Who are you and what do you do?

I am Peter Mangiafico and I am a Scientific Informatics Project Leader for the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) project at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole. The EOL project started last year as part of a TED Wish from famed biologist E.O. Wilson. The TED Conference brings together leaders in the diverse communities of technology, entertainment and design and awards a prize and a “wish” each year. E.O. Wilson’s wish was to create an all-encompassing online encyclopedia of biodiversity and it is now becoming a reality through funding from various agencies. I’ve been working with a talented team, both on staff at the MBL, as well as with local technology companies Genevate and Saltline Studio, on the preliminary release which occurred in late February 2008. Since the release, I’ve been focusing on research and development, continued optimization and on bringing more technology partners onboard. We are currently working with Microsoft and Adobe, and have begun discussions with Google and others.

What services/products do you offer?

Prior to joining the Encyclopedia of Life full-time, I focused my energies on offering technology solutions to businesses as owner of Knowledge Revolution Consulting. I worked mostly in the association meeting space, and have worked on registration websites, online continuing education systems, data collection applications and a patented hardware/software solution for capturing presentations, which is currently used by large non-profit associations such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American College of Cardiology. I’m currently focusing my efforts on the EOL project.

Who/where is your audience?

The audience for the EOL is anyone interested in life, which is to say, everyone! The more complex answer is that there are multiple target audiences, each with potentially different needs. These audiences include the general public, educators, professional scientists, and citizen scientists. One of our greatest challenges will be in satisfying the needs of all audiences.

What is the website?

The EOL website is at http://www.eol.org. Currently there are about 20 thousand species pages (mostly fish), along with 25 exemplar pages with extra content. Based on the excitement generated from the launch in February, which included press coverage on ABC News and the New York Times, we have served up more than 2.5 million pages in the last two months to visitors around the globe, all currently out of a server room in Woods Hole village! Stop by our offices if you want to see the magic (we are in the Broderick House on the MBL campus).

Well-Funded or Bootstrapped?

As far as Biology projects go, the EOL is well-funded. Initial pledged funding is $12.5 million from the MacArthur and Sloan Foundations spread over five institutions, of which the MBL is one. As far as technology projects go, it is more of a bootstrap operation when you look at the scope of what we are trying to do. It’s been said that in some ways this is biology’s “moon-shot”. The timing is perfect, as we are now at the convergence of enabling technologies, raised awareness of the fragility of our planet and of the need to preserve and understand the biodiversity all around us. It is estimated that there about 1.8 million known species, but possibly 10, 20, 30 or 100 million more not yet discovered. We are trying to “unify” the naming of species in the same way that internet domain registries “unify” the names of websites and domains, while at the same time we are trying to gather all information contained anywhere (online or offline) about each of these species. Unless we know what we’ve got here on Earth, we won’t know how to preserve it. When looked at in this way, additional fundraising is critical for our future success.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?

I wish I knew the answer to that question – it could be doing any number of things: developing software, managing projects, teaching physics, running a small business, working at a microbrewery, being a pilot, a stay-at-home Dad, who knows? I’ve got experience in each of those areas (ok, so I’ve never been a Dad, and my experience with microbrews is drinking them). And it could be on Cape Cod or in California somewhere or pretty much anywhere else.

Where were you born – where do you live now?

I was born in Barbados in the West Indies, where my father was posted as a US consular officer. Since my parents were both US citizens when I was born, but were both born in Italy themselves, I may be the world’s only Italian-American-Barbadian. Someday I dream of attending the Winter Olympics as the sole representative of Barbados (which is even more shocking when you see my lack of winter sports skills). I live with my wife in Teaticket (that little town wedged between Falmouth and East Falmouth).

PC or Mac?

I like to use the best tool for the job. I started out on Commodore 64s, moved to the Mac world until 1999, when I jumped ship over to PCs for work and other reasons. I’ve recently gone back to a Mac in the form of a Macbook, which is a really wonderful computer. I don’t miss my PC, especially when I can use VM Fusion for those PC only programs. But I don’t get into the holy wars – people should use whatever makes them happy.

Where did you go to school?

I went to undergrad at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore as a physics major (my true interest was in astronomy, but physics is fun too). I also have an MS Education from Johns Hopkins as well as an ME Engineering Physics from the University of Virginia.

What Social Networks are you on?

