made a few web updates! 🕸️ Crawling and indexing of datasets is suspended from Tuesday 1 September to Friday 4 September on GBIF.org due to Elasticsearch cluster upgrades. 🔗 status.gbif.org/#

A photo of a peacock spider waving its legs

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GBIF @gbif.org · 31/08/2026

📣 Don't miss out on registering for the 2026 Virtual Data Mobilization Workshop for Southern Europe, Caucasus & Central Asia! This workshop guides participants through the data mobilization workflow, including data capture, management and publishing. 📍Deadline 31 August 🔗gbif.link/ECA-worksh...

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GBIF @gbif.org · 28/08/2026

1) 🦋🌎 Although >7.8 million records about biodiversity in Belize are currently available through GBIF, <1% represent insects. To bridge this gap, an EU-funded BID project led by University of Belize Environmental Research Institute is mobilizing fruit-feeding butterfly occurrence records.

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GBIF @gbif.org · 26/08/2026

1) 💧 Oh the hue-manatee! A new initiative is bringing together decades of manatee records from universities, NGOs and government agencies across South America and Mexico, helping fill critical gaps in open access data records.

Photo of an American mantee in the water

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GBIF @gbif.org · 25/08/2026

🌿 How can open biodiversity data support achieving land degradation neutrality (LDN)? Kyle Copas will discuss this topic fellow alongside panelists at a Green Zone event at #UNCCDCOP17. 📍 Aug 26, 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM, Green Zone 💚 @unccd.bsky.social #UNCCD #COP17Mongolia

A photo of the headshots of panelists presenting in the session at UNCCDCOP17

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GBIF @gbif.org · 24/08/2026

Last chance to register for the GBIF Data Use Club webinar tomorrow! 👀 Topic: The new and improved GBIF.org! 📍 25 August, 09:00–10:30 CET CEST 🎤 Incredible speakers: Esteban Marentes, Marie Grosjean & Kate Ingenloff 👉 Register: 🔗gbif.link/DUC_new-GBIF

a cream coloured graphic with a drawing of a coral and pink text reading GBIF data use club practical session new and improved GBIF.org

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GBIF @gbif.org · 24/08/2026

📣 Announcing the 2026 Virtual Data Mobilization Workshop for Southern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia! Workshop skills include data mobilization workflow, data capture, management and publishing. 📍English version: Application deadline 31 August 🔗gbif.link/ECA-worksh...

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GBIF @gbif.org · 24/08/2026

🗻 The Hindu Kush Himalayan Biodiversity Information Facility (HKHBIF) has launched a GBIF hosted portal! 🥳 Hosted by ICIMOD the HKHBIF portal brings together critical biodiversity information for Asian mountain ecosystems. 🔗gbif.link/HKHBIF

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GBIF @gbif.org · 21/08/2026

Now that GBIF is an officially accredited observer of the #UNCCD, we're joining #COP17Mongolia! Catch the event hosted by Kyle Copas Copas and GBIF Mongolia: Biodiversity data to support desertification research and policy. 🌵 Learn more:🔗 www.gbif.org/event/b... #UNCCDCOP17

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GBIF @gbif.org · 20/08/2026

We're breaking free (of our old taxonomy)! 🪁 The newest version of rgbif (3.9.0) is planned to be release to #CRAN the end of September and introduces a number of breaking changes as GBIF's default taxonomy moves to the Catalogue of Life Extended Release. Learn more:🔗data-blog.gbif.org/p...

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GBIF @gbif.org · 20/08/2026

1) 🔥 How will changing fire regimes reshape savannah vegetation? A recent study uses 1,145 GBIF-mediated species occurrences to explore how woody plants in Brazil’s Cerrado respond to changing fire frequency, intensity and severity.

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GBIF @gbif.org · 19/08/2026

GBIF has been officially accredited as an observer to the #UNConventionToCombatDesertification! 🥳 This allows GBIF to participate in key activities and initiatives of the convention and coordinate efforts to respond to UNCCD's global challenges and national needs.🐫 🔗 gbif.link/UNCCD

Photo of a camel on sand dunes in Mongolia

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GBIF @gbif.org · 18/08/2026

🧬 Sequence search is now available on GBIF.org! 🎉 This new feature allows users to search for nucleotide (DNA or RNA) sequences to discover occurrence records not only through names but also genetic sequences. 🔍 Learn more:🔗gbif.link/sequence-s...

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GBIF @gbif.org · 17/08/2026

📣 Register for our next Data Use Club covering the new and improved GBIF.org! This session provides a practical demonstration of some of the updates and new features of the recently refreshed GBIF.org website. 📍 25 August 09:00 CEST 👉 Register: 🔗gbif.link/DUC_new-GBIF

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GBIF @gbif.org · 14/08/2026

🦋 Our latest GBIF #DataBlog post authored by Marie Grosjean and Kate Ingenloff has just launched! This post is the second in the series about survey and monitoring (SAM) data, focusing on reporting in surveys. Check it out: 🔗data-blog.gbif.org/p...

