[Taxacom] UK Taxonomy & Systematics Review

[Richard Zander]

Really interesting reading, this report. Particularly for the density.
Everyone means well. Of course it comes down to money and will.

Given the importance of money, I hear lots of anecdotal tales about so
and so who has lots of money and so and so who does not yet provides
more info of importance. Really? If one is in the second group, one is
all for this opinion.

What are the facts? Wouldn't it be nice to see what money, public and
private, is actually spent on the different categories of systematic
endeavor, and the different categories of kinds of peoples doing the
endeavoring? 

One can estimate from public documentation the sum of public money spent
on phylogenetic research over the past 20 years and (as some of us do)
bemoan the lack of funding of classical systematics. This is wrong,
unless the amount of money spent on classical systematics is also
estimated, and an estimation made of (1) is the amount going up or down,
(2) what is the relative societal worth of the two schools of
systematics, and (3) do they work together well or not?

The cost of the report from the UK was doubtless considerable in time
and salary. If the same time and effort were spent on gathering facts,
there might be more sensible discussion. This report reads like a number
of agencies jockeying for power.

 

____________________________
Richard H. Zander
Missouri Botanical Garden, PO Box 299, St. Louis, MO 63166-0299 USA  
Web sites: http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/ and
http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/bfnamenu.htm
Modern Evolutionary Systematics Web site:
http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/21EvSy.htm
UPS and FedExpr -  MBG, 4344 Shaw Blvd, St. Louis 63110 USA

-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
[mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Richard
HARDWICK
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2012 1:28 PM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: [Taxacom] UK Taxonomy & Systematics Review

    For those interested in the future of taxonomy in the UK,
    this seems to be a new development -
        "UK Taxonomy & Systematics Review; -
        Response compiled by Natural Environment Research
        Council  on behalf of the community of taxonomy
        and systematics funders"

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/taxonomy/documents/uk-review-r
esponse.pdf

    The pdf (32 pages) says
        Created 2012-11-01 13:43:01 by Andrew J. Impey

    The pdf is a reply to
        "UK Taxonomy & Systematics Review - 2010
        Results of survey undertaken by the Review Team
        at the Natural History Museum
        serving as contractors to the
        Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)""

    Which is still available at
http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/taxonomy/events/pubreview.asp?
cookieConsent=A

    With thanks to this morning's http://agro.biodiver.se
    Richard H


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