This award provides travel support for 35 scientists to present their research at an international conference on biodiversity science entitled, "First DIVERSITAS Open Science Conference: Integrating Biodiversity Science for Human Well Being." DIVERSITAS is an international program that encourages collaborative research in the biological, ecological, and social sciences to produce socially relevant new knowledge and to provide the scientific basis for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The conference, to be held in Oaxaca, Mexico from November 9-12, 2005, has been organized as a coordinated program of 10 thematic plenary sessions, 22 symposia with invited speakers, and at least 20 contributed paper and poster sessions. Thirty of the speakers supported by this award will present their research in five U.S.-sponsored symposia covering the following topics: 1) Remote sensing technologies to access, monitor, and manage biodiversity loss, 2) Phylogeny and patterns of biodiversity through time and across landscapes, 3) Freshwater biodiversity, 4) Agricultural biodiversity, and 5) Crop pollination services: economic and human impact. They will represent a breadth of perspectives from various regions throughout the world and will include five scientists from developing countries. The award will also support the travel of five scientists from developing countries competitively selected to present their research. The goals of this conference are:
- To make a strong contribution to biodiversity science by ensuring the participation of the international scientific community, first in the conference itself and then by subsequent involvement in the networks and activities of DIVERSITAS.
- To promote dissemination of past and current DIVERSITAS program results and to articulate priorities for the future based on these results through published papers aimed at both scientific and policy communities.
- To articulate stronger scientific approaches to policy by using the symposia to initiate discussions between scientists and policy makers on strengthening scientific contributions to biodiversity policy.
- To forge new international collaborations that will enhance global efforts to improve ecological and human well being.
The Open Science Conference will provide a comprehensive global overview of the current status of biodiversity science and future directions for international research. It is part of a long-term strategy by DIVERSITAS to increase global capabilities for understanding, predicting, and assessing biodiversity changes that will impact the function of ecosystems and human health. The conference will include discussions about how to make scientific knowledge more relevant to policy development in halting biodiversity loss within the regional and global contexts of the Convention of Biological Diversity. The organizers anticipate that the conference will help educate the public about the consequences of biodiversity change and loss through a strong communication campaign with resulting publications written for general audiences. Additionally, this conference will provide an opportunity to create lines of international communication that should strengthen biodiversity science and encourage greater participation by U.S. scientists in the research programs of DIVERSITAS. The conference is being co-hosted by the U.S. and Mexican National Committees for DIVERSITAS and is expected to attract over 500 scientists from all continents.
This award waas co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.
