CETAF - Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities

🎉 Tomorrow, CETAF is kicking off the celebrations for Recognition Day! We have a week packed with activities to honor this essential scientific discipline, leading up to its official day on May 23rd. 🌱

During the 8th Knowledge of Chamber event, we will be at the House of European History in the morning and at the Institut des Sciences naturelles - Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen in the afternoon. We'll be talking about Taxonomy, about the TETTRIs Project and our campaign—where everyone can join the celebration by sharing a photo of their favorite species along with its scientific name using the hashtag! 📸🌍

🌍 We are pleased to announce the start of GEODERA, a project led by the CETAF Earth Science Group (coordinated by Laura Tilley), in collaboration with TalTech - Tallinn University of Technology (with a team led by Olle Hints ) and Jardin botanique Meise (Patricia Mergen).

This project is among the 23 initiatives selected under the EOSC Gravity program to support the preparatory work for potential future EOSC nodes and expand the services offered through the EOSC Association.

🟡 The Goal
The project will deliver scientific use cases demonstrating how Earth Science collection data can be integrated into the EOSC Federation through the GeoCASe service and the EOSC Data Terra node.

🟡 Bridging the Data Gap
Natural history collections curate extensive geological and paleontological specimens that document:

- Past climates
- Environmental changes
- Natural hazards
- Biodiversity dynamics across deep time

Despite their relevance for contemporary environmental research, these datasets remain underrepresented in EOSC and insufficiently connected to Earth observation infrastructures.

🟡 Impact and Methodology
GEODERA will enhance the accessibility and interoperability of selected GeoCASe datasets by optimizing key metadata fields (such as stratigraphic age, georeferencing, and provenance). This integration will be demonstrated through two cross-domain use cases:

- Paleoclimate reconstruction using fossil pollen archives.
- Geological specimens with stratigraphic constraints relevant to hazard and environmental change research.

By linking deep-time records with present-day environmental observations, we are extending the temporal depth of Earth observation systems to better understand our planet's future.

🔗 More about the project: https://eosc.eu/horizon-europe-projects/geodera

🔗 Official EOSC announcement: https://eosc.eu/news/twenty-three-projects-receive-funding-under-eosc-gravity

🎥 Faces of Taxonomy: collaboration in times of crisis

In this new interview, Patrick Michaely, Director of the Musée national d'histoire naturelle Luxembourg - Naturmusée, shares his perspective on the power of collaboration across institutions, the importance of connecting collections and data, and why museums are trusted and stable actors in times of societal and environmental change.

From safeguarding scientific knowledge and digital infrastructures to supporting the people behind research, this conversation highlights both the challenges and the collective strength of the natural history community.

💬 “Working together is essential. If we are connected as institutions, we are not only stronger—we become a real force.”

Watch the full interview and discover more 👇

🔗 https://cetaf.org/faces-of-taxonomy-patrick-michaely/