On Monday and Tuesday, April 22nd and 23rd, Professor Benoit Guénard from Hong Kong University will be delivering two special presentations at the School of Earth Sciences and Engineering on the NJU Xianlin campus. While Professor Guénard is internationally recognized for his expertise in ant systematics and taxonomy, these lectures will diverge from his primary focus. Instead, Professor Guénard will share insights from his experience in curating the world’s foremost ant biodiversity database – the Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics (GABI) database (https://benoitguenard.wordpress.com/gabi-articles/) – and the significant advancements made by him, his colleagues, and students in documenting and analyzing the diversity of this economically important group of organisms.

Professor Guénard’s research represents a pioneering approach to biodiversity study, leveraging big data methodologies that are poised to revolutionize organismal biology. These presentations will be of interest to students and researchers across various disciplines, spanning from earth sciences and geography to biology, computer science, and machine learning. Moreover, Professor Guénard’s work has substantial implications for general conservation policy, monitoring, and regulation.

Professor Guénard will be conducting informal demonstrations and discussions of his database during his visit to the NJU campus. For more detailed information about Professor Guénard’s lectures, please refer to the attached brochure.

Please join us in welcoming Prof. Guénard to the NJU campus and listening to his review of this important research initiative.

Source: School of Earth Sciences and Engineering

Correspondent: Lu Yunqiao