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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Call for Help: Curriculum Design and Implementation in Conservation Biology

We are organizing a short course, Technical Support for Needs Assessment and Curriculum Design and Implementation in Conservation Biology, for the SCB's 2008 annual meeting. The course is based on requests from SCB's Regional Sections for capacity development in these issues. We seek help from experienced instructors to work in interactive sessions with individuals developing new programs or courses. The first day of the course will focus on technical tools for designing and implementing conservation biology programs, including needs assessment design, implementation, and analysis as well as design of programs and courses. On the second day of the course, participants will have the opportunity for practical work addressing the needs of their own programs in developing and carrying out needs assessments and program and course design. Individuals who already will be attending the annual meeting and who would be interested in helping to provide technical support are requested to contact Eleanor Sterling, SCB Education Committee Chair (sterling@amnh.org), or Nora Bynum (nbynum@amnh.org), Project Director, Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners and Associate Director for Capacity Development, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History.

Funding Available for Demonstration and Validation of Environmental Technology

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), through the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), supports the demonstration and validation of environmental technologies that address priority DoD environmental requirements. The goal of ESTCP is to transition mature environmental science and technology projects through the demonstration and validation phase, thereby enabling promising technologies to receive regulatory and DoD end-user acceptance and to be fielded and commercialized more effectively and more rapidly.

ESTCP is seeking innovative environmental technology demonstrations as candidates for funding beginning in Fiscal Year 2009. This solicitation requests pre-proposals via Calls for Proposals to DoD organizations and federal (non-DoD) organizations, and via a Broad Agency Announcement for organizations in the private sector. Pre-proposals are due by 13 March 2008. Detailed instructions for all categories of proposers are available at www.estcp.org/opportunities.

DoD organizations (Service and Defense Agencies) may submit pre-proposals for demonstrations of innovative environmental technologies in the following topic areas:

-- Environmental restoration -- innovative technologies for the detection, characterization, assessment, containment, and remediation of a wide range of contaminants in soil, sediments, and ground and surface water.

-- Munitions management -- advanced geophysical sensor and signal processing technologies for the detection, discrimination, and remediation of unexploded ordnance and technologies for range clearance and reduced generation of unexploded ordnance.

-- Sustainable infrastructure -- natural resources (e.g., ecosystem-based management; threatened, endangered, and at-risk species; land management and watershed protection; and maritime sustainability), facilities (e.g., installation or regional sustainability, energy, noise, air and water quality, and facility waste), and cultural resources.

-- Weapons systems and platforms -- advanced, alternative, environmentally benign technologies and materials that reduce, control, or eliminate the waste and emissions associated with the manufacturing, maintenance, and use of DoD weapons systems and platforms.

The Broad Agency Announcement is seeking proposals from non-DoD federal organizations and the private sector for environmental technologies in the following topic areas only:

-- Remediation of contaminated groundwater
-- In situ remediation of contaminated sediments
-- Characterization, control, and treatment of range contamination
-- Military munitions detection, discrimination, and remediation
-- Control of non-native invasive species on DoD lands and waters
-- Energy efficiency and renewable energy for DoD installations

Big Year for Butterflies

On 1 January 2008, author and lepidopterist Robert Michael Pyle, recipient of a 1997 Distinguished Service Award from SCB, began a year-long adventure to find, experience, and identify as many as possible of the 800 species of butterflies in the United States and Canada. When Pyle's journey is complete at the end of 2008, Houghton Mifflin will publish his encounters with butterflies, people, and landscapes as a book, Swallowtail Seasons: The First Butterfly Big Year. You can support the butterfly conservation efforts of The Xerces Society, which Pyle founded in 1971, by making a pledge to the 2008 Butterfly-A-Thon. Individuals can pledge a certain amount for each butterfly species that Pyle positively identifies, or may pledge or donate a fixed amount. All proceeds from the Butterfly-A-Thon will directly benefit the Xerces Society's efforts to protect endangered, threatened and rare butterflies. To make a pledge, or to track Pyle's progress and read his stories from the road, please visit the Butterfly-A-Thon Web page, www.xerces.org/Butterfly_Conservation/butterflyathon.cfml.

