Dr.Sabine von Mering (she/her)

(Deputy) Head of Department

Sabine.vonMering@mfn.berlin+49 0 30 889 140 - 8390
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As a data scientist with a background in biology, my research focuses on workflows on opening up and linking the museum's collection and research data, thus improving transparency and accessibility.

I am head of the Data for Nature research group and conduct research on linked, open biodiversity and collection data, historical contextualisation as well as collection agents and their networks.

I am part of the research areas and working groups:
Data for NatureHumanities of Nature

Project(s)

  • Initiative

    FIND – Women in Natural History

    Critically examining gender representation in the museum and unearthing and visibly documenting the stories of women who have been associated with the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

    Historische Schwarz-Weiß-Aufnahme von zwei technischen Mitarbeiterinnen in der Säugetiersammlung um 1910. Rechts sitzt Elsbeth Mundt mit einer Kollegin zwischen Sammlungsschränken mit Präparaten; beide halten kleine Tierpräparate auf dem Schoß. Sie sitzen auf einem großen ausgestopften Säugetierpräparat.

Further information

  • TDWG Task Group Modeling Research Expeditions: As co-convener of this international working group, I am working on a data model and stable identifiers for research expeditions.
  • WOMNH – Women in Natural History Museums and Collections: I am part of the founding group of this international network.

Publications

Buttliere, B., Vetter, M., Pensa, I., Mietchen, D., Rasberry, L., Mkrtchyan, S., von Mering, S., Ivo, K., Jermen, N., Penev, L., Penev, L., Demartini, G., János, T., BIANCHINI, C., BIANCHINI, C., Morriello, R., Ploszaj, A., Jemielniak, D., Makowska, K., Serbanuta, C., Polajnar, J., Kaltenbrunner, A. (2025). WikiSci: Making Expert Knowledge Public Using the Wikipedia Ecosystem. (26) [Action Proposal]. Zenodo. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15639418Open Access

Lindon, H.L., von Mering, S., Leachman, S., Ulloa Ulloa, C. (2025). Dataset of Burkhardt 2022 Encyclopaedia of Eponymic Plant Names (Version 1.1) [CSV]. Zenodo. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.14551489Open Access

Parolini, G., Von Mering, S., Petersen, M. (2023). Classifying Colonial Objects in Museum Collections with Machine Learning and Historical Knowledge. In Formel, S., Benson, A., Biddle, M., van der Stap, T., Newman, P. (Hrsg.), BISS - SYM04 The CARE principles: Learning and growing as a data management community (Bd. 7, e110872). Pensoft Publishers. Tasmania. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.7.110872Open Access

Von Mering, S., Cubey, R., Endresen, D., Hendriksen, A., Leachman, S., Mietchen, D., Santos, J. (2024). Advancing Community Curation of Research Expeditions: A Collaborative Journey with Wikidata and Biodiversity Information Standards. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards, 8, e138921. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.8.138921Open Access

Von Mering, S., Kaiser, K. (2024). Making connections. Open data for transdisciplinary Provenance Research on Collections from Colonial Contexts. In Schmidt-Loske, K., Tschan, G.F., Xylander, W., Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz (Hrsg.), Space, time, plants and paper: botanical exploration from colonial origins to global heritage (75-84). Frankfurt am Main: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung. URL: https://www.schweizerbart.de/publications/detail/isbn/9783510614288/Senckenberg_Monographs_Vol_1_noch_ni

Von Mering, S., Stolze, E. (2023). Collection agents affiliated with the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Version 1.0) [CSV]. Museum für Naturkunde Berlin - Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.10425159Open Access

Von Mering, S., Stolze, E., Kaiser, K., Petersen, M. (2024). Sharing data, caring for collections. Open data on collection agents affiliated with the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. Research Ideas and Outcomes, 10, e118851. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.10.e118851Open Access

Hardy, H., French, L., Humphries, J., Von Mering, S., Giere, P., Berger, F., Koivunen, A., Grieb, J., Vipp, M., Smith, V. (2023). [Report]: Distributed Team Working - Approaches for DiSSCo. Research Ideas and Outcomes, 9, e115454. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.9.e115454Open Access

von Mering, S., Leachman, S., Santos, J., Meudt, H. (2025). Wikidata for Botanists: Benefits of collaborating and sharing Linked Open Data. Annals of Botany. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf062Open Access

von Mering, S. (2025). Published type catalogues / catalogues of type specimens (Version 1.0) [CSV]. Zenodo. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15338503Open Access

Leachman, S., Meudt, H., von Mering, S., Santos, J. (2024). Report on WikiProject International Botanical Congress 2024. (Version Number: 1, 24). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.13788266Open Access

Malekmohammadi, M., Koutroumpa, K., Crespo, M.B., Domina, G., Korotkova, N., Akhani, H., Von Mering, S., Borsch, T., Berendsohn, W.G. (2024). A taxonomic backbone for the Plumbaginaceae (Caryophyllales). PhytoKeys, 243, 67-103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.243.122784Open Access

von Mering, S., Knapp, S., Leachman, S., Lindon, H., Gu, Q., Vincent, S., Ulloa, C. (2025). The women honoured in flowering plant genera: From myth to reality. Plants People Planet, 2025, 1-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70050Open Access

Campos Castello Branco, R., von Mering, S. (2025). Entities linked to the Amazon film expeditions led by Adolf Freiherr von Dungern (Version 1.0) [CSV]. Zenodo. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.17451139Open Access

Von Mering, S., Braun, P., Cubey, R., Groom, Q., Haston, E., Hendriksen, A., Johaadien, R., Leachman, S., Marsden, L., Rainer, H., Santos, J., Endresen, D. (2023). Modelling Research Expeditions in Wikidata: Best Practice for Standardisation and Contextualisation. BISS - CO Contributed oral presentations, 7, e111427. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.7.111427Open Access