Profile
Associate Professor

Vijay Barve

vijay.barve@tdu.edu.in
Dr. Vijay Barve is an Associate Professor at TDU and a Digitization Project Manager at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California, USA. specializing in biodiversity informatics, citizen Science and biodiversity data science. His work is at the intersection of technology and natural history, focusing on citizen science and the use of data to understand biodiversity.

Vijay began his career in India, earning a master's degree in Computer Science before joining FRLHT/TDU in 1994. There, he spearheaded the information technology team, developing databases and websites for the organization. This work ignited his passion for biodiversity informatics, leading him to pursue a PhD in Geography from the University of Kansas, where his research explored the vital contributions of citizen scientists to biodiversity data collection.

Following his doctorate, Vijay held two post-doctoral positions:
* A post-doc at the Florida Museum of Natural History, where he focused on community science and butterfly biodiversity informatics.
* A subsequent post-doc at Purdue University, where his research shifted to terrestrial parasites.

Vijay's expertise is recognized internationally; he is a data mobilization mentor and user for the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and serves on committees for the Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) group.

As the DigIn Digitization Project Manager, Vijay is responsible for managing a consortium of 19 institutions. He empowers project participants by providing them with the necessary tools for data cleaning, georeferencing, and managing data import and export. A key part of his work is helping users create sustainable data pipelines to share specimen data with platforms like iDigBio and GBIF, ensuring the data remains accessible long after the grant concludes.

Beyond his professional roles, Vijay is an active member of various biodiversity communities, both in India and globally. He is a prominent figure in events like National Moth Week, the City Nature Challenge, and Big Butterfly Month, fostering a broad, collaborative approach to biodiversity science.