Every 3-4 years there is an international meeting of marmot biologists. The first was in Italy in 1991, the second was in France in 1994. The third was held in 1997 in Cheboksary, the capitol of the Chuvash Republic. Chuvash is a small republic located along the Volga River, about 14 hours by train east of Moscow. The fourth meeting was in Montreux, Switzerland in 2002, the fifth was in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2005, and the sixth will be in Italy. Details from the second announcement are below.
VI International Conference on the genus “Marmota”: Marmot in a
changing world: research and action.
The VI International Conference will be held in Cogne, Valle d'Aosta Italy,
from 3 to 5 September 2008.
Official
language will be English.
A free excursion in the Gran Paradiso National Park will follow the next day.
Contact: Local Organiser, Daniela Lenti Boero; d.lentiboero@univda.it
Reference site for the conference: http://www.cons-dev.org/ (better with Internet
explorer)
Scientific Committee:
Ken Armitage, University of Kansas, US; Dan Blumstein, University of California,
UCLA, US; Walter Arnold, University of Wien, EU; Dominique Allainé, Université
de Lyon, EU; Raymond Ramousse, Université de Lyon, EU; Michel Le Berre,
Université de Lyon, EU; Aleksander Nikolskii, Faculty of Ecology, Russian
People's Friendship University, Moscow, Russia; Oleg Brandler, N.K.Koltzov Institute
of Developmental Biology Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia; Alexander Ezipov,
Chatkal Reserve, Uzbekistan; Elena Bikova, University of Tashkent, Uzbekistan;
Daniela Lenti Boero, Université de la Vallée d'Aoste, EU; Giuseppe
Barbiero, Université de la Vallée d'Aoste, EU; Fabrizio Bertolino,
Université de la Vallée d'Aoste, EU; Paolo Tongiorgi, Università
di Modena e Reggio Emilia, EU; Andrea Cardini, Università di Modena;
Bruno Bassano, Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso, EU.
Registration Fees (in Euros)
Early birds: Payment before 15/4/2008: 120 Euros (50 students*)
Payment after 15/4/2007: 180 euros. (80 students*)
* Students need to provide evidence of their status when they register for the
conference. A current student identification card showing their student status
or a certified letter from the student's Head of School confirming their student
status will be required.
** To receive the early registration discount, the registration form and
payment must be post/date-marked and faxed, airmailed, or emailed on or
before June 30, 2008.
Conference dinner
The conference dinner is not included in the registration fee. A bank account
will be notified as soon as possible.Conference Awards
A Marmot Conference Awards is intended to enable researchers from foreign countries,
especially East Europe, and Asia, to attend and present their research at the
marmot meetings, through meeting the fee and contributing to the costs of travel
and subsistence, and according to the local funding opportunities.
Applicants should tick the award box on the application form if they wish to
be considered for a Marmot Conference Award.
They should also indicate: the amount of funding that they are seeking, their
status: student/unwaged/waged and their nationality and current address, including
email.
Requests will be evaluated by the scientific committee.Call for proposals:
Conference Themes:
o Phylogeny&Taxonomy
o Marmot behavior
o Marmot physiology
o Population dynamic and vitality of population
o Marmot ecology
o Marmot biodiversity, conservation management & education
o Marmot in captivity
o Marmot taxonomy
o Paleoecology
o Marmots and Health
o Marmots in folklore and popular traditions
o Workshop: Marmots in a changing world: research and action.
In future years global climate changes will affect fauna and flora in alpine
environments in unpredictable ways; also human activities will face major challenges.
Many marmot species live in alpine environments, and even species now not endangered
might find problems caused by rising of the timberline (in the Alps), or from
abandonment of pastures from traditional agropastural activities (Himalaya).
A challenge for specialists could be to foresee problematic factors, and at
least try to find the best solutions for conservation and protection of the
genus. For this reason the VI International Conference on the genus “Marmota”
is entitled “Marmots in a changing world: research and action”. An
effort will be made to integrate basic research with conservation and educational
aspects.
Thus participants in all fields of marmot biology; conservation, both outside
and within protected areas; and education are welcome to send their contributions.
Contribution for presentation, posters and workshop should be sent within 15/4/2008.