Taxonomy Australia, a new program of the Australian Academy of Science, has launched its website, with the aim of propelling taxonomy and biosystematics onto the radar of policymakers, scientists and the broader community.
Taxonomy and biosystematics are the branches of science that deal with discovering, describing and naming new species.
‘It’s a foundational science,’ said Dr Kevin Thiele, Director of Taxonomy Australia. ‘It gives us the names that we use to understand the world around us. All other biological sciences use taxonomy.’
The new program, which is overseen by an Academy steering committee, arose out of the decadal plan for taxonomy and biosystematics, published last year by the Academy.