Celebrating 15 Years of WoRMS
In 2007, the digitally available European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) expanded into a World Register of Marine Species, et voila, WoRMS was born. WoRMS is hosted by VLIZ, which is the national focal point for LifeWatch Belgium. In 2022, WoRMS can be seen as the number one authoritative classification and catalogue of marine names.
WoRMS is managed by a small Data Management Team (DMT) and an elected Steering Committee (SC), but the actual driving force behind the high-quality content of WoRMS is the Editorial Board. Completing and correcting WoRMS requires an enormous effort and is entirely dependent on the expertise and time of the editors. On top of that, it is a race against time as species are at risk of disappearing due to changing environmental conditions such as warming, pollution and acidification, before they are discovered.
To celebrate its 15th birthday and 15 years of collaboration with (taxonomic) experts all over the globe, WoRMS designed an exclusive t-shirt, with proceeds used to coordinate and disseminate funds to the WoRMS editors. With the funds raised, editors will be able to continue to fill gaps in coverage, expand the content and enhance the quality of taxonomic databases, attract interns and students to assist in the verification of taxonomic information, and purchase scientific literature.
And there’s more! Check out all the stories below on the LifeWatch Belgium website in celebration of 15 years of WoRMS!
2 – Get to know the WoRMS editors here!
3 – The growth of WoRMS over the years
5 – Setting priorities to address gaps
7 – Taxonomy – a science, an art, or a battleground?
8 – The challenge of author names
9 – Dark literature
10 – Type localities
12 – Supporting the volunteers
13 – Beyond classical taxonomy
14 – Who uses WoRMS?