In this U.S.-Peru planning visit supported by the Americas Program of the Office of International Science and Engineering, Dr. Julia A. Clarke of North Carolina State University and a US collaborator will meet with the their Peruvian colleagues, Mario Urbina and Marcelo Stucchi of the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University (UNMSM) in Lima, Peru. During the visit they will plan the exact scope of joint research on on penguin evolution and biogeography and gather and assess preliminary data on fossil material for future collaborative study. Travel locations include the Natural History Museum of San Marcos University in Lima, Peru and localities where the fossil material is being collected in the Pisco Basin near Ica, Peru.
The topic is timely and of considerable importance, since the linkage of evolution with climate change is highly relevant for both interpreting the fossil record and examining organism responses to global change in the present and future. The anticipated collaborative project would strengthen interactions with foreign scientists and is relevant to the upcoming International Polar Year.
