ITCER EN Wikipedia Sandbox

Text for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:International_Training_Centre_for_Environmental_Research to be changed to be resubmitted:

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The International Training Centre for Environmental Research (ITCER) operates as two complementary non-governmental organizations (NGO). In Germany, ITCER e.V. was founded in 2017 by members of the University of Bayreuth including Erwin Beck,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Gerhard Rambold and others to establish a legal entity for a training centre in Africa with the focus on environmental sciences. The association organises scientific cooperations and activities for international professionals and supports funding applications. The ITCER Kenya NGO was founded in the same year to manage the site in Ng'iya, implement sustainable activities on the ground and to coordinate with local communities.<ref name="ITCER Newsletter">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Location

The ITCER facility is located in the Uradi village, near Ng'iya Township, Siaya County, 60 km from Kisumu at Lake Victoria. The area is part of western Kenya, Nyanza Province (East Africa) and categorised as belonging to Sub-Saharan Africa. The equatorial region has a typical tropical climate and vegetation. The site has an experimental grassland plot and bushy vegetation nearby for biodiversity studies.<ref name="ITCER Homepage">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ITCER Newsletter" />.

Facility providing infrastructure and services for training researchers and other stakeholders

ITCER supports environmental research training in collaboration with local communities and stakeholders in Africa. The centre utilises the laboratory infrastructure, administrative services, and expertise available at the Ng'iya site.<ref name="ITCER Homepage" /> Ongoing projects deal with research topics such as microplastics in western Kenya, grasslands ecology and restoration, fungal pathogens and prokaryotes in terrestrial ecosystems and ethnobiology in Africa.<ref>Gkoutselis, G., Rohrbach, S., Harjes, J., Obst, M., Brachmann, A., Horn, M.A., Rambold, G. 2021. Microplastics accumulate fungal pathogens in terrestrial ecosystems. Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 15;11(1):13214. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92405-7.</ref><ref>Gkoutselis, G., Rohrbach, S., Harjes, J. et al. 2024. Plastiphily is linked to generic virulence traits of important human pathogenic fungi. Commun Earth Environ 5, 51 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01127-3.</ref><ref name="Kinge at. al. 2023">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

IT developments as a digital hub

A collaboration with the international biodiversity data network Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for free and open access of biodiversity data and with the German National Infrastructure for Research Data (NFDI4Biodiversity)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>) for concepts on species monitoring and research data management started in 2022.<ref name="Kinge at. al. 2023" /><ref>Weibulat, T. M., Triebel, D. 2024. Continuation of partnership Germany-Kenya with two workshops in 2023. GBIF Europe and Central Asia Nodes meeting 2024 (GBIF ECA 2024), Zagreb, Croatia. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12082639.</ref><ref>Weibulat, T. M., Triebel, D. 2025. GBIF Germany Activities 2025. Report from the GBIF-D Nodes System on common infrastructure, data mobilisation and capacity building. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16412325.</ref> A number of web-based tools and online educational materials are available through the IT infrastructure at the Ng'iya site.<ref name="ITCER Newsletter" /><ref name="ITCER Homepage" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Events

Since 2019 the Ng'iya site has organised and hosted a series of events (mainly seminars, workshops, and field trips).<ref name="ITCER Newsletter" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>