A drawing of a secretary bird looking inquisitively at a caterpillar

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GBIF @gbif.org · 13/08/2026

1) 🐺 Hungry like the wolf: Mitigating Mexican wolf and livestock conflict A recent study on endangered Mexican wolves found that diversionary feeding reduced livestock depredation by more than 40% in the three months after food was provided to wolf packs.

A photo of a Mexican wolf in an open field

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GBIF @gbif.org · 12/08/2026

If you've ever had interactions with the GBIF Secretariat, chances are you'll recognizes these faces 💖 Meet Anne Mette Nielsen and Susanne Sheldon, our longest serving Secretariat staff members! Read about their stories and perspectives on 25 years of GBIF. 🌍

Tenure & roles
AMN: "I started on 1 August 2002 as Secretary. Then became ICT Support Manager in April 2006 and was appointed Head of Administration as of 1 November 2013."
SS: "I started on 1 May 2002 as Senior Secretary, then became Office Manager/PA to the Director and later HR Manager/PA to the Director."

Core memories
AMN: "Governing Board meetings taking place around the world is always exciting. But also the time we hit 1 billion data records. And the time we found out that GBIF was featured in one of the Danish Donald Duck books."
SS: "It fun when our building was inaugurated in 2003 by the then Prince Consort to the Queen, Prince Henrik."

Favourite events
AMN: "Although all GB meetings are special, the Peru GB meeting stands out. We came out to the yacht club in Iquitos to a building with no walls or electricity. In very short time the local organizers added fabric walls and a generator to power electricity and internet. We were then sitting in this room with a view to the river, seeing small water planes take off and landing, and having a couple of bats visit us in the room."
SS: "I appreciate all the social events and excursions in connection with the GB meetings. We have had some wonderful trips out in Brazil, Madagascar, Korea, Finland, Portugal etc amongst others. It has been good catching up with the network in different settings. You get to know people in quite a different way, and it is really a very nice and enthusiastic crowd."

Biggest changes in GBIF
Both: "GBIF and the Secretariat has changed significantly. We were there almost from the beginning when the first years were spent building the organization; setting up the governance structure, finding out the technical aspects of setting up the database and requirements for data sharing. We are now ‘grown up’ and are a significant entity. It is good to see that all that time and effort has been recognized now."

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GBIF @gbif.org · 11/08/2026

📖 Introducing Science Review No. 13! This is a collection of 50 summaries of peer-reviewed scientific papers across 16 topics from the past year. It is an homage to the incredible research and impact of the wider GBIF data user community. 🦎💖 🔗https://gbif.link/SR13

Cover of Science Review No. 13 with an illustration of a green lizard

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GBIF @gbif.org · 07/08/2026

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GBIF @gbif.org · 06/08/2026

1) Who's that Pokémon? 🐏🌱 The little sea sheep (Costasiella kuroshimae) is a sea slug that was first described in 1993. It sequesters chloroplasts from algae into its own cells, allowing it to carry out short-term photosynthesis. ☀️

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GBIF @gbif.org · 05/08/2026

1) 🌴 Tropical insects are feeling the heat 🥵 A recent study found that repeated El Niño events are linked to long-term declines in tropical arthropod diversity, including groups such as beetles and butterflies.

A bright orange and blue caterpillar on a leaf

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GBIF @gbif.org · 04/08/2026

👾 Level up your data skills with DataCamp! Thanks to our on-going partnership with #DataCampDonates, GBIF is proud to offer free licenses to biodiversity data users to explore courses hundreds of online courses such as Python, GitHub, data theory, SQL and Power BI. 🔗 gbif.link/datacamp2026

A rainbow beetle with GBIF and DataCamp logos

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GBIF @gbif.org · 30/07/2026

Nature versus nurture 🤔 This egg-speriment 🥚 tracked >200 herring gulls to better understand how cognitive performance in the lab relates to behaviour in the wild! 🐦 The project led by University of Gent and #INBO in 2022 tracked juvenile herring gulls (Larus argentatus) hatched in Belgium.

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GBIF @gbif.org · 28/07/2026

Checking in from Salt Lake City! 👋 GBIF Secretariat Scientific Officer Kate Ingenloff is at the 2026 Ecological Society of America meeting this week.🐊 You can find Kate the GBIF booth and pick up some stickers, Science Reviews and postcards! #ESA2026 1/2

Exhibition booth for GBIF promoting free and open access to biodiversity data with lots of merch and informational materials and a smiling representative.

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GBIF @gbif.org · 28/07/2026

1) 🍄‍🟫Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are essential to forest ecosystems and nutrient cycling. 💧 A recent Europe-wide study of 66 ECM species found that the distribution of host trees 🌳 is a stronger predictor of fungal distributions than climate alone. ☀️

Two brown mushrooms along a forest floor

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