The Scout Report for Science & Engineering - March 1, 2000

March 1, 2000

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The target audience of the new Scout Report for Science & Engineering is faculty, students, staff, and librarians in the life sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. Each biweekly issue offers a selective collection of Internet resources covering topics in the sciences, and related fields such as math and engineering, that have been chosen by librarians and content specialists in the given field of study.

The Scout Report for Science & Engineering is also provided via email once every two weeks. Subscription information is included at the bottom of each issue.


In This Issue

Research

Learning Resources

General Interest

Current Awareness

New Data

In The News


Research

Mathematical Physics Preprint Archive [.ps]
http://rene.ma.utexas.edu:80/mp_arc/index.html
The University of Texas-Austin's Mathematics Department houses this excellent Mathematical Physics Preprint Archive. With abstracts and papers organized by year (1991-present), this free service lets users "deposit papers in an electronic format over the Web or by email." Users may also access papers (by email, FTP, Gopher, wais, HTTP). In addition, the service supplies weekly updates. This site offers a substantial archive for those interested in mathematical physics. [KR]
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Laboratory for Global Environmental Science Information (LaGESI)
http://www.lagesi.caltech.edu/
WebWinds Interactive Data System
http://webwinds.jpl.nasa.gov/
Housed at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the Laboratory for Global Environmental Science Information (LaGESI) was launched in conjunction with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory "to increase the use of Earth science data sets to improve our understanding of global and regional environmental science issues." The LaGESI Website offers access to a huge collection of Earth science data (via WWW and FTP), simulations of earth science processes, free desktop visualization software including WebWinds (see URL above), earth science education activities and modules, and support information (alerts and technical assistance). Online data vary in accessibility, scope, and detail, but include atmosphere (AVIRIS, ATMOS, GENESIS, GCMD), land (AIRSAR, AVIRIS, MASTER, GCMD), and ocean data (AIRSAR, AIRSEA, AVIRIS, MASTRER, NSCAT, PO-DAAC, TOPEX, and GCMD). For any researcher seeking earth science data from the regional to global geographic scale, this is a phenomenal resource and reference tool. [LXP]
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Institute for the Study of Planet Earth [MS Word]
http://www.ispe.arizona.edu/
The University of Arizona's Institute for the Study of Planet Earth was created to foster "an interdisciplinary approach to education and research on global change issues, and to encourage communication about global environmental trends." The Institute's Website includes a research section with internal as well as external links to information on climate change and variability, changes in land cover, earth system science, and human contributions and responses to global change. Other site resources include an online reports section and a page devoted to conferences. The Institute's Climate Assessment Project for the Southwest (CLIMAS) section contains, among other resources, a publications collections that includes online articles, downloadable (MS Word) copies of the project's newsletter, CLIMAS Update, and slide presentations on topics like "Colorado River Basin Water Issues" and "Forecasting Climate, Hydrology & Weather in the Southwest." In addition, the Southwest Regional Earth Science Applications Center (RESAC) (also available off of the Institute's front page) offers information on "applications of remote sensing to Southwest water resources." [KR]
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Two on Birds
Bird Families of the World: Sibley and Monroe
http://www-stat.wharton.upenn.edu/%7Esiler/birdframe.html
"The AOU Check-list of North American Birds," Seventh Edition 1998 [.pdf]
http://pica.wru.umt.edu/AOU/birdlist.HTML
These two sites will be of use to ornithological researchers. The first, housed at the University of Pennsylvania Web server, classifies the bird families of the world using the Sibley and Monroe classification system. One hundred forty-six families are listed, from Struthionidae (Ostriches) to Fringillidae (Finches and Allies). By clicking on a Family, users will retrieve a list of species, with scientific and common names. The second site, prepared by the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU), offers an online version of the seventh edition of Check-list of North American Birds (1998 publication), covering species from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands. Over two thousand species of birds are listed by Order, from Anseriformes through Upupiformes. The document, which covers areas within the AOU check-list area, may be downloaded as a .pdf file. [LXP]
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The Rowland Institute for Science [.pdf]
http://www.rowland.org/
The Rowland Institute for Science, a privately endowed, nonprofit, basic research institution with members affiliated with universities around the country, conducts research in "over a dozen selected areas of physics, chemistry and biology." The highlights of this site are four of the fourteen research areas which contain excellent materials in addition to brief explanations of the research. These include the Bose-Einstein Condensation and Non-linear Optics section which holds a reprint (.pdf) of a significant 1999 Nature magazine article on the reduction of light speed to seventeen meters per second. Also, see sections on Ion Traps and Clusters, Nanoscale Quantum Physics, and Protein Folding and Design for posters, publications, abstracts, and commentaries. [KR]
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The REINAS Project: Real-time Environmental Information Network and Analysis System [.pdf]
http://csl.cse.ucsc.edu/projects/reinas/
Sand Diego REINAS sites
http://reinas.sdsc.edu/
The REINAS Project is "a distributed measurement-gathering environment built around one or more relational database systems and supporting both real-time and retrospective regional scale environmental science." Based at the University of California at Santa Cruz, in cooperation with meteorological and oceanographic scientists from the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), the REINAS Project homepage offers a wealth of information. At the site, users will gain access to real-time and historical data (see the San Diego REINAS site, for example), maps of the Monterey Bay region, demonstrations (including a map of all REINAS sensors), software, and publications (some online, some in .pdf format), among other information. While the project is still under development, the automated real-time data bases offer a glimpse into one of the best science uses of the Web. [LXP]
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Learning Resources

