Dear List ---

A couple weeks back I sent along an announcement that NSF has helped fund underrepresented student travel to the Taxonomic Database Working Group meeting in New Zealand Oct. 11-17. As discussed below, there is a very short grant application that is due in one short day (Sept. 15) and can lead to up to $3000 for support of travel. Please consider applying or encouraging your students to apply.

The original announcement follows: ____________________________________________

Underrepresented student support for October 2004 Meeting of the Taxonomic Data Working Group (TDWG), Christ Church, NZ and associated workshops.

With the assistance of the U.S. National Science Foundation, we expect to fund up to $3,000 per student for underrepresented (based on gender, ethnicity, disability, and geography) undergraduate, graduate and post- doctoral students working in or proposing biodiversity informatics projects, to attend the TDWG meetings from October 11 to 18, 2004. See http://www.tdwg.org/2004meet/TDWG_2004.htm for the meeting program. The focus of the meeting includes: Biological Collections Data, the proposed XML Schema for the Structure of Descriptive Data, Taxonomic Names, among other topics (eg. Spatial Data).

Underrepresented resident students at U.S. institutions are invited to submit an application describing their studies or research projects in biology or computer science and a brief paragraph about how they expect attendance could further their work. We will especially consider applicants not traditionally included in the taxonomic community.

Application requirements: - Total narrative should not exceed one page (when formated in 12-point Times Roman, single spaced text on an 8.5x11" page with 1" margins) - If relevant, include at most one additional page of references to web links describing projects in which they participate, and papers on which they are joint authors. - Applications may be accompanied by up to two letters of recommendation from faculty members or other professionals aware of the projects described in the narrative and commenting on the student's role and expected benefit.

Please send documents in PDF format to Dr. Robert Guralnick (Robert.Guralnick@colorado.edu) by Sept. 15. Applications will be evaluated by a committee composed of Dr. Guralnick, Dr. Robert A. Morris from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and Annie Simpson at the National Biological Information Infrastructure.

We expect funding to be available prior to the meeting. Further details will be provided to the successful applicants.

Best regards, Rob Guralnick Bob Morris Annie Simpson

_____________________________ Dr. Rob Guralnick Asst. Professor and Curator Dept. of EEB and CU Museum University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO 80309-0265 tel: 303-735-0178