This U.S.-Chile award will support Dr. Douglas J. Levey, Mr. Alex E. Jahan, and Dr. Kimberly G. Smith, University of Florida, in convening the first symposium on austral bird migration with Drs. Rodrigo Vasquez and Pablo Sabat of Universidad de Chile, to be held in Puerto Varas, Chile in October, 2003.
The goal of this symposium is to catalyze international collaboration on austral migration of birds. The meeting will take place immediately before and during the Neotropical Ornithological Congress (NOC) in Chile. Leading researchers from academic institutions and representatives of both federal and non-governmental conservation-oriented organizations in North America will be brought together with their South American counterparts. This will provide important exchanges of technology developed in North America to study migration that can be easily adopted by South American researchers. In addition, the independent evolution of migration in South America can be used to provide rigorous tests of migration theories developed in North America, thus providing mutual benefit.
