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<div><font color="#000000" face="Palatino" size="-1"><b>Fifth
International Conference on Bioinvasions at MIT: May 21-24</b>
==========================================================<br>
<br>
For Immediate Release<br>
Friday, May 11, 2007<br>
Contact: Judith Pederson, MIT Sea Grant<br>
Phone: (617) 252-1741<br>
Email:<u> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jpederso@MIT.EDU">jpederso@MIT.EDU</a><br>
<br>
</u>The Fifth International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions will be
held on May 21-24, 2007 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA. Experts in marine invasive species from throughout the
world will be attending to discuss the marine portion of biological
invasions-what the magazine<i> Nature</i> billed as "the world's
largest environmental problem" in 2003.<br>
<br>
As marine invaders increase in range and number, the associated
economic costs continue to rise as well. It is in this climate that
researchers worldwide are also increasing and improving their methods
for monitoring and dealing with myriad tenacious species.<br>
<br>
Researchers from New Zealand will discuss their aggressive tactic for
getting rid of sea squirts (<i>Didemnum sp</i>.): blowing up a barge.
The topic of invasive sea squirts is an important one in New England
and Canada, and researchers will also present findings about the
colonial sea squirt<i> Didemnum sp</i>. on Northern Georges Bank and
its effects on benthic fauna, and discuss the distribution of<i>
Didemnum sp</i>. in Narragansett Bay. Other species to be discussed
include snails (<i>Rapana venosa),</i> an aggressive shellfish
predator in the Northern Adriatic and in the Chesapeake Bay, and<i>
Crassostrea gigas,</i> an escaped aquaculture oyster that is
threatening mussel beds in Europe.<br>
<br>
Another hot topic for the conference will be biofouling--the
accumulation of invasives on structures, especially ships. Researchers
from Korea, New Zealand, and the United States will address biofouling
as a vector for invasives, as well as methods for mitigating the risks
of biofouling. <br>
<br>
Keynote speakers will include world-renowned invasive expert James
Carleton of Williams College; Janice Lawrence, who teaches at the
University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, NB, Canada, and studies
algal-virus biology; and James E. (Jeb) Byers, who teaches at the
University of New Hampshire and has examined the proliferation of
invasive species in marine reserves.<br>
<br>
The conference is co-sponsored by the MIT Sea Grant College Program,
the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), and
the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). For more
information, please see
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/bioinvasion2007/index.html">http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/bioinvasion2007/index.html</a>.<br>
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<div>Andrea Cohen, Communications
Manager <span></span> 617.253.3461 (phone)<br>
MIT Sea Grant College
Program <span></span> <x-tab>
</x-tab> 617.252.1615
(fax) <x-tab> </x-tab> <br>
Bldg. NE20-378, 3 Cambridge
Center <x-tab>
</x-tab>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:alcohen@mit.edu">alcohen@mit.edu</a><br>
77 Massachusetts
Avenue <span></span> <span></span>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://web.mit.edu/seagrant">http://web.mit.edu/seagrant</a> <br>
Cambridge, MA 02139</div>
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