TalksPage [RealAudio]
http://medium.stanford.edu/
TalksPage features RealAudio scientific lectures with accompanying abstracts and slides. This site is maintained by Dr. Konstantin Kladko (Stanford, Department of Physics), Dr. Sergey Kravchenko (Northeastern University, Department of Physics), and Igor Mitkov (Northeastern University). The creators hope to provide a place where any scientist in the world can post their talk or presentation in audio format. The talks are delivered by researchers from well-known universities in areas of physics, chemistry, and math. A few titles include "2e or not 2e in Strongly Repulsive Electronic Systems in 2D?" and "Stabilizing Effects of Dispersion Management." Also included here is a message board, a Hot Problems! section, links to RealAudio Science on the Web, and more. The lectures themselves may contain background static. [KR]
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Estuary Live!!! [RealVideo, ChatVideo, Java]
http://www.estuarylive.org/
Intended for elementary, middle, and high school students, this electronic estuary excursion, Estuary Live!!!, will take place May 8-12, 2000. Free to participants (but please sign up in advance), the field trip will explore the Rachel Carson Site of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve, covering four islands and salt marshes off the North Carolina coast. The site features useful educational materials, including a photo-illustrated field guide (of the "ecology, habitats and specific plants and animals found in North Carolina's estuaries"); lesson plans (covering highschool biology, estuary habitats, species interactions, and adaptations and communities); and a series of related links. The interactive field trip will require a java-enabled browser, RealVideo (to see a moving image and hear sound), and/or Chatvideo, to see a moving image, ask questions of the naturalist leading the trip, and receive responses via a chat window. Note that ChatVideo requires Netscape 4.0 or better and will not work with AOL or Internet Explorer, and pages "look best" on a screen with resolution of 800x600. The Estuary Live!!! Website is provided by the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve Program, and The Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at East Carolina University. [LXP]
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A Resource Guide of Solid Waste Educational Materials [.pdf]
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/general/bibligr/educatn.htm
Compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Solid Waste, this guide holds close to 80 educational materials related to solid waste. Types of materials covered in the guide include "curricula, activity guides, videos, and Internet sites [with] information on a variety of solid waste topics such as source reduction, recycling, reuse, household hazardous waste, and composting." The materials are designed for teachers engaged in K-12 learning environments. [KR]
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Molecular Biology [QuickTime]
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Biology/Courses/Molbio/molecular.html
As more academic institutions seek to incorporate Internet technology into their courses, many instructors must work in a medium that is unfamiliar, with lots of cluttered information, and precious little time. Numerous examples of well-designed course homepages exist and can be used as templates for constructing a course Webpage. Dr. Malcolm Campbell of Davidson College in North Carolina is an award-winning teacher who has produced a logical and interesting new homepage for an upper-level undergraduate Molecular Biology course (Molecular Biology 304). With a syllabus, daily-, and laboratory-schedules, the straightforward site guides students (and anyone else) through the course, building on previous course work, and teaching such concepts as critical thinking, data collection and analysis, and the writing of review papers. Some information at the site is restricted to registered students only, but the accessible information is worthy on its own. A good list of biology (organismal and micro) sites is also provided. [LXP]
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Lecture Notes: Methods of Mathematical Physics I [.pdf, .ps]
http://huxley.cwru.edu/~trodden/mathnotes.html
Available as a complete set or as separate chapters (.pdf, .ps), these lecture notes have been written by Dr. Mark Trodden, Visiting Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University's Department of Physics. The text-based site offers students and educators of mathematical physics a compiled set of lectures on the Analysis of Complex Functions, Exact and Approximate Evaluation of Sums and Integrals, Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations, Transform Calculus, Sturm-Liouville Theory, and The Calculus of Variations. The presentation of these topics is straightforward and careful. [KR]
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General Interest