Well, I guess I am technically “on” a bunch, but I have to admit I don’t participate much (I tend to be the proverbial “lurker”). I’ve got accounts on sites like Pownce and LinkedIn but still prefer email and good ole’ fashion talking. Although I’ve stayed in touch with some long lost friends and colleagues via LinkedIn, such as a former childhood classmate from the Philippines who I hadn’t spoken to since 1983 – that’s pretty incredible. I just created a Facebook account that I imagine will lay mostly dormant. The social networking trend is fascinating and encouraging, as increased communications leads to increased tolerance, as people realize that humans are more alike than they are different and that diversity should be celebrated and not feared. I really like the idea of media become more participatory (like YouTube) instead one just a one-way street from producers to consumers.

Greatest invention ever?

The printing press – without which the human race could not have begun the process of passing on knowledge to future generations in large quantities. With the advent of the Internet (another contender), the exponential collection and sharing of knowledge is reaching unbelievable levels, which either leads to a wonderful future filled with technical marvels or a dystopian wasteland, depending on which books you like to read.

Person you believe has contributed most to the world of technology?

The boring answer is Steve Jobs – he seems to be one of the few technologists that understands less is more. The technology trend is to usually cram more and more features into products, while in fact most people seem to want less features that just work. Witness the proliferation of complicated calendars, to-do lists and the like on cell phones and the fact that most people still use them as, surprise, cell phones. Apple consistently focuses on design and ease of use and comes up with winners like the iPod (fewer features than a competing product like Microsoft Zune, but one that just works the way you expect it to you). The Nintendo Wii is another example – by focusing on the core functionality of a gaming system, which is fun and group play, Nintendo has forsaken graphics quality and focused on easy to use controllers and has scored a surprise win over Sony and Microsoft.

Where have you traveled in your life?

Since my father worked for the US Embassy for my entire childhood, I’ve had the good fortune to travel a lot overseas. I’ve lived in Barbados, Canada, Romania, Italy, the Philippines, and have travelled to Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, throughout Europe, and the US. There is much to see in the good ole’ USA, but I really recommend traveling overseas to every American. <soapBoxSpeech>The world is a far more complex place than is portrayed by the media and by our government – it is not black and white, it is many shades of gray. And far from hating Americans, foreigners in general embrace our culture, love democracy and in fact emulate it all the time. They just don’t like it when we make sweeping generalizations, condemn entire cultures because of the actions of a few, and just generally act like the obnoxious rich guy on the block (who does?). I think we’d have more cooperation from the world if we had dialogues instead of monologues with them – and the more cooperation we have, the faster we’ll overcome the hopelessness and desperation that drives humans that begin life with the same hopes and desires as you and me to decide that blowing themselves up is a good idea. </soapBoxSpeech>

Why set up shop on Cape Cod?

The practical answer is that I moved here from the DC area with my wife, Karen Casciotti, who is a marine biogeochemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The commute and the beaches are a big improvement over the DC area (as is the summer weather). Initially I thought I was the only non-scientist, non-tourist industry worker on the Cape who wasn’t retired – so I was very happy to discover the wonderful community of innovative folks on the Cape such as yourselves.

5 Websites you go to every day?

http://www.google.com
http://www.WashingtonPost.com
http://www.digg.com
http://forecast.weather.gov
http://www.eol.org (yeah I know, that shouldn’t count, but it’s true)

What’s on your iPod right now?

Is it bad to say I don’t own an iPod? But on my PocketPC media player right now is David Wilcox, OK Go, and the new R.E.M. album.

What is on your desktop/screensaver right now?

An image of the Earth taken from space on one of the Apollo missions.

You are on a deserted island – do you bring a laptop or book?

A guide book with chapters explaining how to survive on a deserted island and how to build a row-boat out of tree bark, bamboo and coconut shells.

Phone call or text message?

Text message – I like the little bloopy sound my phone makes.

Feel free to tell us anything else….?

Everyone can make a difference when coupled with the power of many acting together. For example, the simple act of you changing one light bulb in your house to a compact fluorescent, recycling one plastic bottle each day, and turning off your computer each night, when multiplied by millions of other people doing the same thing, has an astounding impact on the amount of energy consumed as a whole. This lowers our dependence on foreign oil, reduces our greenhouse emissions, and keeps more money in our pockets – it’s a win,win,win. It’s refreshing to know that big problems can start to be tackled with small solutions, when the solution is shared amongst all.

Thank you for your time, Pete!