This award will partially support U.S. and Latin American researchers to participate in an international workshop on the historical biogeography of neotropical freshwater fishes to be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in San Francisco, California, June 17-23. Co-organized by Professor Jonathan N. Baskin of California State Polytechnic University and Professor Naercio Menezes of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, the workshop will serve to bring together ecologists, geologists, paleontologists and others to promote the exchange and development of ideas. The importance of understanding and conserving the Neotropical biota is widely appreciated by both scientists and the public, but the diversity and complexity of the freshwater fishes is at best only beginning to be understood. By bringing together a sizable number of researchers in the field from Latin America with their U.S. counterparts, this award serves to fulfill the goals of the Science in Developing Countries Program.