Robotic Antarctic Meteorite Search: Antarctica 2000
http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/projects/meteorobot2000/
Carnegie Mellon University's Field Robotics Center is responsible for sending the NOMAD robotic vehicle into the Antarctic to search for meteorites. "Nomad uses robotic technologies to search Antarctic areas, distinguish interesting rock types, and provide autonomous assessment of the terrestrial or extraterrestrial origin of each rock." During the month of January, the robot found four meteorites. The site contains updates, photos of NOMAD and the meteorites, a technology section (which currently holds no information), a link to the Field Robotics Center's NOMAD Page, and perhaps of most interest to researchers, a technical publications section. [KR]
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Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
http://www.blm.gov/nhp/index.htm
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a powerful government agency within the US Department of the Interior, administers 264 million acres of America's public lands, primarily in the western US states. For those interested in what, exactly, the BLM does in order "to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations," this Website will be a useful resource. The homepage includes six sections: News, Information (including FAQ), What We Do, BLM Facts (including the BLM's mission), Directory (state and other BLM Websites), and FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). For news summaries of recent actions related to BLM management in western states, go to the What We Do section and click on the appropriate subject heading. A feedback form is also provided. [LXP]
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"A Method for the Assessment of the Significance of Geological Sites"
http://www.pma.edmonton.ab.ca/vpub/geology/english/home.htm
This online report by Marilyn J. Nelson, who works for the Geology Department at the Provincial Museum of Alberta, "proposes a procedure for evaluation and comparison of geological sites." Questionnaires and a point system help geologists determine the geological significance, degree of threat, and the educational/interpretive value of a potential site. Along with sections detailing the purpose of the report, criteria used for evaluations, evaluation forms, and management considerations for protection of sites, the page also offers links to related Websites. [KR]
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Oregon Estuary Plan Book
http://www.inforain.org/epb/intro.htm
Originally published in 1987 by the Oregon Coastal Management Program, the electronic version of the Oregon Estuary Plan Book is available now at Interrain Pacific. This publication is a "principal reference for estuary and shoreland planning in Oregon" and contains several useful features, including two maps (estuarine habitats and management planning units) for the seventeen largest estuaries in the state. The online Oregon Estuary Plan Book contains three chapters, covering "Estuaries in Oregon," "Planning Requirements," and "Habitat Classification." Each chapter contains text and graphics (photographs, illustrations, and maps) to highlight the main points. While not designed explicitly as a learning tool, the information contained here will useful for educators and students interested in (Pacific coast) estuaries. Links to online mapping and downloadable data offer advanced users a gateway to additional estuary research. [LXP]
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Green Buildings
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/buildings/gbintro.htm
From the Department of Energy's Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development, this Green Buildings site serves as a detailed metapage for environmentally conscious architects, engineers, and builders. As the introduction to the site points out, "The design, construction, and maintenance of buildings has a tremendous impact on our environment and our natural resources." The site offers carefully summarized links to relevant Websites and publications on topics such as building principles, building programs, rating systems, affordable housing, codes/ordinances, educational materials, and more. This site may be of interest to those who want practical applications for protecting the environment. [KR]
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Current Awareness
(For links to additional current awareness on tables of contents, abstracts, preprints, new books, data, conferences, etc., visit the The Scout Report for Science & Engineering Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sci-eng/metapage/).

Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century
http://www.greatachievements.org/
To celebrate the many life-changing technological achievements of the Twentieth Century, this site from the National Academy of Engineering was created in a collaboration with the American Association of Engineering Societies, National Engineers Week (Feb. 20-26, 2000), and others. The list contains the top 20 achievements with a history and a timeline of important landmarks for each accomplishment. [KR]
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"NCSA Tests WebEx Collaboration Tool"
http://www.hoise.com/primeur/00/articles/monthly/AE-PR-02-00-36.html
This newsbrief, from Primeur Monthly, describes WebEx, a new service that is currently being tested by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). WebEx is designed to allow scientists "to work collaboratively over the Web, . . . share applications, present demonstrations and training, and provide desktop support using only a desktop computer and a Web browser." Although still in the testing phase, this type of service may be of interest to scientists who rely on technology to facilitate ex-situ collaborations. [LXP]
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New Publications

Call for Papers: The Morehead Electronic Journal of Applications in Mathematics (MEJAM)
http://www.morehead-st.edu/colleges/science/math/mejam/index.html
The Morehead Electronic Journal of Applications in Mathematics (MEJAM), sponsored by Morehead State University, is a new, free interdisciplinary journal that publishes the work of undergraduates. This forum provides an excellent place for undergraduates to get a taste of publishing in an academic, refereed environment. MEJAM is currently accepting submissions for its first issue. [KR]

"NEPTUNE: A Fiber-Optic Telescope to Inner Space" [.pdf]
With color figures [.pdf, 184K]:
http://triton.hitl.washington.edu/pub/interim.pdf
Text only [.pdf, 1500K]:
http://triton.hitl.washington.edu/pub/interim_no_figs.pdf
For those interested in the dynamics of earth and ocean systems, this interim report (.pdf format) from the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) and NEPTUNE collaborators (University of Washington, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory) is a must-read. Herein is a description of "the concept of a full-ocean depth observatory designed to facilitate real-time research into ocean and earth science systems that operate at or below meso-scale or tectonic plate scale." The report, which may be browsed with or without color illustrations, describes the proposed science themes, research techniques, and project details. [LXP]

Laboratory for Laser Energetics Papers [.pdf]
http://www.lle.rochester.edu/pr/publications/aps/aps41/
From Rochester University's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), this page accesses LLE presentations given at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, November 15-19, 1999 in Seattle, Washington. The 31 papers supplied here (.pdf) include titles such as "Numerical Simulation of Sound-Wave Generation in Two-Ion Plasma" and "Stability of Self-Focused Filaments in Laser-Produced Plasmas." [KR]

"White Paper on Environmental Liability" -- EC [.pdf]
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/liability/index.htm
This recent European Commission (EC) "White Paper" on environmental liability sets out "the structure for a future EC environmental liability regime that aims at implementing the polluter pays principle." The report includes the key elements necessary for an "effective and practicable" regime. Full text (.pdf format) is available in nine languages, with summaries in ten languages. [LXP]

"High Resolution, Low Altitude Aeromagnetic and Electromagnetic Survey of Mt. Rainier"
http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/pub/open-file-reports/ofr-00-0027/
In this US Geological Survey open file report, "High Resolution, Low Altitude Aeromagnetic and Electromagnetic Survey of Mt. Rainier," V.L. Rystrom, Carol A. Finn, and Maryla Descsz-Pan present "new aeromagnetic and electromagnetic data, compare results from previously obtained, low-resolution aeromagnetic data with new data collected at a low-altitude and closely spaced lightlines, and provide information on potential problems with using high-resolution data." [KR]

