AIBS News May 2004

From the pages of BioScience magazine, the online version of our current events column, with discussions of the latest happenings at AIBS in support of our mission.

• AIBS Plans NEON Workshops

  In the past year AIBS, through its Infrastructure for Biology from Regional to Continental Scales (IBRCS) project, has been engaging the ecological community in more fully developing the concept for a National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). To that end, AIBS has worked to foster growth in the NEON community by convening workshops to define the rationale and expectations for NEON and by developing a governance plan. The essential next step along the developmental path toward a blueprint for the physical design of the network is the creation of a detailed description of scientific objectives and targets.

  Thus, AIBS is initiating a series of workshops aimed at studying and prioritizing specific scientific objectives for NEON. Six workshops on "grand challenge" topics articulated in a recent National Research Council report on NEON, each led by experts recruited by AIBS, will be held this year, and recommendations that emerge from them will feed into a soon-to-be-established NEON coordinating consortium. One such workshop, entitled "Designing NEON Initiatives for Invasive Species," took place on 18 March 2004. The recommendations from that workshop brought participants and other researchers closer to understanding how an integrated network of ecological observatories could transform invasive species research, as well as how the network should be designed to meet that objective.

  In addition to these planning workshops, AIBS will continue other IBRCS activities, including outreach to self-organizing regional NEON groups. For more information, contact Jeffrey Goldman (jgol...@aibs.org).

• BioOne to Provide Access to Science Journals to 481 Institutions in 53 Countries

  Since last year, the AIBS-partnered project BioOne (www.BioOne.org) has been a part of the World Health Organization's Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) program. HINARI is part of the Health InterNetwork, introduced in 2000 by United Nations' Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the UN Millennium Summit. HINARI provides free or nearly free access to major scientific journals in local, nonprofit institutions in developing countries. Thus, the content of the 65 journals in the BioOne collection—including AIBS's BioScience—is now available in 481 institutions in 53 developing countries.

  Public institutions in countries with per capita gross national product (GNP) below $1000 are eligible for free access to the literature. Institutions in countries with per capita GNP between $1000 and $3000 are eligible for access at reduced prices. The list of countries with such access is online at http://www.healthinternetwork.org/src/eligibility.php.

• NatureServe Joins AIBS

  In March 2004, the AIBS Board of Directors welcomed the organization NatureServe to membership in AIBS.

  NatureServe carries on a legacy of conservation work that began when The Nature Conservancy helped to establish the first state natural heritage program in 1974. Over the next two decades, The Nature Conservancy and a collection of public and private partners built a network of natural heritage programs in the United States to collect and manage data about the status and distribution of species and ecosystems of conservation concern.

  As this network expanded to include Canada and Latin America, natural heritage programs became the recognized source for the most complete and detailed information on rare and endangered species and threatened ecosystems, relied upon by government agencies, corporations, and the conservation community. Today the NatureServe network includes 74 independent natural heritage programs and conservation data centers throughout the Western Hemisphere, with some 800 dedicated scientists and a collective annual budget of more than $45 million.

  NatureServe, the membership organization for this network, was established in 1994 and was originally known as the Association for Biodiversity Information. By 2001, the organization had grown and evolved into its present form. The Nature Conservancy, which since the 1970s had provided scientific and technical support to the network, transferred this role to NatureServe, along with professional staff, databases, and responsibility for the scientific standards and procedures under which the network operates. NatureServe is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with field offices in four US locations and in Canada.

  Learn more about NatureServe at www.natureserve.org.

• Allison Vogt and Heidi Weiskel Emerge as Policy Leaders

  As part of its focus on engaging scientists in the public policy process, AIBS recently awarded the 2004 Emerging Public Policy Leader Awards to Allison Vogt, University of Georgia, and Heidi Weiskel, University of California at Davis. The AIBS Emerging Public Policy Leader Award is presented annually to graduate students who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to biological science and science education policy.

  Vogt and Weiskel were invited to attend the Science-Engineering-Technology Working Group's annual Congressional Visits Day (CVD) in Washington, DC, held 3—4 March 2004. CVD, which is hosted by more than 30 organizations spanning all scientific disciplines, brings scientists, engineers, researchers, science educators, and technology executives to Washington to raise visibility and support for science, engineering, and technology. Participants this year received briefings from key officials from the White House and Congress and attended two receptions honoring members of Congress for their work on behalf of science and biology; they also participated in meetings with members of Congress and their staff. The CVD is one of few opportunities for graduate students in the biological sciences to receive firsthand experience in the policy arena.

  Vogt, a master's student in ecology at the University of Georgia, is researching the effects of habitat degradation caused by increasing urban development on the biotic responses of fishes. She hopes to apply her findings to show whether regional planning regulations and federal environmental laws are adequate for the region. After finishing her master's degree, Vogt plans to pursue a law degree, with an emphasis on environmental law and public policy. For Vogt, participation in CVD provided the chance to play a part in "an invaluable interaction with both scientists and legislators at the forefront of national policymaking."

  Weiskel is a doctoral student in marine ecology and policy at the University of California at Davis. As part of the UC Davis multidisciplinary National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program on invasive species, her research focuses on the impacts of hatchery-raised salmon on native salmon. Public policy issues are of key importance in the field of invasive species research, Weiskel noted. "The field of invasion biology is an active interface between biology and policy, as much of the current research is directed toward finding methods to better predict and prevent both the ecological and economic impacts of invasives on native species."

  AIBS salutes Vogt and Weiskel for their dedication to science and policy.

• AIBS Cosponsors Breakfast for Award-Winning Biology Teachers

  AIBS, the Biotechnology Institute, and the National Association of Biology Teachers cosponsored a breakfast recently in honor of twelve of the nation's most inspiring biology teachers. On 19 March, these teachers and approximately 80 of their math and science counterparts were presented with the 2003 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST), in recognition of their commitment and excellence in teaching.

  The PAEMST program, established by the White House and run by the National Science Foundation, brought the awardees to Washington for a week to meet with public officials, to share resources for improving education, to network, and to reenergize. All awardees return home with $10,000 to help them make a difference in math and science education in their communities. For more information, visit the PAEMST Web site, www.paemst.org.

• Plenary Lectures from 2004 AIBS Annual Meeting to Go Online

  The 2004 AIBS annual meeting, held in Washington, DC, in March, proved to be a great success. Attendees heard distinguished plenary speakers and panelists present synthesizing lectures on invasive species (the meeting's theme), and then joined those speakers and other notable scholars in panel sessions and informal discussion groups.

  The rest of the meeting's program was rounded out by such events as a poster session; a diversity scholars program; and presentation of AIBS awards to Jane Lubchenco, Rita Colwell, John Jungck, and Tyrone Hayes, among others. Attendees pronounced the meeting one of the most stimulating and successful conferences they had ever attended, with a rousing mix of science, policy, and education.

  The plenary lectures from the meeting will soon be available online at the AIBS Media Library (http://www.aibs.org/virtual-library/), along with plenary lectures recorded at AIBS annual meetings from 2000 onward. Access is free.

back to AIBS News