Bioinspiration and Biodiversity Workshop; Brunei, Borneo; 16-22 December 2019

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This grant will provide funding for 30 people, many of which are from under-represented groups, the opportunity to attend a workshop on Bioinspiration and Biodiversity in Brunei, Borneo, 16-22 December 2019. Participants will attend plenary lectures on emerging topics in this area, participate in road mapping exercises, and conduct field work in the rich and diverse environment of Brunei, Borneo. There will be plenary lectures in emerging topics such as specimen digitization, data analytics, computational analysis of biological functions, and bioinspired robotics. Road mapping exercises will be conducted in the areas of foundations, digitization, data analytics, hardware paradigms, interdisciplinary education, and team building and research program development. The workshop will also include related field studies. This workshop will provide an excellent opportunity for US researchers to form collaborations with some of the foremost biodiversity experts in Southeast Asia. Early career researchers will be trained at this workshop and will have outstanding networking opportunities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.