This Americas Program award will support travel and related expenses for 10 US scientists and teachers and researchers from various countries of Central and South America to participate in an international workshop on Ascomycetes, to be held in Caracas, Venezuela, August 26-31, 1999. The workshop will be held in conjunction with the Latin American Association of Mycology Congress (ALM). Organizers are Dr. Donald H. Pfister, Harvard University and Dr. Teresa Iturriaga, Simon Bolivar University, Caracas. US and Latin American graduate students enrolled in systematic programs will be included as participants.
Ascomycetes comprise a major group of fungi that are economically important as plant pathogens, as sources of pharmaceuticals, and in industrial processing, and they are equally critical in the ecosystem dynamics. Their diversity has only begun to be addressed, with many undescribed species. The overall diversity is highest in the wet forests and rain forests of the tropical regions of South America, and it is such areas that can benefit from intensive collections and study by resident mycologists. Through this workshop Latin American mycologists will be introduced to the various groups of the fungi, and encouraged to continue the research. In this venue, ideas and current research findings can be shared with present and/or potential Latin American researchers, and the direct and personal contact can lead to constructive projects and collaborations which ultimately will help to shape biodiversity studies in understudied areas.
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