An International Workshop on Copepod Genomics will be held in Thailand in 2008 in conjunction with the meeting of the World Association of Copepodologists. Funds from this award will partially or fully support at least 12 scientists at various stages in their careers (from students to senior investigators) from a diverse set of backgrounds and institutions. The goal of this workshop is to engage researchers in the development of strategies that will lead to the development of genomics resources for copepods, a group of plankton which comprise the most abundant multicellular organisms in the oceans. As primary and secondary consumers, they form major links in the food web which support many commercially and ecologically important fish. Copepods are economically important parasites of wild and cultured invertebrates and fish. Some are vectors for diseases such as cholera and others are effective in reducing mosquito borne diseases. Aquatic environments are under increasing threat due to human activities, including large-scale changes in the global climate. The ability to accurately assess and/or predict the complex effects of such changes on the aquatic environment can be improved by the application of genomics, proteomics and other advanced technologies. Improving the availability of sequence information for copepods is a required first step towards the development of new tools and the application of advanced technologies to address basic and applied questions about this ecologically and economically important group.
