9418132 Spilhaus Pressing national concerns with Global Change and the mitigation of natural hazards are leading to increased importance for research on the environments of the recent geological past. International collaboration has become essential for the analysis of important scientific problems related to these issues. This project will support the participation of about 50 key U.S. researchers, including new-career scholars, at the XIV Congress of the international Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) in Berlin, Germany, August 2-10, 1995. Owing to its strong multidisciplinary tradition, INQUA has direct relevance to seven programs within NSF. The scientific contacts achieved at this meeting and the related scientific field excursions will be invaluable for enhancing understanding of the dynamic earth system at a critical point. The habitability of the planet depends of this understanding and its application to real Earth problems within the coming decade or so. A similar travel grant program supported attendance by 32 U.S. Quaternary scientists (including ten delegates) at INQUA XIII in Beijing in 1991. The U.S. with a total attendance of 108 scientists made a strong showing, especially in the areas of paleoclimatic modeling, oceanography and paleoecology. Numerous favorable written reports (available for scrutiny on demand) by the scientists whose travel was subsidized clearly attest to the long- term value of such international meetings and the scientific contacts they foster.
