[SEMCO] Fifth International Conference on Bioinvasions at MIT: May 21-24

[Sheri DeRosa]

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Fifth International  Conference on Bioinvasions at MIT: May 21-24 
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For Immediate Release
Friday, May 11, 2007
Contact: Judith Pederson, MIT Sea Grant
Phone: (617) 252-1741
Email: jpederso at MIT.EDU

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 Nature billed as "the world's largest 
environmental problem" in 2003.

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.

Researchers from New Zealand will discuss their aggressive tactic for 
getting rid of sea squirts (Didemnum sp.): 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 
Didemnum sp. on Northern Georges Bank and its effects on benthic fauna, 
and discuss the distribution of Didemnum sp. in Narragansett Bay. Other 
species to be discussed include snails (Rapana venosa), an aggressive 
shellfish predator in the Northern Adriatic and in the Chesapeake Bay, 
and Crassostrea gigas, an escaped aquaculture oyster that is threatening 
mussel beds in Europe.

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.  

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.

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 
http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/bioinvasion2007/index.html.
 
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Andrea Cohen, Communications Manager             617.253.3461    (phone)
MIT Sea Grant College Program                           617.252.1615  
(fax)                
Bldg. NE20-378, 3 Cambridge Center                      alcohen at mit.edu
77 Massachusetts Avenue                                
http://web.mit.edu/seagrant  
Cambridge, MA  02139
                                
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