LifeWatch ERIC, the European e-Science Infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research, is starting up a free podcast series, called 'A Window on Science'. We have chosen this easy-access podcast interview format, because reliable information on the environment is of relevance to everybody. The knowledge produced through the LifeWatch ERIC e-Services can inform political decisions and assist businesses in transitioning to a green economy. Have a listen and subscribe to our forthcoming episodes of 'A Window on Science'!

In conversation with Africa Zanella, LifeWatch ERIC International Gender Officer, for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

The first season of the LifeWatch ERIC podcast series 'A Window on Science' outlines the steps forward that the European e-Science infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research has made in the last two years, developing cutting-edge services for researchers. Our CEO, Christos Arvanitidis, opens the series, walking us through terminology that may seem challenging to non-scientific audiences: Research Infrastructures, the Joint Internal Initiative, and virtual servers. The conversation places LifeWatch ERIC clearly in the context of the European Research Area and outlines not only the progress already made, but strategic plans for the next five years - becoming 'the next-generation Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Infrastructure'. We hope you enjoy!

The LifeWatch ERIC Internal Joint Initiative is the development of innovative online resources and tools designed to further the investigation of Non-indigenous and Invasive Species (NIS), and their impact on ecosystem functioning and services. But what are these ecosystem services and functions, and what are invasive species? Giving us the answers is Alberto Basset, Professor of Ecology at the University of Salento, who explains all this and more in this easy-to-follow interview, pitched at the non-initiated. The next time someone mentions NIS, you'll know exactly what they mean. Duration: 15'. Impact on helping us to mitigate further biodiversity loss: high.

LifeWatch ERIC Chief Technology Officer, Juan Miguel González-Aranda, is the guest in the third episode of this introductory season of "A Window on Science". A Virtual Research Environment is a complex online platform that allows biodiversity and ecosystem researchers to access/ upload data and analyse them to produce visual representations of how species – in this case, Non-indigenous and Invasive Species – are impacting the environment and affecting our own well-being. An insight into the charismatic energy behind the development of LifeWatch ERIC's e-services and tools.

Season Two of the LifeWatch ERIC podcast series 'A Window on Science' looks at the research cases that validated the development of the virtual research environment - the online tools and services that enable biodiversity and ecosystem research at scales never before achieved. The first episode concerns the Atlantic Blue Crab validation case, the story of Callinectes sapidus, a colourfully aggressive non-indigenous invasive species that over the last 50 years has moved into the Mediterranean Sea big-time, feeding on mussel and oyster farms and displacing local brachyura (decapod crustaceans).

The interview with Giorgio Mancinelli, researcher at the University of Salento, and Antoni Huguet-Vives, front-end developer, explains some of the complexities of marine science and cloud-based ICT workflows in everyday language, accessible to non-scientific audiences. LifeWatch ERIC is the European e-Science infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research, dedicated to helping us all understand and address the ongoing transformations of the environment because of climate change and anthropogenic pressures.

Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures placed in European coastal waters and retrieved on a regular basis provide the sampling and data collection context to this second episode in season two of the LifeWatch ERIC podcasts. The ARMS research case that helped validate our ground-breaking Virtual Research Environment is presented by Katrina Exter of the Flanders Marine Institute and Matthias Obst from the University of Gothenburg, and concerns hard-bottom communities. To find out exactly what hard-bottom communities are, and why they are important for the resilience of marine ecosystems, grab some headphones and have a listen. Available now in streaming on the LifeWatch ERIC website, Apple, Google, Spotify and Amazon.

Meet Ana Filipa Felipe from the University of Lisbon and Christina Pavloudi from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in this third episode of the second season of the LifeWatch ERIC podcast, 'A Window on Science', focused on Metabarcoding.

According to the Living Planet Index, populations of freshwater vertebrate species are declining faster than terrestrial or marine communities. They fell by 81% between 1970 and 2012. That’s a danger signal that researchers at CIBIO-InBIO at the University of Porto, part of LifeWatch Portugal, have been responding to for many years, studying the commercially busy Douro River.

Analysis of millions of DNA/RNA sequences in the LifeWatch ERIC cloud computing facilities - called Metabarcoding - identifies taxa within the water samples and then pinpoints, with reference to open-source databases, which species are native and which are invasive. Modelling the data can help environmental managers and politicians combat the invasions and work towards the UN’s sustainability development goals.