The LATSIS Symposium is an interdisciplinary intermediate-size research conference on ecohydrology and sustainable water resources use. The conference will bring together international experts and young researchers in the fields of surface hydrology, soil and plant ecology, environmental complexity, water resource management, in a setting highly suitable for scientific discussion and interaction (which has become typically impossible at large scale conferences). LATSIS invites leading scientists in traditionally separated fields. The conference will also be an invaluable means to establish communication and collaboration between group leaders and promising young researchers (including PhDs and postdocs). There will be ample room for scientific interaction between scientists. This conference will be the stage for intensifying and strengthening links between the different disciplines and to bridge the gap towards the fields of hydrology, ecology, engineering and complex system science.

The worldwide scientific online climate conference CLIMATE 2010 takes place for the third time in November 2010, focusing on "Climate Change and the Sustainable Management of Water Resources". CLIMATE 2010 is being organized in cooperation with UNEP, UNESCO, WMO, IPCC, FAO and other world bodies. Be part of this worldwide climate-friendly event and use this unique opportunity to present and discuss your work with fellow researchers, practitioners, NGOs and the interested public from all around the world.

More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, a trend that is rapidly accelerating, especially in developing countries. In the USA, urban areas are merging into huge megalopitan areas, especially along interstate highways.

Cities require and use large quantities of energy and materials, metabolizing them and generating large quantities of waste products and pollutants, resulting in unsustainable environments that adversely affect ecological integrity and diversity and human health and well-being. As many city dwellers are disconnected from the natural world, it has even been suggested that a new species “homo urbanus” is emerging.

This conference, organized by the journal Environmental Pollution and Elsevier, aims to:

• Present the latest information about urban pollution problems and what measures can be taken to overcome obstacles to sustainability and life quality.
• Hear from leading experts in the field
• Provide network opportunities with a wide delegation of international researchers with common interests and concerns.

In continuity with the 2008 conference “Global Change Research I”, focused on climate modeling and risks/impacts estimation, this second conference of the series will examine the deep interaction between the environmental crisis (climate change, urbanization/land use, exhaustion of resources, degradation of ecosystems) and the energy production and use.

Each semester the department of Animal Ecology at the VU organises a journal club around a specific theme.

The coming period, the journal club will focus on a book: "Community Ecology, Processes, Models and Applications" (see: http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199228980.do).