Leonardo Chacón-Monge in front of his poster at the iBOL conference in Brazil.
In early September, Leonardo Chacón-Monge, a researcher with the Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR) at the Universidad de Costa Rica, whose work is partially funded by GDFCF, attended the International Barcode of Life (iBOL) conference in Belém, Brazil. GDFCF was able to cover Leonardo’s travel expenses so he could attend this conference; an award from the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding at the University of Guelph, Canada, covered his accommodation and conference registration costs. Leonardo submitted both a poster and a “lightning” talk to the conference, and both were accepted. The poster title was: “Accuracy and Reliability of the Main Public Molecular Databases in COI Sequences Identification: A Study Case with the Candidate Species Approach from Integrative Taxonomy in Central American Pacific Echinoderms." The title of his lightning talk was: "Unveiling Hidden Diversity: A Case Study Using the Consensus Protocol Approach for Integrative Taxonomy in Central American Pacific Echinoderms." He was the sole Costa Rican presenter at the conference, which was attended by 320 people from 43 countries. He noted that at the conference, Costa Rica received special recognition for its achievements: Thanks to the work of Daniel Janzen, Winnie Hallwachs, and other collaborators, the country leads the world in barcodes, with five million vouchered land specimens. “As a Costa Rican biologist,” Leo said, “it was incredibly inspiring to witness this firsthand in such a specialized conference. Representing both Costa Rica and BioMar-ACG [the marine bioinventory effort co-led by CIMAR, ACG, and GDFCF] as the sole Costa Rican presenter was a profound responsibility—a responsibility to continue supporting and promoting these initiatives, especially in the marine environment, where significant knowledge gaps remain.” Fortunately, he added, “BioMar-ACG's efforts are closing these gaps.”
During his lightning talk and in his poster presentation, Leo had an opportunity to explain BioMar and its scope. He met mentors, heroes, and potential collaborators. As he says, “...it was an amazing experience. It is difficult to find the proper words for describing the constellation of sensations as spectator and presenter. The learning and knowledge were overwhelming, as well as the encouragement to keep working. Both of my submissions were welcomed by the audience, as well as my scientific background, which was an absolute achievement considering the methodological biases and some weak results as the consequence of my self-learning process... [I received] lots of kind words of support and encouragement, showing sincere interest.” We were thrilled to have BioMar and its work represented at this prestigious conference by Leonardo.
Leo giving his presentation.
Leo with some of his heroes and mentors: Sujeevan Ratnasingham, Paul Hebert, Leo, Adriana Radulovici and María Cecilia Londoño Murcia (left to right).