International Ornithological Congresses (IOC) have been held at regular intervals since 1884. The XXVth IOC will be held in Campos de Jordão, SP, Brazil, in August, 2010 and is the first IOC to be held in South America. This Congress will allow US scientists to interact with scientists from around the world and they will also encounter habitats and people that have been largely inaccessible. The financial assistance provided to scientists by the National Science Foundation will make it possible for some to attend who might not otherwise have been able to afford travel to Brazil. A committee of five ornithologists will evaluate applications for funds from scientists who are participating in the Congress. Committee members are committed to assuring that diversity will be enhanced at the IOC by selecting a diverse group of scientists with respect to gender, career stage, and membership in groups underrepresented in science and engineering.
At the Congress information will be exchanged in plenary lectures, symposia, contributed oral presentations, poster sessions, round table discussions, and innumerable informal conversations and it is anticipated that many cooperative, international projects will be initiated. Examples of topics to be represented in the above mentioned forums are: population biology, social behavior, communication (aural and visual), reproductive biology, avian evolution, pedagogy, physiology, avian conservation biology, promotion of ornithology in developing countries, public policy, avian diseases, systematics, palenotology, migration, genomics, and flight biology.
