Marine Biodiversity Data Diplomacy in the Gulf

This collection includes programmatic and peer-reviewed documents related to a multinational collaboration of scientists from the Middle East with a focus on the Arabic (or Persian) Gulf region, along with scientists from the UK and US, interested in sharing biodiversity data. This collectrion represents work organized in part by Smithsonian scientists since 2021.

After a successful virtual Smithsonian Summit in 2021, a Letter published in the journal Science in 2022, and a paper in the journal Royal Society Open Science published in 2023, this group of scientists met in person for an unconference at Qatar University in Doha in November 2023 under the theme of “Data Sharing for 2024."

The 2021 virtual Smithsonian Summit was supported by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and Conservation Commons, with assistance from the Smithsonian's Office of International Relations. The 2023 unconference was supported by Qatar University, Qatar Museums, the Smithsonian Institution, and National Geographic Society. In 2024, Arabic language translations of two peer-reviewed papers published by members of this informal collaborative group were posted to Smithsonian figshare and gathered in this collection.