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April 30, 2009

ULM biology professor receives federal funding for international workshop

A University of Louisiana at Monroe assistant professor of biology was recently approved for National Science Foundation funding to co-organize a collaborative, international workshop in August.

Officials notified Loren Hayes, Ph.D., in April about NSF approval of the $29,609 award, which will enable him and a graduate student to present at the workshop at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (Catholic University of Chile) in Santiago.

Workshop participants will collaborate to discuss social behavior, including hereditary issues and those that are nervous and endocrine system-based.

Participants will attend from several U.S. universities, including the University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at Berkley, Emory University and the University of Chicago. Participants will also include students and faculty from several South American universities and Mexico.

Hayes’ co-principal investigator for the project is Dan Blumstein of UCLA. Two Chilean scientists, Luis Ebensperger of the Catholic University of Chile and Rodrigo Vasquez of the University of Chile, are assisting with the workshop organization and have received additional funding from Chilean institutions.

The objective of the international workshop is to bring together traditional behavioral ecologists who study social variation in model systems with scientists from other specialties who share a similar interest. The workshop will increase the competitiveness of student participants.

“It is essential that more behavioral ecologists develop collaborations with individuals who have expertise in other disciplines,” said Hayes.

“To develop new research foci for the next generation of researchers, we must bring together emerging and established researchers in workshop settings to discuss new perspectives,” he said.

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