Ben is a Senior Technical Officer with research interests in the field of bioinformatics and biodiversity informatics.

Currently his work includes creating web interfaces for biological (particularly Herbarium) data and the maintenance of Herbarium databases. Online examples include: FloraBase, the Division’s popular plant search engine, and the Division’s area of NatureBase.

• Bioinformatics and biodiversity informatics:
  • National and international standards and protocols for representing and providing access to biological data
  • General Internet protocols, standards, software (e.g. Web servers and associated tools) and languages (e.g. PHP, Java and Perl) required to manage and publish data online
  • SQL Database environments
  • Digital imaging standards, file formats and copyright.
• General ecological and biological interpretation skills, including quadrat analysis, plant specimen collection, plant identification, and laboratory skills (plant genetics).

Academic qualifications

Postgraduate Study.
Postgraduate Diploma in Science, majoring in Botany at The University of Western Australia. Thesis: "Genetic Diversity in a Pygmy Sundew (Drosera parvula Planchon) Regenerating After Fire."

Undergraduate Study.
Bachelor of Science degree completed with a major in Environmental Science from Murdoch University.

Membership of Professional Societies

• Herbarium Information Systems Committee (HISCOM)
• Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)

AVH

Australia’s Virtual Herbarium is an on-line botanical information resource accessible via the web. It provides immediate access to the wealth of data associated with scientific plant specimens in each Australian herbarium. Six million specimen records, of particular value in displaying geographic distribution, will be enhanced by images, descriptive text and identification tools. The AVH is a collaborative project of the State, Commonwealth and Territory herbaria. It is being developed under the auspices of the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH), representing the major Australian collections. Visit either the local Perth AVH node, or the home page for the entire Australia’s Virtual Herbarium network to get started.

Data Standards

Herbarium Information Standards and Protocols for Interchange of Data (HISPID) has a long name, but is useful to those institutions that manage plant specimen data. Recent work has brought this Australian standard into line with more recent work at the global level, see Access to Biological Collections Data (ABCD).

Saving Our Species

Saving Our Species is a $15 million biodiversity rescue program to boost the conservation of Western Australia’s unique plants, animals and ecosystems.

(9 items)

2007

Chapman A, Whitbread G, Richardson B, Belbin L (comps) (2007). Towards an LSID policy for the Australasian biodiversity federation: recommendations, Canberra LSID Workshop, ANBG, 2-4 April 2007. Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), Canberra. 18 p.

Neish P, Richardson B, Whitbread G (2007). New standards from old: reconciling HISPID with ABCD (ABSTRACT). In Biodiversity Information Standards TDWG: the Proceedings of TDWG: Abstracts of the 2007 Annual Conference of the Taxonomic Databases Working Group: 16-22 September 2007, Bratislava, Slovakia (eds A Weitzman, L Belbin). Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), St Louis. p. 75

Neish P, Richardson B, Whitbread G (2007). New standards from old: reconciling HISPID with ABCD: PowerPoint presentation given at Biodiversity Information Standards TDWG: the Proceedings of TDWG: Abstracts of the 2007 Annual Conference of the Taxonomic Databases Working Group: 16-22 September 2007, Bratislava, Slovakia. 19 digital slides

Whitbread G, Chapman AR, Richardson B (2007). LSID policy and implementation in Australia: PowerPoint presentation given at Biodiversity Information Standards TDWG: the Proceedings of TDWG: Abstracts of the 2007 Annual Conference of the Taxonomic Databases Working Group: 16-22 September 2007, Bratislava, Slovakia. 21 digital slides

Whitbread G, Chapman AR, Richardson B (2007). LSID policy and implementation in Australia (ABSTRACT). In Biodiversity Information Standards TDWG: the Proceedings of TDWG: Abstracts of the 2007 Annual Conference of the Taxonomic Databases Working Group: 16-22 September 2007, Bratislava, Slovakia (eds A Weitzman, L Belbin). Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), St Louis. pp. 28–29

2004

Wright L, Richardson B, Mathiesen B (2004). Copyright policy. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Kensington, WA. 12 p.

2003

Chapman A, Richardson B (2003). New version of FloraBase released. Australian Systematic Botany Society Newsletter 115, p. 14

2002

Bolitho M, Soong P, Atkins K, Dawson R, Mazanec R, Richardson B (2002). The Department's internal web services: opportunities and challenges. Department of Conservation and Land Management, 112 p.

1998

Richardson BP, Lander NS, Chapman AR (1998). FloraBase: an integrated information system for Western Australia (ABSTRACT). In Biodiversity, Biotechnology & Biobusiness: 2nd Asia-Pacific Conference on Biotechnology: Perth, Western Australia, 23-27 November 1998: Programme & Abstracts (eds M van Keulen, MA Borowitzka). Australian Biotechnology Association (W.A. Branch), Perth. pp. 115–118