Highlights for April 25, 1997
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• Outreach Activities: On April 21 and 32, Terry D'Erchia answered public inquiries posted to the DOI Home Page regarding access to Department publications. (Terry D'Erchia, Denver, 303/202-4264)
  
  

  On April 23, Maury Nyquist responded to a letter from a California Polytechnic University student regarding techniques used by the BRD for vegetation mapping. (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303/202-4217)
  
  

  On April 26, Sharon Shin (CBI) will host an Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA)-sponsored open house at Metropolitan State College in Denver. The open house commemorates the 20^th year of the Auraria Campus and the 21^st year of the Land Use degree in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department. Shin is the current Vice President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of URISA, a non-profit educational association of providers and users of spatial information in both the public and private sectors. This interdisciplinary society of professionals is dedicated to stimulating and encouraging the effective application of information technology and integration of urban and regional information for decision making. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303/202-4230)

• USGS Take Your Children To Work Day: On April 24, CBI staff members participated in USGS Take Your Children to Work Day. Frank and Terry D'Erchia and Susan Stitt brought their children along to the office to allow them to see first-hand what Mom and Dad do all day. Other office members provided impromptu briefing sessions on Center activities. The children gained hands-on computer, fax, and copier experience and tried out several unusually designed keyboards, including one with a voice-activated system. A tour of the Rocky Mountain Mapping Center sales area and lunch at a Denver Federal Center cafeteria were included in the day's activities. (Terry D'Erchia, Denver, 303/202-4264)

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives: Nothing to report

III. Notable Congressional Activity: Nothing to report

IV. Press/Media Inquiries:

• CBI Staff Members Assist with Media Queries: During the week of April 21-25, several CBI staff members provided contact information and expert identification for media queries. Maury Nyquist provided a British film maker with expert information for a film which will explore human or animal biological or mathematical ideas of beauty, Terry D'Erchia provided contact information for a film on Lyme disease, and Susan Stitt and Ralph Root provided Bioscience Magazine with leads for a story on books that have had a major impact on the biological sciences during the past 150 years. (Terry D'Erchia, Denver, 303/202-4264)