Dear colleagues,

this message is from the so-called convener of the sdd group, who feels very guilty about his incapacity to organize more and invest more work.

As you probably know, the topic of the group is very close to my interest, being also the topic of my proposed thesis. However, in my current situation this seems to make it rather more difficult for me. The GLOPP project I am leading here in Germany is over demanding my resources, i.e. the project is in danger of failing. I can not keep the deadlines there, and I do not find the time to continue the thesis work. So SDD has become part of a big guilt complex. I would love to do more, but I am afraid I have not done enough for a long time now.

So, I will be at the TDWG congress in Sydney, and I hope we have a working group discussion there. If anybody wants to take up the lead of the group, she or he will have my support for that task.

I hope we can still use the time in Sydney for fruitful discussions!

Best wishes

Gregor ---------------------------------------------------------- Gregor Hagedorn (G.Hagedorn@bba.de) Institute for Plant Virology, Microbiology, and Biosafety Federal Research Center for Agriculture and Forestry (BBA) Koenigin-Luise-Str. 19 Tel: +49-30-8304-2220 14195 Berlin, Germany Fax: +49-30-8304-2203

Often wrong but never in doubt!