PRESS RELEASES /
NEW INTERNET RESOURCES / GENERAL / CONFERENCES
PRESS RELEASES The University of Hull on a mission to save the sea cucumber.
The University is taking the lead in a major international project to save the sea cucumber - an extremely odd looking creature - but one of the ocean's most important marine species with environmental,
gastronomic and potential medicinal qualities. Dr Andrew Lawrence of the Department of Biological Sciences has been awarded El 60,700 by the
Government's Darwin Initiative to develop a sustainable fishery on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Hull has beaten off stiff competition from other universities and conservation organisations to win the grant
for the project which begins in September 2001. It is one of 31 projects under the prestigious Initiative which was established at the Rio Summit in 1992 and aims to safeguard the world's biodiversity.
Sea cucumbers are closely related to starfish and sea urchins and live predominantly in the Tropics. They are believed to have medicinal qualities in the treatment of whooping cough, bronchial inflammation and
arthritis and also perhaps in the treatment of tumors. In the Far East in particular, they are also exploited as a dried, salted or smoked food called Trepang or Beche-de-mer.
'Sea cucumbers are in high demand and their fisheries have a history of over-exploitation and collapse, leaving behind a disrupted and impoverished environment,' said Dr Lawrence.
'This is made even worse by the fact that sea cucumbers are a key species, playing a vital role in the structure and function of coral reef communities. The degradation of the reefs adversely affect other fisheries
and the tourist industry. In no case so far has a sea cucumber fishery been maintained and sustainable, which is why this project is so important.' There are four main elements to the project:
Three Egyptian research students will be coming to the University to work on the project with Dr Lawrence. It will be one of the first collaborations between the University and Hull's new World Ocean Discovery
Centre, The Deep, which has offered to support the project in any way possible and help with the dissemination of the results. The University will also be working with the Suez Canal University, the
Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency and the Red Sea Governate. 'All four elements of the project will enable the Egyptian Government to put into place a management plan
for the sustainable exploitation of sea cucumbers,' said Dr Lawrence. More about the exploitation of sea cucumbers
More details: Julia Elliott, Public Relations Office 10482 466326 Release issued: 31/5/2001
Julia Elliott Public Relations, Administration Building University of Hull Hull HU6 7RX Telephone: (01482) 466326 FAX: ( " ) 466442
E-Mail:
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August 10, 2001 Biologist Christiane Biermann Awarded Radcliffe Institute Fellowship
Evolutionary Scientist on Quest to Discover Genes that Generate Species Diversity
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University has awarded a 200 1—2002
fellowship to Christiane Biermann, a postdoctoral investigator in evolutionary biology with the Friday Harbor Laboratories at the University of Washington. While at Radcliffe, Biermann will take advantage
of the sea urchin genome project to determine the DNA sequences that are located on the chromosome close to a known sperm-egg recognition gene. She hopes to discover novel genes and
mechanisms that generate species diversity in sear urchins. A former Fullbright scholar, Biermann is interested in the diversity of life in the oceans. She combines
laboratory and field observations with molecular genetics to investigate the evolution of marine invertebrates, ranging from variation between individuals to the origin of new species. Biermann Biermann completed her undergraduate degree in biology at the University of Manster (Germany) and
Kings College (England) and earned her doctorate in ecologyand evolution from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She was awarded fellowships and research grants by NATO, the U.S.
Antarctic Program, the University of Washington This year, 43 women and men were selected as Radcliffe Institute fellows. The projects were chosen
for their quality and long-term impact on society. The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is a scholarly community where individuals pursue advanced work across a wide
range of academic disciplines, nrofessions and creative arts. Within this broad purpose, the Radcliffe Institute sustains a continuing commitment to the study of women, gender and society. The Radcliffe
Institute was formed in 1999 when Radcliffe College merged with Harvard University For More Information Radcliffe Office of Communications Lilli Leggio: 617-496-3076
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INTERNET RESOURCES (See also:
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The primary purpose of the site is to provide a taxonomic resource for the scientific community in which
the genera and higher taxa of echinoid can be simply and rapidly identified.There are currently over 200 pages of detailed information about echinoid taxa. Here no holds are barred and technical terms
abound. A reasonable grasp of echinoid morphology is assumed and these pages will be of most use to professional scientists and advanced researchers. For each genus information is given about the type
species, the key diagnostic characters, its stratigraphical and geographical distribution, species currently assigned with confidence (not necessarily exhaustive), and remarks about recent scientific
publications dealing with this taxon. Wherever possible highquality images are provided of specimens in oral, aboral and lateral views as well as interpretive diagrams.
To access this information you can go direct to the Taxonomic index which will take you to the appropriate page, or you can use the Keys where you will find an illustrated step by step dichotomous
key to help you identify which echinoid you have. This site is a long term project which will ultimately provide access to images of all described genera of
echinoid, both recent and fossil. At present only about 20% of the genera are covered, but sections will be added as and when they are completed. The taxa that are covered comprehensively are as follows
(with dates of posting or latest revision): Diadematoida (17/01/01) Pedinoida (23/2/01) Salenioida (5/12/00) Echinoida (5/12/00)
Holectypoida (5/12/00) Clypeasteroida (15/6/01) In addition there is an Introduction giving some basic facts about how echinoids live, feed and
reproduce for the casual visitor with no biological training, and a section entitled Morphology and morphological terms, providing some guidance to the formidable array of technical terms.
