[Taxacom] Taxonomic output study

[Stephen Thorpe]

yes, but the point I was trying to make is that increasingly few and far between?professional positions are available for "spending all their time on species descriptions". If that's what you want to do, then you have basically got to be an "amateur" of some kind. But it isn't just "administrative tasks, fund-raising and teaching" that gets in the way, but also phylogenetics for phylogenetics sake and molecular systematics for m.s. sake (or rather both for citations sake) ...
?
Stephen

From: Bob Mesibov <mesibov at southcom.com.au>
To: Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at yahoo.co.nz> 
Cc: TAXACOM <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> 
Sent: Sunday, 27 May 2012 12:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Taxonomic output study

"We defined two groups of taxonomists, according to their professional status (see details in Material and Methods):

- Professional taxonomists: people paid to do taxonomy, having a formal position in taxonomy, or students; 
- Non-professional taxonomists: people who do not hold a position in which they are remunerated for performing taxonomy, i.e. amateurs in the broad sense and retired? professionals."

"A second limiting factor preventing the completion of an inventory of European biodiversity is the non-availability of taxonomists, just as in the tropics. Professional taxonomists are not numerous enough, and they cannot spend all their time on species descriptions, as they also have to deal with administrative tasks, fund-raising and teaching."
-- 
Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
Ph: (03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195
Webpage: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/?articleIDW0