As part of our training in systematics, Team Scarab brought Dr. Jorge Crisci (Museo de La Plata, Argentina) to the University of Nebraska to present a workshop entitled "Biogeographic Theory and Analysis." Crisci is a world authority on plant sytematics, biogeography, phylogeny, and conservation. He is the author of over 110 scientific publications and three books on these subjects. His newest opus, "Historical Biogeography: The Geographic Distribution of Organisms as an Evolutionary Process in Space-Time" (with co-authors Liliana Katinas and Paula Posadas) will be published by Harvard University Press in March 2003 and promises to be an excellent synthesis of the foundation, history, and methods of this complicated subject. Crisci has led workshops and symposia on biogeographic theory and analyses, systematics, and molecular phylogenetics for several institutions, including the National Science Foundation. Crisci led a week-long workshop at the University of Nebraska and was assisted by Federico Ocampo (PhD Graduate Student at the University of Nebraska).

The biogeography workshop was held May 13-17 at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The goal of the workshop was to provide participants with: 1) methods for analyzing patterns of biogeography and 2) a better understanding of the theoretical foundations of biogeography. The workshop included lectures and discussions on biogeographic theory, review of current literature, and data analysis using computer programs. On May 13, Crisci began the workshop with a seminar entitled "Historical Biogeography: Limits, Prospects, and Opportunities."

The workshop was funded by the generous support of NSF-PEET, UNL's Convocations Committee of the Academic Senate, UNL's Initiative in Ecology and Evolutionary Analysis, Harvard University Press, and Sinauer Associates, Inc.

For additional information, please contact the workshop organizers, Mary Liz Jameson (mjameson1@unl.edu) or Federico Ocampo (focampo@unlserve.unl.edu).