Natural History in the 21st Century: A Student Symposium held in December 26-30, 2000.

申请经费用于支持学生组织的研讨会，该研讨会将于2000年12月26日至30日在西方自然学家协会的下一届年会上举行。这次题为“21世纪的博物学”的研讨会将探讨博物学在现代生物学中的作用。拟邀请的演讲者来自不同的领域，从进化生物学、生态学到分子生物学；有些在陆地系统工作，有些在海洋系统工作。将这些来自不同学科的科学家联系在一起的共同点是，对他们所研究系统的自然史的理解在他们的发现中发挥了重要作用。因此，与生态学或进化生物学会议上的大多数专题讨论会专注于一个领域内的特定主题不同，这次专题讨论会试图跨越不同的生物学领域，讨论与所有这些领域相关的问题：自然史在研究中可以发挥的作用。当高科技实验室方法的爆炸式增长和复杂的统计设计吸引了我们的注意力时，重新审视自然史在各种生物学科中应该扮演什么角色（如果有的话）是很重要的。研讨会的目的不仅是探讨这一重要而及时的话题，而且为学生提供组织和经营自己的研讨会和参与科学社会治理的宝贵经验。

Funding is requested to support a student-organized symposium to be held at the next annual meeting (December 26-30, 2000) of the Western Society of Naturalists. The symposium, which is entitled "Natural History in the 21st Century", will explore the role of natural history in modern biology. The proposed speakers represent diverse fields, ranging from evolutionary biology and ecology to molecular biology; some work in terrestrial systems and some in marine systems. The common thread uniting these scientists from different disciplines is the important role that an understanding of the natural history of the systems they study has played in the discoveries they have made. Therefore, unlike most symposia at ecology or evolutionary biology meetings that focus on specific topics within a field, this symposium seeks to cut across diverse biological fields to discuss an issue relevant to all of them: the role that natural history can play in research. At a time when the explosion of high-tech laboratory approaches and of sophisticated statistical designs capture our attention, it is important to re-examine what role, if any, natural history should play in a variety of biological disciplines. The purpose of the symposium is not only to explore this important and timely topic, but also to provide students with the valuable experience of organizing and running their own symposium and participating in the governance of a scientific society.