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Humanity is fast losing its ability to document the diversity of plants and animals globally and, with it, our ability to maintain healthy and viable ecosystems that directly affect the welfare of humankind. The National Science Foundation's PEET (Partnerships to Enhance Expertise in Taxonomy) program was created to respond to the world's biodiversity crisis and as a means of reinvigorating taxonomy and systematics. To achieve these objectives, NSF-PEET grants provide training for students in systematics and provide the tools that will allow for electronic dissemination of systematics information and taxonomic monographs as well as for networking among the PEET participants and other systematists.