The purpose of this proposal is to obtain partial travel support for participants in a symposium and complementary sessions at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meeting in Orlando, Florida January 4-8, 2006. The one-day symposium, entitled "Genomic and proteomic approaches in crustacean biology," will have 10 participants who are leaders in using genomic and proteomic methods in crustacean biology. The symposium is the first of its kind. It will bring together scientists from diverse disciplines to share their successes and failures, to encourage collaboration, and to inform other interested investigators of the possibilities and limitations inherent in these methods. It should have wide appeal, as the topics cover a variety of disciplines, including endocrinology, neurobiology, physiology, evolutionary biology, and ecology. Moreover, we will invite individuals using similar approaches on other organisms to speak at a complementary session. A broader impact is that graduate students, postdoctoral scientists, and junior researchers will have an opportunity to share their research and learn about the most recent findings in this field. A portion of the budget will provide airfare for six graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and/or junior faculty to present papers at the complementary session. These funds will be used to increase participation of women and minorities. Symposium papers will be published in the SICB journal, Integrative and Comparative Biology.
