Diverse and systematic: Building a science of biodiversity
Funding source: Swedish Research Council - Vetenskapsrådet (VR)
Period: 7/1/07 - 6/30/10
Funding: 4800000 SEK
Description:
Biodiversity has emerged as a central concept in biological research, as well as in environmental politics and research policy. This project will study knowledge production in biodiversity from two perspectives: the institutional structure of biodiversity research, and the emergence of systematics as a modern information science. Information management in the new biodiversity networks involve local knowledge as well as academic research, and the institutional, political, and scientific structures are practically and conceptually connected. The project consists of two case studies: 1. An examination of knowledge production in the institutions of biodiversity, such as the Species Information Centre and the Centre for Biological Diversity, hosting projects such as Nationalnyckeln, Svenska Artprojektet and Artportalen, at the intersection of universities, NGOs, and government authorities. 2. A study of the modern history of systematics in Sweden, focusing on the dramatic changes in the organisation of systematic information and research in the 1960s and 1970s as a basis for the establishment of systematics as a key field in biodiversity. Individually the two studies cover fields in the history and sociology of biology which have received little attention, despite historical prominence and current debate. Together they draw attention to the intertwined political and scientific meanings of biodiversity and bioinformatics, and the collaborative nature of scientific practice.
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