U.S.-Panama Workshop: Charting the Future of Environmental Studies at the Liquid Jungle Laboratory, Panama City, January, 2012

美国-巴拿马奖为美国参加将于2012年1月在巴拿马城举行的规划研讨会提供资金，该研讨会旨在规划液体丛林实验室（LJL）环境研究的未来。该奖项将使大约10名美国研究人员与同等数量的拉丁美洲和欧洲研究人员一起参加研讨会。研讨会的目标是讨论选项和规划未来的战略和计划，以支持LJL的持续研究和教育。由于自然地理环境（陆地、沿海和海洋学）和强烈的双峰（干湿）季节性的非凡组合，该实验室位于一个特别有吸引力的热带综合研究区域。美国的参与者与伍兹霍尔联盟、罗杰威廉姆斯大学、保护国际组织和史密森尼热带研究所（STRI）等机构有联系。外国与会者预计来自巴拿马大学、哥斯达黎加大学、巴拿马自然环境管理局、智利天主教大学和西班牙的研究型大学和机构。在本次研讨会的成果中，预计将有一系列计划中的主要活动，这些活动将加强液体丛林实验室的长期研究和教育目标。有一个地点来研究和评估热带系统中气候变化导致的多样性变化是非常可取的。在这样一个地点为初级研究人员提供教育和培训机会将是重要的，并将满足国际科学和工程办公室的一个主要目标，即为青年科学家提供在国际环境中进行研究的机会。该奖项由国际科学与工程办公室美洲项目资助。

This U.S.-Panama award provides funding for U.S. participation in a planning workshop that will take place in Panama City in January, 2012 to chart the future of Environmental Studies at the Liquid Jungle Laboratory (LJL). This award will enable approximately 10 U.S. researchers to attend the workshop, together with an equivalent number of Latin American and European participants. The goal of the workshop is to discuss options and plan future strategy and programs to support sustained research and education at LJL. The Laboratory is in an especially attractive region for integrated tropical research due to an extraordinary combination of natural geographic settings (terrestrial, coastal, and oceanographic) and strong bimodal (wet-dry) seasonality. The U.S. participants are associated with institutions such as the Woods Hole Consortium, Roger Williams University, Conservation International, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI). Foreign participants are expected from the University of Panama, University of Costa Rica, the Natural Environmental Authority in Panama, the Catholic University of Chile, and research universities and agencies in Spain.Among the results of this workshop is expected to be a series of planned major activities that should enhance the long-term research and education goals of the Liquid Jungle Laboratory. Having a site to study and evaluate changes in diversity that result from climate change in a tropical system is highly desirable. The education and training opportunities for junior researchers at such a site would be significant and would satisfy a major goal of the Office of International Science and Engineering, to provide young scientists with opportunities to conduct research in an international setting.This award is funded by Americas Program in the Office of International Science and Engineering.