Support of Student Participation in North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC-VI); June, 1996; Washington, D. C

北美古生物学大会是一个由来自不同学科的古生物学家组成的四年一度的聚会。 它由总部设在北美的古生物学小组支持，但对所有对古生物学感兴趣的人开放。 计划于1996年6月在华盛顿举行的会议将是第六次NAPC，也是第一次在东海岸举行。 以前的每一次聚会都被参加者评为优秀的科学活动。 NAPC的一个目的是让那些通常不会接触的专家见面并交流想法。 例如，微体古生物学家和脊椎动物古生物学家有不同的专业团体，在不同的时间开会，但这两个团体的一些成员研究来自同一时代岩石的化石。 根据以往的经验，NAPC-VI组织委员会预计将有大约500名专业人员参加，并进行为期三天的互动。 组委会认为，学生的持续兴趣对该领域的健康发展至关重要。 学生们不仅将保持对过去生活的研究，他们将提供新的方法，并以新的眼光检查旧化石。 NAPC提供了一个出色的教育机会，从讲座和海报展示中获得大量的古生物学信息，而不会在一般地质会议上受到其他干扰。 它还使他们有机会与该领域的领导人会面，并在国家或区域地质会议所不提供的场所正式和非正式地讨论他们正在进行的研究。 赠款提案包括两个部分。 第一个方案将降低所有计划入学的学生的注册费。 根据以往的经验，组委会预计约有100-150名学生参加。 助学金的第二部分是向少数学生发放定额小额助学金，以协助他们上学。 将根据能力选择受赠者，但将适当注意支持少数群体和妇女的必要性。

The North American Paleontological Convention is a quadrennial gathering of paleontologists from a variety of disciplines. It is supported by the paleontological group headquartered in North America, but is open to all who are interested in paleontology. The meeting planned for June 1996 in Washington, DC, will be the sixth NAPC, and the first to be held on the East Coast. Each previous gathering has been judged by those who participated as an excellent scientific event. One aim of NAPC is to allow specialists who would not otherwise normally be in contact to meet and exchange ideas. For example, micropaleontologists and vertebrate paleontologists have different professional societies which meet at different times, yet some members of these two group work on fossils from the same age rock. Based on past experience, the Organizing Committee for NAPC-VI expects that about 500 professionals will attend and interact for three days. It is the view of the Organizing Committee that the continued interest of students is critical to the health of the field. Not only will students m aintain the study of past life, they are the ones who will provide fresh approaches and examine old fossils with new eyes. NAPC provides an outstanding educational opportunity to obtain a concentrated amount of paleontological information from talks and poster presentations without the other distractions presented at a general geological meeting. It also allows them the ready opportunity to meet with leaders in the field and to discuss their research in progress, both formally and informally, in a venue not provided by a national or regional geologic meeting. The grant proposal consists of two components. The first would allow for a lower registration fee for all students who plan to attend. Based on past experience, the Organizing Committee expect that about 100-150 students will attend. The second component of the grant would consist of a small grant of fixed amount to a limited number of students to facilitate their attendance. Grantees would be selected on the basis of merit, but appropriate attention would be paid to the need to support minority groups and women.