Systematics Scientists Community Survey

Survey for Systematists and/or those who practice systematics

For the purposes of this survey, a Systematist is someone who practices taxonomy, nomenclature, phylogenetics of organisms, and/or the reconstruction of evolutionary histories of organisms.

Pursuant to 5 CFR 1320.5(b), an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a valid OMB control number.  The OMB control number for this collection is 3145-XXXX. This survey is designed to be completed in about 20 minutes. If you have comments regarding this time estimate, you may write to the National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22314, Attention: NSF Reports Clearance Officer.

1. Do you consider yourself a systematist?

   1. Yes

   2. No, but I practice some systematics

2. Were you employed primarily as a systematist?

   1. Yes

   2. No

3. Roughly how much of your research activity is in systematics?

   1. <10 %

   2. 10-25%

   3. 25-50%

   4. 50-75%

   5. 75-90%

   6. >90%

4. My rank is:

   1. Student

      1. Undergraduate

      2. MS

      3. PhD

   2. Post doc or equivalent

   3. Non-tenure track professional

   4. Tenure track professional

   5. Retired

5. I am/was primarily employed in the state of: [select box for all states, territories, plus “Foreign”]

   1. If Foreign is selected: Did you receive any training in the US (undergraduate, graduate student, post doc): If yes, which state [select box for all states, territories]:

6. My age group is:

   1. <25

   2. 25-45

   3. 45-65

   4. >65

7. My institute is (or, if retired, your last institute):

   1. Academic

      1. What best describes your institute [drop down box]:

         1. Land Grant University

         2. R1

         3. R2

         4. Primarily teaching college/PUI

         5. HBCU/Tribal college

         6. Other [fill in the blank box]

   2. Not for profit

      1. What best describes your institute [drop down box]:

         1. Museum/Natural History Collection

         2. Government

         3. Botanical Garden/Arboretum

         4. Conservation organization

         5. Other [fill in the blank box]

   3. For profit

8. I received training in systematics (select all that apply):

   1. As an undergraduate

   2. As a graduate student

   3. As a post-doc

   4. As a professional

   5. N/A or self-taught

9. I have trained students in systematics (select all that apply, and provide rough estimate of the number of trainees):

   1. Undergraduates:

   2. Graduate students:

   3. Post docs:

   4. Other professionals:

   5. None

10. Roughly how many of your trainees (in question 9 above) have gone on to careers in systematics?

    1. <10 %

    2. 10-25%

    3. 25-50%

    4. 50-75%

    5. 75-100%

    6. I don’t know

    7. N/A

11. I have benefitted from NSF-funding for my systematics-related work (select all that apply):

    1. As an undergraduate

    2. As a graduate student

    3. As a post-doc

    4. As a professional

    5. Never

    6. I don’t know

12. Which of the following best describes your expertise (select all that apply):

    1. Taxonomy (identification and naming of taxa)

    2. Phylogenetics/phylogenomics (evolutionary history of taxa)

13. My primary group of expertise is (please select one) [see explanation, below]

    1. Prokaryotes

       1. Bacteria

          1. Group of expertise:

       2. Archaea

          1. Group of expertise:

    2. Eukaryotes

       1. Protistan Eukaryotes

          1. Group of expertise:

       2. Fungi

          1. Group of expertise:

       3. Green Plants

          1. Group of expertise:

       4. Animals

          1. Group of expertise:

    3. Viruses

    4. Methods

14. My secondary group of expertise is (if you have additional expertise in other groups, please select all that apply) [see explanation, below]

    1. Prokaryotes

       1. Bacteria

          1. Group of expertise:

       2. Archaea

          1. Group of expertise:

    2. Eukaryotes

       1. Protistan Eukaryotes

          1. Group of expertise:

       2. Fungi

          1. Group of expertise:

       3. Green Plants

          1. Group of expertise:

       4. Animals

          1. Group of expertise:

    3. Viruses

    4. Methods

    5. N/A

15. Do you use biological collections in your research (please select all that apply)?

    1. Yes, as a source of morphological data

    2. Yes, as a source for genetics/molecular data

    3. Yes, for taxonomic descriptions/monographic work

    4. Yes, as a repository for vouchers

    5. Other:

    6. No

16. Have you been involved in discovering/describing new species?

    1. No

    2. Yes

       1. Roughly speaking, how many new species do you think you have that are awaiting description?

       2. What do you think is/are the greatest impediments to describing new species?

For more information about NSF, DEB, SBS, and panelist/rotator opportunities…..

For Groups of Expertise:

Options under each highest rank selection:

Please select the rank that best describes your taxonomic expertise; then fill in the name of the group. For example, if your expertise is in Myrtaceae, check the family box, and fill in the name of the family; for expertise in artificial groups, select that box and fill in the name that best describes your group (e.g., gram-positive bacteria, plant pathogenic fungi in the Dikarya, non-green Algae, fossil pollen).

Checkboxes: Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, artificial group