Designed and created by Andrew B Smith, Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum (email
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/echinoids/index.html
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ON-LINE PUBLICATION
Communicated by Thomas Brey Dear friends and colleagues,
Herewith I wish to announce the online publication of "POPULATION DYNAMICS IN BENTHIC INVERTEBRATES A VIRTUAL HANDBOOK" which you will find at
http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/Benthic/Ecosystem/FoodWeb/Handbook/navlog/index.html
This handbook exists as a free of charge online version only tries to summary the actual stage of methods and techniques in population dynamics studies is neither complete nor will it ever be, because science is a continuous process
The author hopes you will find this handbook useful and you will forward its website to many colleagues waits for feedback from readers/users
Dr. Thomas Brey Ecosystem Research Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research snailmail: P.O. Box 120161, D27515 Bremerhaven, Germany email:
voice: ++49 (0) 471 4831 1316
Fax: ++49 (0) 471 4831 1149 www:
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Phylum Echinodermata is now on the Tree of Life!
Announcement and call for participants Contributed by
The Tree of Life project, organized by David Maddison of the University of Arizona, is a great resource for teaching and research --
and a lot of fun to just browse. In brief, the aim of the project is to represent the hierarchical organization of life via world wide web pages that contain illustrations, group characteristics, and
phylogenetic information. I've been asked to serve as the coordinator for our favorite phylum, and the base page for the phylum is now on line. A very nice page for Class Crinoidea (done by William Ausich
and Charles Messing) has been up for some time. I like to invite you to visit these pages to get a feel for the Tree of Life project (the links are listed below). Please give the authors of their pages feedback
about errors, omissions, arresting photos, and ideas for future features. While you're looking around, consider joining in the effort to flesh out some of the other major groups of echinoderms. Colin
Sumrall and James Sprinkle have been working on some of the Paleozoic "oddball" groups, and Emily Knott is tackling the Class Asteroidea. If you would like to become involved in authoring a taxon (class,
order, family, genus, or species), please let me know. Some groups are already spoken for, but many, many very interesting taxa need to be represented. No programming experience is necessary. If you're
interested or just have questions, please email me at: gwray@duke.edu.
The Tree of Life home page: http://ag.arizona.edu/ENTO/tree/phylogeny.html
Echinodermata: http://phylogeny.arizona.edu/tree/eukaryotes/animals/ echinodermata/echinodermata.html
Crinoidea: http://phylogeny.arizona.edu/tree/eukaryotes/animals/ echinodermata/crinoidea/crinoidea.html
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GENERAL
ECHINODERM-L NOTICE: Looking for good Ph.D. students
Contributed by Florence Thomas
Research Fellowships available for competitive students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. on the role of physical processes in the reproductive biology of marine invertebrates. The University of South Florida
offers excellent support for highly competitive graduate students. If you are interested please contact me Dr. Florence Thomas
I am also interested in attracting students interested in the role of physical processes in the nutrient dynamics of subtropical an tropical communities.
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REPRINTS AVAILABLE Dr. Daniel James reprints on Echinoderms. Those who are interested may please contact Dr.D.B. James at
No 13, Bharathiar Street, Metha Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600029 INDIA Phone: 910443745351 Email:
A complete bibiliography of Dr. James' reprints can be found
here.
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CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(details and contacts below) 11th International Echinoderm Conference
1st Meeting of the German Speaking Echinoderm Researcher
International Conference on Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marketing of Sea Urchins
11th International Echinoderm Conference Munich 2003
Communicated by Thomas Heinzeller
Please be informed that the website
www.iec2003.uni-muenchen.de
is on-line!
The 11th International Echinoderm Conference will be held at the Ludwig-Maximilians Universitét, Munich, Germany, from October 6 10, 2003. The Local Organising Comittee comprises members of the Medical
Faculty (U.Welsch, T. Heinzeller), and of the Faculty of Geological Sciences (R.Leinfelder). Registration and abstracts as well as special requests, comments and proposals should all be sent to T.
Heinzeller, if ever possible by email
Heinzeller@anat.med.uni-muenchen.de
Those to whom it is not possible, may post to: 11th IEC 2003 Prof. Dr. Thomas Heinzeller
Anatomische Anstalt der LMU Pettenkoferstrasse 11 D80336 Muenchen Germany Key Dates and Registration Dates and Deadlines:
Cancellations and Refunds:
Registration Downloading a registration form will be possible from April 2002 Further links:
Venue, Travel and Accomodation
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International Conference on Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marketing of Sea Urchins Puerto Varas, Chile March, 2003 Visit the Conference site at:
Organizers Eduardo Bustos, Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, Chile Sergio Olave, Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, Chile John Lawrence, University of South Florida, USA
Organizing Committee Yukio Agatsuma, Tohoku University, Japan
Michael Barker, University of Otago, New Zealand Charles-Francois Boudouresque, Université de la Méditerranée, France Jose Luis Catoira Gómez, Conselleria de Acuicultura, Spain
Yaqing Chang, Dalian Fisheries University, People*s Republic of China Nils Hagen, Bodř College, Norway Kazuhiro Kawamura, Econixe Co., Ltd., Japan Maeve Kelly, Scottish Association for Marine Science, United Kingdom
Susan McBride, University of California, USA Shawn Robinson, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canada Muki Shpigel, National Center for Mariculture, Israel
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"1. Arbeitstreffen deutschsprachiger Echinodermenforscher"
"1st Meeting of German Speaking Echinoderm Researcher"
May 11-13, 2001 Communicated by Mike Reich
was held at Greifswald (Northeastern Germany, 200 km north of Berlin on the Baltic Sea coast)
email: reichmi@mail.uni-greifswald.de
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