NSF is supporting American participation in the symposium ?Evolution of development of integrated phenotypes?, which will be held at the International Congress of Entomology scheduled for July 6-12, 2008, in Durban, South Africa. Phenotypic integration is the process by which a large number of genetic, developmental, physiological and mechanical features come together to create a functional organism. Without integration, development would succeed less frequently and evolutionary change would be impaired. Traditionally, many of these features of a functional organism are studied in separate fields, by investigators that are not often brought together to share the results of their divergent approaches. A comprehensive picture of phenotypic integration requires collaboration and communication across these fields.
The symposium is expected to stimulate discussion and build a common language between researchers seeking to understand organismal evolution from diverse disciplines using a varied set of experimental approaches. The symposium speakers are balanced by career stage (including 3 postdoctoral researchers and 1 graduate student) and gender (6 female, 5 male), come from four continents, and include one speaker of Hispanic origin. By including speakers at an early point in their careers, the symposium offers these researchers an opportunity to build an international reputation for their work and develop important collaborations that will last throughout their careers.
