Highlights for March 31, 2000
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• USGS Scientists Explore University of Puerto Rico Student Internships: On March 27, Maury Nyquist, Ralph Root, and Tom Owens of the USGS Center for Biological Informatics met in Denver with representatives from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) at Mayaguez to discuss the possibility of internships and employment for students of the UPR's Department of Agronomy and Soils. Maria M. Irizarry, Associate District Chief of WRD's Caribbean District, was instrumental in organizing the meeting. UPR representatives Luis I. Oliveri, Associate Director of the Department of Agronomy and Soils, and Rafael Fernandez-Sein, Associate Director of the UPR Research and Development Center, are interested in placing students studying natural resource applications of geospatial technology in intership positions with USGS science offices. (Tom Owens, Denver, 303-202-4259)

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives:

• Metro State Students Learn About NBII/Invasives Project. Ralph Root of the USGS Center for Biological Informatics has been invited to be a guest lecturer at the Metropolitan State College of Denver. On April 4, Root will address environmental science students, presenting an overview of USGS activities, highlighting the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII). In a computer lab setting, Root will interactively lead individual students through the NBII Web pages, illustrating the variety and depth of information currently available and the future distributed and interactive features to be incorporated in the next-generation NBII. Because a number of students are actively involved in invasive species issues, Root will also provide a brief overview of his current research efforts on detecting and mapping invasive leafy spurge at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. (Ralph Root, Denver, 303-202-4232)

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries: No report.

V. FOIA Requests: No report.