Workshops on Research in the Lower Mekong Basin; September 25-26, 2015-USGS, Laural, MD and November, 2015-Can Tho, Vietnam

一个奖项是由科罗拉多博尔德大学支持一系列研讨会，以召集美国研究人员谁已经从事，或有兴趣在湄公河下游盆地（LMB），一个地区，包括越南，老挝，柬埔寨，泰国和缅甸的部分地区发展研究伙伴关系。该系列研讨会的目的是促进美国科学家和LMB科学家之间的研究伙伴关系的机制和网络战略，以推进美国和全球科学知识，改善数据共享和可访问性，并确定最佳实践。 对于这些讲习班，优先主题包括通过科学收集来记录生物多样性，利用工程和计算应用程序来改善数据的可访问性，以及促进培训和教育交流的机会。 由于人口的快速增长，与经济快速增长有关的栖息地转换，湄公河和该地区其他河流的计划筑坝;以及区域和全球环境变化，科学家和资源管理人员担心该地区的生物多样性受到威胁。 此外，影响这一生物多样性健康的环境变化也给当地人口带来了一系列挑战，这些挑战直接关系到环境、水质和粮食安全问题。美国研究人员已经与LMB科学家建立了富有成效的研究伙伴关系。认识到这些合作的价值，这些研讨会旨在让美国和国际研究界参与，以促进进一步的合作，分享见解，成果和建议，以开发新的科学基础设施，包括可能的新自然历史收藏，以支持研究界，教育工作者，政策制定者和公众的生物多样性的物理和数字文件。 湄公河下游盆地（LMB）是印度-缅甸热点地区的一部分，该地区拥有非凡的动植物多样性。 其复杂的地形和主要的河流系统产生了有趣的地理模式，在过去的二十年中不断发现许多新物种，甚至一些新的和独特的哺乳动物物种。 这些讲习班将提供一个论坛，讨论与研究和教育网络管理、组织、可持续性以及数据和知识共享和传播有关的问题。 规划委员会将公开呼吁参与，遴选过程将确保妇女和其他代表性不足的群体在科学领域的多元化参与。 特别是，这些面对面的会议对当前和未来的项目非常重要，以便维持现有项目的成功组成部分，启动和培养国际合作者网络，以及如何促进各种科学家的最大参与。

An award is made to the University of Colorado Boulder to support a workshop series to convene U.S. researchers who are already engaged in, or interested in developing research partnerships in Lower Mekong Basin (LMB), a region that includes parts of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar. The objective of this workshop series is to facilitate mechanisms and networking strategies for research partnerships between U.S. scientists and LMB scientists that advance U.S. and global scientific knowledge, improve data sharing and accessibility, and identify best practices. For these workshops, priority topics include documenting biodiversity through scientific collections, leveraging engineering and computing applications for improved data accessibility, and promoting opportunities for training and education exchange. Due to rapid human population growth, habitat conversion related to rapid economic growth, planned damming of the Mekong and other rivers in this area; and of regional and global environmental change, scientists and resource managers are concerned that the biodiversity of this area is threatened. In addition, environmental changes affecting the health of this biodiversity are also creating a series of challenges for local human populations that relate directly to issues of environment, water quality, and food security. U.S. researchers have already been developing fruitful research partnerships with LMB scientists. Recognizing the value of these collaborations, these workshops are designed to engage the U.S. and international research community to stimulate further collaboration, share insights, results, and recommendations for developing new scientific infrastructure, including a possible new natural history collection that will support physical and digital documentation of biodiversity for the research community, educators, policy makers, and the public. The Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) is part of the Indo-Burma hotspot, an area of extraordinary diversity of plant and animal life. Its complex topography and major river systems have yielded intriguing biogeographic patterns, ongoing discovery over the past two decades of many new species, and even a number of new and distinctive mammalian species. These workshops will provide a forum to discuss issues related to research and education network management, organization, sustainability, and data and knowledge sharing and dissemination. The planning committee will issue an open call for participation, and the selection process will ensure diverse participation of women and other under-represented groups in science. In particular, these face-to-face meeting are important to current and future projects in order to sustain successful components of existing projects, initiate and cultivate networks of international collaborators, and how to promote maximum participation from a diversity of scientists.