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NFDI4Biodiversity Podcast on legal aspects in handling biodiversity and environmental data

Welcome to the NFDI4Biodiversity Podcast, where we dive into the challenging world of legal aspects in the context of biodiversity and environmental data. For NFDI4Bio, ensuring better data availability is essential, as a reliable data foundation is needed for the preservation of biodiversity. This improved accessibility naturally includes the need for clear legal frameworks concerning data sharing and usage. Therefore, we consider it our responsibility to assist researchers and data collectors in navigating legal matters competently. This podcast serves as our entry point into a field that we are still exploring ourselves, and we invite our listeners to join us on our journey into the legal jungle. Each episode explores the interplay between law and science, providing a comprehensive understanding of the legal frameworks within this field while incorporating valuable insights and issues from our partners in NFDI4Biodiversity. 

Podcast speakers

Tom Witschas (UfU – Independent Institute for Environmental Issues)

Tom Witschas is a lawyer and Project Leader at UfU specializing in Environmental Law and Participation. He is deeply engaged in various environmental legal planning procedures, with a focus on expediting processes and developing strategies to reduce invasive species in planning, particularly emphasizing data-related issues.

Ortrun Brand (University Marburg)

Ortrun Brand is a distinguished political scientist who has been at the head of the hessian-wide joint project 'Hessische Forschungsdateninfrastrukturen/Hessian Research Data Infrastructures' (HeFDI) since October 2016. Her work centers on coordinating the establishment of research data management infrastructure across ten hessian universities and universities of applied sciences. Furthermore, she is Lead of the NFDI4Biodiversity Task Area 1 Measure 4 Education and Training. Before taking on these pivotal roles, Ortrun Brand made significant contributions as a researcher in numerous externally funded research projects. Her work predominantly revolved around the study of labor conditions and organizational changes, utilizing thorough empirical digital research data and case studies.

Daniel Tschink (GFBio e.V. – German Federation for Biological Data)

Daniel Tschink is a biologist and Training Coordinator within NFDI4Biodiversity. His expertise and dedication play a key role in shaping the training initiatives that empower researchers and data collectors in the field of biodiversity. His work is instrumental in bridging the gap between biological research and effective data management, contributing to the enhancement of data quality and accessibility.

Episode 1 - Rights and obligations regarding data

Who owns the environmental data collected? In our first episode, we delve into the intricacies of data ownership, copyright, and intellectual property rights, especially in the context of field research and collaborative scientific efforts. Explore the challenges and best practices in ensuring data is ethically collected and shared.

Episode 2 - Navigating licenses in research - understanding, choosing, and applying

In this episode, we talk about the role of licenses in the realm of research data. What exactly are licenses, and how do they impact data (re)use? We address pivotal questions, including: Which license should you choose for different types of data and under what circumstances?

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