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Contact:
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Howard Snell, (505) 277-3524
Michael Bliemsrieder, (505) 277-3692 Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821 |
December 5, 2001
UNM BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT PRESENTS PUBLIC PRESENTATION ON CONSERVATION OF THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
The University of New Mexico Biology Department, in conjunction with the Charles
Darwin Foundation, will present a public presentation on the Conservation
of the Galapagos Islands, on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 at 3:30 p.m. in Castetter
Hall, room 100 on main campus.
UNM is the only university in the United States that has a collaborative agreement with the Charles Darwin Foundation. Under the agreement, which has been in existence for the past 10 years, UNM has sent 20 graduate and undergraduate students, along with 10 faculty members to do research on the Galapagos Islands, home of a wide variety of unusual plants and animals.
Additionally, 25 Ecuadorian students have come to UNM to conduct laboratory
research and training relevant to their Galapagos Islands research.
The collaborative agreement was renewed for five years through May 2006 in
a memo of understanding signed between UNM, the Department of Biology, the Museum
of Southwestern Biology and the Charles Darwin Research Station of the Charles
Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands in June 2000.
Michael Bliemsrieder, coordinator of the Invasive Species Program at the Charles
Darwin Foundation, and UNM Associate Professor Howard Snell, who is also the
program leader of Vertebrate Ecology and Monitoring at the Darwin Foundation,
will present the seminar.
Their (Galapagos) influence on Darwins ideas about evolution and
natural selection are famous, said Snell. However, many species
of the Galapagos are threatened with extinction and the Islands could soon be
recognized as a living laboratory for conservation biology rather than for evolution.
UNMs agreement with the Charles Darwin Foundation seeks to combine the
universitys strengths in education and research along with the Foundations
mission of promoting conservation. The agreement fosters exchange programs for
students, faculty and staff of both institutions and provides unique opportunities
for UNM students to become involved in important programs in one of the most
biologically famous areas of Latin America.
Alien invasive species are probably the one single problem that keeps
us awake at night. said Bliemsrieder. For decades, the conservation
community has been able to avert disaster from wildfires, oil spills and increasing
development pressures. But now we are at a point where we must spend millions
of dollars during the next few years just to avoid the most invasive of these
aliens getting out of control.
The Galapagos Islands were largely isolated from outside influences until the 1800s. Over the years, the invasive species, which includes goats, pigs, mules, cats, rats and mice, multiplied enough to become a threat to the native species by the early 1980s. A coordinated effort, including eradication, control and mitigation, is underway through the conservation program.
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The University
of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
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Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
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