Collections

This year's historic conference held 2–6 September in Okinawa, Japan was a first for both Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) and the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) to meet in Japan. It was the second joint conference of the two societies, the first having been held in 2018 in Dunedin, New Zealand (see TDWG and SPNHC Proceedings). Delegates (377) from 30 countries participated in person at SPNHC-TDWG 2024, with strong representation from Asia (21%), North America (41%), Europe (31%), and 6% from Australia/New Zealand. About 200 people from 34 countries participated online through presentations and live streaming of sessions (see playlist on YouTube). 

This volume of the SPNHC-TDWG 2024 Proceedings presents the extended abstracts submitted by authors, and peer reviewed by volunteers from both societies. While not all presentations at the conference are represented in this collection of mini-papers, all presenters were offered the opportunity to expand and enhance their original program abstract submission. Slides and a link to individual talks may be found on the Media tab of each abstract.

The headers of each collection give a brief introduction to the topic, a list of session organizers, and editors of abstracts for each session. Volume editors also reviewed each submission. Each session also includes relevant links to the YouTube session(s), now made public and freely accessible. We thank the sponsors and supporters of the conference. We are also grateful to the Japan Tourism Agency, Government of Japan and Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau, Okinawa Prefecture, for providing us with opportunities to enjoy unique cultural experiences during our stay in Okinawa.