"From Wind to Whales: Trophic Links in a Coastal Upwelling System"
Executive summary:
http://bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/research/techreports/whalereport/index.html
Full text [.pdf]:
ftp://bonita.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov/MBBlueEcology.pdf
Donald Croll of the University of California at Santa Cruz, and a host of researchers from Moss Landing, California, offer this report on blue whales, with emphasis on whale distribution and abundance, diet and foraging (Euphausiids), migration, and seasonality of whale distribution in relation to diet and oceanographic processes. The document is a final report to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. [LXP]

Software Contributions to the Wildlife Society Bulletin [.zip]
http://www.im.nbs.gov/tws/contr.html#Contr
Although incomplete since 1997, this site lists and provides software for download (.zip) that was published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin between 1989 and 1997. Software is listed by year, author, and citation, and includes format, file size, and instructions. [LXP]
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Jobs

Job Openings in Science and Technology from The Chronicle of Higher Education
http://jobs.chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/scitech/links.htm
Although The Chronicle of Higher Education charges a fee to access the current week's job listings, extensive postings for the previous week are freely available. [LXP]

naturejobs
http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/
The journal Nature has recently put up a new jobs page that includes a career center with articles and many other features such as a place to post resumes. The search jobs feature allows users to search by country, position, subject, job title, and job description. [KR]

Physiological Ecology Section, ESA: Jobs
http://www.botany.duke.edu/jackson/ecophys/positions.htm
The Physiological Ecology section of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) maintains this up-to-date listing of positions available in ecophysiology and related areas. Positions are listed by category (faculty, postdoc, graduate student, technician, and undergraduate). The faculty and postdoc listings are sorted by closing date, and the grad, tech, and undergrad listings are sorted by institution name. [LXP]

PhDs.Org Job Listings
http://www.phds.org/jobs/
PhDs.Org
http://www.phds.org
PhDs.Org's Science, Math, and Engineering Career Resources Job Listing section posts academic as well as industrial positions. Users can streamline the list, which starts with the most recent postings, to include only jobs in specific fields. Check PhDs.Org searchable homepage for articles, news, advice, and additional job information links. [KR]
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Funding

Exploratory Research Related to the 1999 Earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan -- NSF
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf0032/nsf0032.htm
The National Science Foundation is offering grants for exploratory research related to the 1999 earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan. Eligibility applies to individual investigators or small groups affiliated with US colleges and universities. The deadline for applications is April 4, 2000. [KR]

Long-Term Ecological Research: Special Competition for Cross-Site Research -- NSF
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf0061/nsf0061.htm
The National Science Foundation has also announced the Long-Term Ecological Research: Special Competition for Cross-Site Research funding opportunity. This Special Competition will consider proposals in Ecology and Ecosystem Studies and "field-based research that fall[s] within the purview of the Population Biology and the Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology programs that can take advantage of the large-scale field experiments at multiple LTER sites." Thus, projects are expected "to examine questions or hypotheses that can best be addressed through comparative or synthesis studies using combinations of LTER, non-LTER and International LTER sites." The full proposal deadline is May 25, 2000. Detailed information and application/ submission instructions are provided at the site. [LXP]

AAAS Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowships
http://fellowships.aaas.org/congressional/index.html
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) sponsors eight public policy fellowship programs for scientists and engineers. These highly competitive programs are geared toward giving postdoctoral to midcareer scientists and engineers experience with the public policymaking process of the federal government. Those with master's degrees and three years professional experience may also apply. For detailed information about each program, users may visit the site. [KR]

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center: Opportunities
http://www.serc.si.edu/SERC_web_html/opportunities.html
The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) lists a variety of funding opportunities, including internship projects for undergraduates or graduate students (in Global Change, Landscape Ecology, Ecology of Coastal Ecosystems, Environmental Engineering, and other subjects) and fellowships for graduate students or postdocs (in many research areas). Interested applicants should contact the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. [LXP]

