Drs. Mary E. Edwards and Russell D.Guthrie, University of Alaska, Fairbanks and Andrei V. Sher, Severtsov Institute of Evolutionary Animal Morphology and Ecology, Moscow, USSR will hold a workshop at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in June 1991 to deal with common problems in the interpretation of paleoecological and paleoclimatological records in Beringia, eastern Siberia and Alaska. The workshop would be preceded by extended work in the field at two critical fossil localities which contain somewhat comparable records to those in northern Siberia. This reciprocates a field-workshop held on the lower Kolyma lowland in Siberia, sponsored by the Soviet Academy of Science. The far north is a special place for studies of past environments and their relevance to future global changes. Beringia has repeatedly linked the biota of eastern and western hemispheres, affecting both continents in major ways. Beringia is an important location for Quaternary studies, as this region contains a good record of past climatic events and their resulting ecological changes. The datable sediments document the effects of these changes in the form of paleosols, plant micro- and macrofossils, and in rapid mammalian evolution. Their main objective is to bring together U.S. and U.S.S.R. scientists in an extended field-workshop situation to increase the flow of information east and west, and to develop a joint research strategy for the future. This project in paleoecology/paleoclimatology fulfills the program objective of advancing scientific knowledge by enabling leading researchers in the United States and Eastern Europe to combine complementary talents and pool research resources in areas of strong mutual interest.
