9401933 Getzinger This award will fund an effort to increase cooperation between the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. They will work together to organize a major international scientific conference. The meeting, "Bridges of Science Between North America and the Russian Far East: Past, Present, and Future," will be held August 29 - September 2, 1994, in Vladivostok. One Hundred North Americans and 150 Russians are expected to attend. Scientists working in Alaska and the Russian Far East share an intense concern for the protection and preservation of the cultural and natural history in the region called Beringia. Beringia contains unique, delicately balanced ecosystems that stand to receive the most severe and immediate impact of greenhouse warming and, consequently, will have far-reaching efforts on the lives of the indigenous peoples and other inhabitants of the region. The conference will address these timely issues, focusing on the four themes; Natural Resources and Environmental Changes; Paleoecology of Beringia: New Developments; Development and Adaptation of People and Cultures; and Communication and Information Exchange. As a result of the conference, a proceedings volume and a directory of Russian and American institutions and scientists in the region will be published in both English and Russian, and widely disseminated. The conference will strengthen scientist-to-scientist cooperation already underway between the Russian Far East and North America, and present opportunities to expand collaborative efforts. The Vladivostok location will allow for broad participation by Russian scientists and provide North American researchers with enhanced opportunities to explore the potential for cooperative research as Russian laboratories, ships, and field stations are now available to Western scientists. ***