Biodiversity Informatics Web site

The Biodiversity Informatics Facility at the American Museum of Natural History's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation announces the release of their new Web site, http://biodiversityinformatics.amnh.org?mid=38. The previous site (geospatial.amnh.org) has been completely redesigned and includes all of the original content plus several new resources. For example, the new Geospatial Resources for Freshwater Conservation section provides links to a range of information, software, and data that are available on the Internet, as well as guides and case studies contributed by colleagues. This section will rely heavily on contributions from the freshwater community, such as links to content that is on the Internet and content that can be posted on the site for anyone to see.

If you would like to contribute links or content, please contact the Biodiversity Informatics Facility. The Biodiversity Informatics Facility is increasing its involvement with open source projects by continuing to develop new tools and through community involvement in outside projects. Links and description of these resources can be found in the Open Source Resources section of the new site. A new section on species distribution modeling also has been released. For more information contact Ned Horning, 1 212 313-7947, horning@amnh.org.

Job Announcement

The Utah Museum of Natural History and Department of Geography at the University of Utah invite applications for a 10-month, tenure-track joint position as Herbarium Curator and Assistant Professor of Geography beginning 1 July 2008. Familiarity with the flora of the intermountain region is desirable. Duties include maintaining a strong field- and collections-based research program involving students, overseeing the curation and continued development of the herbarium, teaching one geography course per year, participating in Museum public programs and exhibit development, supervising graduate students, and participating in departmental governance. Review of applications will begin 15 February and continue until the position is filled. For more information, contact Sarah George (sgeorge@umnh.utah.edu) or Harvey Miller (harvey.miller@geog.utah.edu) or visit www.umnh.utah.edu/pageview.aspx?menu=4257&id=16046.

Meetings

The International Conference on Biodiversity Informatics and Climate Change Impacts on Life will be held 5-6 April 2008 at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. The conference will focus on the role of past and present climate as determinants of biodiversity and the potential impacts of future climate on biodiversity. These are complex, large scale problems that are difficult to study by the traditional experimental approaches. Instead, the conference will provide insight into results, possibilities, and challenges to biodiversity informatics studies of climate change impacts on life. For more information, visit www.danbif.dk/conference2008/ or contact Lotte Endsleff, +45 3532 1024 or +45 3532 1001, lendsleff@snm.ku.dk.

The first Avian Diseases and Conservation Conference will be held 29-31 May 2008 in Pomona, California, USA. The main goal of the conference is to provide updated information on infectious, toxicological and nutritional diseases in free-ranging and captive at zoos birds as it relates to their conservation and provide networking opportunities for avian health professionals. A certificate of completion and continuing education credits will be awarded to participants who complete the conference. The registration fee is US$200 before 15 March and $250 subsequently. The student fee is $150. For more information, visit www.westernu.edu/avianconference or contact Miguel Saggese, avianconference@westernu.edu or 1 909 706-3532.

The California Native Plant Society's 2009 Conservation Conference, Strategies and Solutions, will be held 17-19 January 2009 in Sacramento, California, USA. The conference aims to bring together scientists, students, policy makers, planners, and land managers to share and learn about the latest developments in conservation science and public policy. The deadline to submit abstracts for papers and posters is 30 June 2008. Organizers seek abstracts on the following topics: climate change and California's flora, rare plant conservation and restoration, mitigation and monitoring of impacts to plants and communities, invasive species, vegetation classification and mapping to promote native plant conservation, conservation genetics, achieving equal protection for plants, regional planning tools, land management, and basic conservation-related plant science. They also seek abstracts on plant conservation from regional and ecosystem-level perspectives, including Baja California. See www.cnps.org for details.

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