Highlights for March 7, 1997
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• GPS Training Provided to DOI Partners: On February 27, Karl Brown (CBI) provided Global Positioning System (GPS) training to BOR and USGS–GD employees. On March 3–5, Brown conducted a 3-day GPS training class for NPS and USGS–BRD personnel and local NPS volunteers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Twenty participants attended. Class exercises provided hands-on training; participants produced usable digitized trail and road results for use by Park staff. Karl shared teaching duties with Tim Smith, NPS GPS Coordinator from Santa Fe. (Karl Brown, Denver, 303/202-4240)

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives: Nothing to report

III. Notable Congressional Activity: Nothing to report

IV. Press/Media Inquiries:

• Invasive Weeds Query: On March 4, two CBI scientists responded to a Sunset Magazine query for information on invasive weeds in the United States. Paul Opler, who formerly served as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative on the Federal Interagency Working Group for the Biological Control of Weeds provided information as well as names and phone numbers of other experts in Hawaii and Florida. Maury Nyquist provided the Web site address for the Federal Interagency Committee for Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds, a federation of 17 agencies coordinating a Federal Government approach for the management of weeds. (Paul Opler, Fort Collins, CO, 970/226-9409; Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303/202-4217)

• Trends in Database Management Systems in Federal Agencies: On March 5, Maury Nyquist of CBI provided Government Executive, a monthly national journal headquartered in Washington, D.C., with information on the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), including Web site addresses and referral to Anne Frondorf, the NBII Coordinator. The NBII Program has been highlighted in the recent report released by the Vice President's National Performance Review on "Access America: Re-engineering through Information Technology." (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303/202-4217)