The next annual conference of the ATBC Asia-Pacific chapter will be held at the Holiday Inn hotel, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia from 23rd to 26th April 2008.
Revised Conference Pamphlet pdf (62 KB)
Now Operational: www.atbcasia.org
Office bearers of the Asia-Pacific Chapter are:
Chairperson:
Jin Chen,
Xishuanbanna Tropical Botanic Garden, China.
Secretary:
Rhett D. Harrison,
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama.
Treasurer:
Steve Turton,
Steve Turton, James Cook University, Australia.
Country representatives: India - Priya Davidar; Sri Lanka - Hashendra Kathriarachchi; Thailand - Tomaso Savini; Malaysia - Rusea Go; Singapore - David Bickford; Philippines - Mary Rose C. Posa; Japan - Shoko Sakai; Papua New Guinea - Andrew Mack; Australia - Miriam Goosem; Pacific area - Julie Denslow.
Thanks largely to the efforts of Dr Priya Davidar and her team of assistants, the Asia-Pacific chapter held a very successful inaugural conference, attended by over 120 participants from 16 countries, at Mahabalipuram, India (6th-8th March 2007). Dr Madav Gadgil and Dr Peter Ashton, were the chief guests, and gave fascinating keynote addresses, while over the three days 68 oral papers and 25 posters were presented. Participants were also able to enjoy the ancient temples and rock carvings for which Mahabalipuram is famous, and the French Institute of Pondicherry, who co-sponsored the meeting, arranged a excursion to the nearby Dry evergreen forests and their institute. We would like to thank the French Institute of Pondicherry and our other sponsors, including ATREE, Ford Foundation India, Indo-US Science & Technology Forum, Wildlife Conservation Society India, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and ATBC.
It was decided at the meeting to create two prizes in honour of our chief
guests,
The Madav Gadgil Prize for best student oral presentation, and
The Peter S. Ashton Prize for best student poster.
Joint winners of the Madav Gadgil Prize were Hari Sridhar for his presentation on bird flocks in the Western Ghats, and Mary Rose C. Posa for her paper on conservation in the Philippines. Barath Sundaram was awarded the Peter S. Ashton Prize for his poster on the effects of fire and grazing.
The prize winners, from left to right, Barath Sundaram, Mary Rose C. Posa, and Hari Sridhar.