Systematic Biology Homepage: Announcements
http://www.utexas.edu/ftp/depts/systbiol/
The Systematic Biology announcements section of this site provides current awareness information on issues of interest to systematic biologists. Provided by the Society of Systematic Biologists, the site lists (and links to) upcoming conferences, job openings, and funding opportunities. For those seeking information specific to systematics, this is a fine, selective resource. [LXP]
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Conferences

Millennial Conference on Number Theory
http://www.math.uiuc.edu/nt2000/millennial/
Funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the University of Illinois, the Millennial Conference on Number Theory will take place from May 21 through 26, 2000, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The deadline for submission of all abstracts is March 15, 2000. [KR]

Wetlands, Carbon Cycling, and Future Climate Change: Workshop
http://www.aswm.org/carbon.htm
The Institute for Wetland Science and Public Policy, Association of State Wetland Managers in conjunction with Wetlands International has announced a workshop on Wetlands, Carbon Cycling, and Future Climate Change to be held April 25-26, 2000 at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland. Interested participants are invited to submit "a 200-word abstract if you have conducted or are conducting relevant research to ASWM," preferably by March 1, 2000. An email address is provided at the end of the page for those with queries. [LXP]

Pacifichem 2000
http://www.acs.org/meetings/pacific2000/
Cosponsored by the American Chemical Society, Pacifichem 2000, the International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies, will occur between December 14 and 19, 2000, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Electronically submitted abstracts are due by April 14, 2000, and paper submissions are due by April 3, 2000. [KR]

Fourth Annual Missouri River Natural Resources Conference
http://infolink.cr.usgs.gov/Events/Conf.htm
The Fourth Annual Missouri River Natural Resources Conference will be held in Bismarck, North Dakota. Co-sponsored by the Missouri River Natural Resources Committee, Missouri River Basin Association, North Dakota Game and Fish Department, North Dakota State Department of Health, North Dakota Water Education Foundation, Three Affiliated Tribes, US Environmental Protection Agency (Region 8), US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the US Geological Survey, the conference will take place May 21-24, 2000. Full details of the conference announcement will be posted March 1, 2000. Interested participants should check out the 1999 program, posted at the Website. [LXP]

Modeling Complex Systems: Conference and Workshop
http://atl.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/conference/
The Canadian Forest Service has announced a conference and workshop entitled Modeling Complex Systems, to be held from July 31 to August 4, 2000 in Montreal, Canada. The conference focuses on "the theory, methods, and techniques in modeling complex systems in earth sciences ... such as Spatio-temporal Dynamics of Ecological Systems, Ecosystem Management, Forest Health, Global Climate Change, and Sustainability." Conference details will be administered strictly online; go to the homepage to register, submit the title of a paper, or submit an abstract. The deadline for abstract submission is April 15, 2000. However, interested participants are requested to submit the title of a paper (20-word limit) as soon as possible. [LXP]

Sixth Indo-Pacific Fish Conference
http://www.seaworld.org.za/ippfc.asp
The Sixth Indo-Pacific Fish Conference will be held in Durban, South Africa May 20-25, 2001. The conference will target "most aspects of the ichthyology of Indo-Pacific fishes (e.g. systematics, evolution, genetics, ecology, biology, behaviour and biogeography)" and will include Symposia on "pelagic, deep-sea, chondrichthyan, larval, coastal, reef and estuarine fishes," as well as "marine aquarium fishes, systematics of western Indian Ocean fishes, diversity of reproductive mechanisms in fishes, fish tagging and conservation of Indo-Pacific fish diversity by use of marine protected areas." No abstract deadline has been set. However, would-be participants are requested to submit an expression of interest form, available at the site. [LXP]
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New Data

