ALA Insights: taxonomy and names matching in the ALA

Taxonomy is the science of naming, describing and classifying organisms. It’s the basis for how data in the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) are organised.

There are 233,000 species in the ALA. So how do we index them all? At the core of our taxonomic hierarchy is the Australian National Species List. The ALA also needs to incorporate a range of other names including synonyms, newly described species and non-breeding species that occur in Australia.

And we also include some species that are not found in Australia but which are biosecurity threat species, to enable biosecurity alerts, as well as species of bacteria and viruses from international sources and New Zealand Species of plants. So why and how do we do this? And what does it all mean for ALA users?

Join this online ALA Insights session to find out how our taxonomy and names matching works, and how to use the taxonomy in the ALA to help find that pesky hard-to-find record you are looking for.

This event will be recorded, with the recording made available through ALA channels in the week following the event.

The ALA receives support from the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) and is hosted by CSIRO.

For further information, reach out to communications@ala.org.au

Registration closes Tuesday 17 March 2026.

Main image: Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Credit: tanyahattingh, CC BY-NC

Pricing

• Free

Dates and Times

Contact

Ian Dewar

More information

ALA Presenters:

Cameron Slatyer – ALA National Biodiversity Data Initiatives Project Manager

Cam Slatyer is the subject matter expert for the taxonomic backbone of the Atlas of Living Australia and chairs the international Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) working group on the sensitive species date extension. He was previously Branch Manager of Life and Geosciences in the Australian Museum Research Institute. He is a past Director of the Australian Biological Resources Study and has worked in Australian Government and the New South Wales Government. He is passionately interested in the importance of collections, taxonomy and research translation.

Simon Sherrin – ALA Software Engineer

Simon Sherrin is a senior developer with experience in digital collections and online biodiversity infrastructure in Australia. Over the last two decades, has worked with the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) - Australia, Museums Victoria, and the Atlas of Living Australia to deploy digital solutions that support scientific research, collection accessibility, and public engagement with natural history and cultural history data.

Host

Juliet Seers – ALA Training and Outreach Coordinator

Juliet is a seasoned environmental and sustainability communicator and educator who is dedicated to fostering connections between the ALA, the scientific community, industry and the general public. Juliet advocates for data-driven decisions as the key to making a positive impact on our ecosystems, and works with industry on how best to use the ALA to inform planning and decision-making.