Announcements, Congresses...

A symposium on the BIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF SEMI-AQUATIC INSECTIVORES will be part of the Euro-American Mammal Congress to be held in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in July 1998. The description of the symposium is:

A number of species of lipotyphlan insectivores have become specialised for a semi-aquatic lifestyle, including many different shrews (Soricidae), desmans and the star-nosed mole (Talpidae), and otter shrews and the aquatic tenrec (Tenrecidae). These semi-aquatic insectivores seem to be very sensitive to habitat disturbances and changes in water quality, and as a result many species are presently considered to be threatened or endangered. Also, because of their sensitivity to environmental degradation, semi-aquatic insectivores may be important as flagship species for the conservation of aquatic and riparian habitats. This symposium will address the basic biology of these semi-aquatic insectivores, including their evolution, ecology, behavior, and general natural history. An underlying theme will be conservation, including the conservation status of individual species, and conservation measures that can be used to protect these unusual animals and their habitats.

If you are interested in participating in this symposium you should do two things:

1. Send one of us your proposal for an oral presentation or a poster (our names and adresses are below). The proposal should have an English title and a short provisional abstract. We are exploring ways in which contributions can be made in absentia: these might include video recordings (10-15 minutes) and posters. Please let us know if you cannot attend the congress, but might be interested in participating in the symposium in absentia.

2. Contact the Local Committee of the EAMC to indicate your interest in the meetings. This can be reached at: galemys@pinar1.csic.es

Euro-American Mammal Congress Laboratorio de Parasitologia Facultad de Farmacia Universidad de Santiago de Compostela 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain. - Fax (34) 81 593316

Thank you for your interest in this symposium. We hope to see you in Santiago!

Sincerely,

Ana Isabel Queiroz, Instituto da Conservacao da Natureza, Rua Filipe Folque, n 46 - 1150 Lisboa, Portugal. Phone: (351) 1 3523018. Fax: (351) 1 3574771.carlos.romao@mail.telepac.pt

Howard P. Whidden, Biology Department, Central College, 812 University Avenue, Pella, IA 50219, USA. Phone: (1) 515 6285147. whiddenh@mail.central.edu

We call on all potential participants to, whenever feasible, use electronic mail. The electronic mail address to be used for all queries and requests is: galemys@pinar1.csic.es or contact: Dr. Fernando Palacios mcnfp11@cc.csic.es

International Symposium of Rodent Ecology Evolution and Integrated Management, Oct., 1998, Beijing

The Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is going to hold an international Symposium on rodent ecology, evolution and integrated management in October of 1998, Beijing, P. R. China. The Symposium will last five days. During the symposium, formal lecture, discussion, poster, product display and visit will be organized. Researchers and students on rodent ecology or taxonomy, experts or companies on rodent control are welcome to participate in this symposium. If you are interested in this symposium and want to know further information, please contact with the following person and address: Dr. Zhibin ZHANG Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100080, China Tel:(010)62554027, (010)62552225 Fax:(010)62565689 E-mail: zss@panda.ioz.ac.cn

WWW: http://panda.ioz.ac.cn/ioz/rodent98.html

7th International Theriological Congress (Acapulco, Mexico: 6-12 September, 1997)

Doug Anderson has proposed a symposium, "Ecology of riparian mammals on large, aridland rivers" for the 7th International Theriological Congress, to be held in Acapulco, Mexico, 6-12 September 1997. If you plan to attend this meeting and are interested in participating in this symposium, or know of someone who might be, please contact me (Doug) directly as soon as possible. I believe the symposium has been approved by the meeting organizers, and I will soon need to send them a list identifying potential participants. I will maintain a list of e-mail addresses of those contacting me, on the chance we can form a discussion group on this topic. > >Doug Andersen >DANDERSEN@ibr8gw80.usbr.gov

There will be 6 plenary presentations (40 minutes including discussion), 48 spoken presentations in two parallel streams, and a poster session which will be given ample time and space during the conference. The 60 minutes Wood-Gush Memorial Lecture will be given by Ilan Golani, Tel Aviv University, Israel.Please address all correspondence to ISAE97, c/o Marek Spinka, Research Institute of Animal Production (VUZ V), CZ-104 00 Praha 10 - Uhrineves, Czech Republic, phone +42 2 6771 0713, fax +42 2 6771 0779 or 6771 1448, e-mail VUZV1@MS.ANET.CZ. 

Arizona State University is a Cooperating Organization for this Conference. The committee is soliciting papers for concurrent sessions at this conference. Contact Dr. Larry Olson for details on paper submission at LARRY.OLSON@ASU.EDU We invite you to participate in this significant environmental meeting. We hope you will assist us by informing others in your network about this opportunity. For more information on the conference please visit our website at http://www.goodnet.com/~global or send us E-mail: global@goodnet.com

Thank you. Jodie Brown, Coordinator 

Through his career-long dedication to understanding vole biology, Lowell Getz has fostered the development of a still-growing interest in these fascinating rodents. Lowell will formally retire from the University of Illinois in May, 1997. We plan to use this occasion to celebrate his career accomplishments, and to bring together researchers interested in vole behavior, reproduction and related topics. The vole conference will be a satellite of the annual meeting of Animal Behavior Society, scheduled to be held at the University of Maryland, College Park from June 21-27. Time and Location: The vole conference will be held between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm on June 21, 1997. The meeting site is Room 1208, Zoology-Psychology Building on the campus of the University of Maryland (northwest of Hornbake Library on Campus Drive). The first event for the ABS meeting will a reception to be held on the evening of June 21, so attendance at the vole conference will not conflict with that meeting.

ORGANIZERS: Sue Carter and Bruce Cushing: Department of Zoology, Univrsity of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 301-405-6940 (office), 391-314-9358 (fax), carter@zool.umd.edu or cushing@zool.umd.edu; Melinda Novak: mnovak@psych.umass.edu