We are living in times of both challenge and opportunity. Human population has tripled in the last century, and during the next one, we shall pass through the bottleneck of maximum human population. Largely as a result, our planet is losing both species and their habitats at a rate unequaled since a meteor drove the dinosaurs to extinction 65 million years ago. For better or worse, technology has also advanced. One key to successfully navigating the population bottleneck will be intelligent application of the communications technology of the digital revolution, ranging from high speed computing, to imaging equipment, to cell phones, to the Internet. Such tools can be used for education, but also to do science in new ways.

       The Coastal New England Biodiversity (CNEB) Project at Suffolk University is a collaborative effort between students and faculty from the Department of Biology and the Department of Math and Computer Science. Our goal is twofold: to make our collection of biodiversity data available to all researchers and to provide a forum for the dissemination of data (primarily digital pictures and GPS locations) from certain New England coastal habitats, ranging from eastern Maine to Nantucket.

       The largest and the most well-organized collection of our photographs is derived from Plum Island and the Great Marsh in Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury and Newburyport, Massachusetts. The images and other data from Plum Island have been gathered over the last five years, and currently number over 62,000 records. The digital camera in many ways functions as a XXI century field notebook, enabling the easy collection of occurrence and appearance data. These data have been and are continuing to be analyzed by Suffolk faculty and students, but it is currently possible to collect more data than can be used by one research group. We are making the data available on-line in order to increase their utility, and to stimulate interest in these beautiful habitats. The data are provided in the form of a searchable picture gallery and as Electronic Field Guides optimized for field use with portable wireless devices (e.g., cell phones). The data could be used for any purpose, with attribution.

       Ultimately, we envision a Web-based interface to enable multi-way sharing of biodiversity data and collaboration on them. In particular, on the books is a project that would enable field observers to report their findings of various species for the purpose of mapping. Such a system is a natural evolution of modern communication technology, and permits collaborative science not possible only a few years ago.