Highlights for February 23, 2001

I. Key Department News:

• International Biological Informatics Program Office Shares Experiences with Africa and the Western Hemisphere on Development of Regional Invasive Species Information Hubs and Taxonomic Services: The USGS Office of Biological Informatics’ International Biological Informatics Program Office participated in the workshop on “Development of Regional Invasive Species Information Hubs, and Requisite Taxonomic Services, in North America and Africa,” held February 14-15 at the University of California at Davis. The workshop accomplished its objectives of sharing experiences from Africa and the Western Hemisphere in developing distributed information networks for preventing the spread of invasive species and providing recommendations for developing regional information hubs and coordinating the taxonomic services required for the identification of invasive species. Participants included experts from South Africa, Kenya, New Zealand, Mexico, and the USA. (Andrea Grosse, Reston, VA, 703/648-4342)

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives: No report.

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries: No report.

V. FOIA Requests: No report.