PE&RC day 2004: Biological Disasters

Scope

SARS-coronavirus, HIV, chicken flew, killer bees, desert locust, water-hyacinth, Elodea canadensis, …… These are examples of viruses, animals, plants and bacteria that accidentally or deliberately cause unmanageable and open-ended events for species or ecosystems, called biological disasters. Biological disasters may occur suddenly after large perturbations, e.g. drought, but often are also caused by an accumulation of relatively minor changes in ecosystems where human induced social and environmental damage generally increases the risk of biological disasters. Apart from affecting ecosystem composition, functioning and structure, biological disasters can result in large economic losses that may have severe national and regional repercussions, lasting for months or years. Therefore an understanding of causes and consequences of biological disasters may lead to an ecosystem management in which biological disasters can be avoided or managed.

The PE&RC Day 2004 will address the above-mentioned issues. National and international speakers will give insight in their expertise on the matter and in the afternoon they will chair workshops in which participants discuss specific issues on the issue of biological disaster. Attending speakers will be: Prof. M. Scheffer (Wageningen University), Dr. F. Witte (Leiden University), Prof. Van der Velde (Nijmegen University), Dr. T Kuiken (Erasmus Medisch Centrum Rotterdam), and more to come.

The day will be held at Hotel De Nieuwe Wereld, Marijkeweg 5, Wageningen and starts at 9 am. It ends at 5 pm with drinks after which participants can join for dinner which costs € 12.50. The rest day is free of charge for all PE&RC members. Others pay € 10,- for the day attendance .

Who should attend?

The annual PE&RC meeting is meant for both PhD-students and staff members. PhD-students can obtain credits for their Training and Supervision Plan (TSP) when attending the meeting

Registration

Send an Email to pe-office@wur.nl indicating your institute, whether you will be joining for dinner and if so if you are vegetarian.