By Siti-Munirah, M.Y. ([email protected]) Forest Research Institute Malaysia

I am a Research Officer and a young botanist at the Kepong Herbarium (KEP), Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At present, I'm working for the Flora of Malaysia project, revising families for the Flora of Peninsula Malaysia, such as, Lythraceae, Rafflesiaceae, Droseraceae, Cabombaceae, Ranunculaceae and a few others. I am also interested in Rafflesia (a parasitic group of plants), Drosera (a carnivorous plant group), and Cabomba (an invasive plant group). From my botanical exploration in the green forests of Malaysia I also focus on, Sonerilla, Argostemma and Thismia. I have been conducting fieldwork throughout Peninsular of Malaysia since 2007, and have collected more than 958 herbarium specimens. I am also involved with monitoring Rafflesia distribution and in its conservation in Malaysian Peninsular.

After attending the pro-iBiosphere workshops and hands-on training sessions (http://wiki.pro-ibiosphere.eu/wiki/Workshops_Leiden_February_2013), I gained new knowledge and understanding on how to use various e-platforms and e-tools for taxonomy. It benefited my career path development as a taxonomist and gave me the opportunity to share and spread the information among my colleagues, also within my country.

Recently, I have published my first new species via Phytokeys, my first encounter with an online journal. The whole process only took around 4 months.

The main resources of biodiversity data are from basic research, therefore the foundation support for basic research exploring biodiversity should be available and sustained persistently. In my opinion, e-tools and e-platforms for taxonomy should be taught during degree or school level and applied for masters and PhD students. The extensive promotion should be done widely especially in the countries with high biodiversity. This will help to develop a good biodiversity center base for a region or country key players.

Technology transfer should be an important concern by the institutes involved in biodiversity studies.
I think pro-iBiosphere is in the right direction, pro-iBiosphere is functioning as the meeting point for those who are involved with biodiversity activities, such as scientists, taxonomists, IT people and developers. It also fosters collaboration among projects and key players. Last but not least, I would like to suggest a 'One stop centre: Biodiversity of the world' website, where all the related links of Biodiversity are gathered in one place.