Topozone
http://www.topozone.com/
Topographic map users will be excited about this easy-to-use, interactive format for accessing topographic maps for the entire US (excepting Alaska and Puerto Rico, which should be available soon). In collaboration with the US Geological Survey (USGS), this site holds "every USGS 1:100,000, 1:25,000, and 1:24,000 scale map for the entire United States." Maps are searchable by place names as well as latitude and longitude. Not only are these maps accurate, but they are aesthetic enough to make Alexander Von Humboldt proud! [KR]
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Annotated Bibliography of Methodologies to Census, Estimate, and Monitor the Size of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Populations [.pdf]
http://www.pwrc.nbs.gov/infobase/topbibs/deerbib/deerweb.pdf
This interesting annotated bibliography, from Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, describes methodologies to census, estimate, and monitor the size of white-tailed deer populations. The bibliography is organized into three sections: a decade-by-decade summary of measuring/ monitoring techniques; techniques for biological populations (52 annotated references); and techniques for white-tailed deer (160 annotated references). In each section, earliest publications (1889) appear first, culminating in 1997. While the database emphasizes methodologies specific to white-tailed deer, it also does an excellent job documenting the historical evolution of techniques to measure wildlife populations. An author and keyword index completes the resource. [LXP]
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IPS Real-Time Space Weather Status Panel
http://www.ips.oz.au/asfc/current/
The IPS (Ionospheric Prediction Service) Real-Time Space Weather Status Panel, an agency of the Australian government, offers this collection of real-time space weather data. Available here are different types of up-to-date data for solar conditions, ionospheric conditions, and geomagnetic conditions. [KR]
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Crop Values [.pdf]
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/price/zcv-bb/
While economic data on crop values are strictly commercial/ agricultural summaries, they can be useful as surrogate indices of land use/ cover change, or in estimating food subsidies (e.g. waste grain) for wildlife. Posted by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economics and Statistics System at Cornell University, the site contains the "annual marketing year average prices and value of production of principal crops" for years 1995 through 1999 (1999 data are just released and still preliminary). Principal crops include barley (all, feed, and malting), hay, oats, rye, wheat (all, winter, durum, and other spring), upland and American-pima cotton and cottonseed, corn, dry beans, flaxseed, peanuts, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, and rice. These data are provided by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA); files for years 1998 and 1999 may be viewed in text or .pdf format; all other year files are text only. [LXP]
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In The News

Mount Mayon Erupts in the Philippines
1) "2 major blasts hit Mayon anew"
http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN/2000-02/MN022901.asp
2) "Volcano: Emergency declared"
http://news2.thls.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_654000/654550.stm
3) Earth Alert
http://www.discovery.com/news/earthalert/000222/volcanophilippines.html
4) Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/
5) Cascades Volcano Observatory
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/
6) Mayon Volcano, Philippines
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Philippines/Mayon/framework.html
7) Global Volcanism Program
http://www.volcano.si.edu/gvp/index.htm
8) Volcano World
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/
Mount Mayon, one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines, erupted on February 24, 2000, after lying dormant for eight months. The active volcano spewed lava, rocks, and ash repeatedly over the next three days. Volcanologists at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology have warned of the likely possibility of bigger eruptions in the near future, with the greatest effects on the southeast and southwest sectors of the volcano. The volcano has already hurled molten boulders and 3,000-meter columns of ash into the air forcing an evacuation of some 50,000 people in a eight-kilometer radius around the crater. Volcanic debris estimated at 60 million metric tons are now lodged into the volcano's gullies. Heavy rainfall could cause more calamity in the form of mudflows. This week's In the News takes a closer look at the volcanic activity at Mount Mayon.

The first resource is a news item from the Manila Bulletin, the Philippines largest newspaper (1), discussing the recent blasts on the night of February 27th. The second release, from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), contains information on the initial eruption on February 24th (2). Next, Discovery.com's Earth Alert page offers running accounts of eruptions on February 23rd through 25th (3). The fourth resource, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (4), contains a special Mayon Volcano bulletin through its Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division. The Cascades Volcano Observatory (5) (described in the September 23, 1994 Scout Report offers a plethora of volcanological resources including online publications, links to volcano observatories around the world, and special alphabetically listed pages for volcanoes of the world. The Observatory also features a special page devoted to the Mayon Volcano (6). For those interested in further information, the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (7) holds volcano activity reports, a section on volcanoes of the world, volcano basic data, and links. Finally for a large, general volcano resource, The University of North Dakota's Volcano World (8) contains a little bit of everything. [KR]
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