Field Museum Symposium

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Date
Final Circular:

The 19th Annual Field Museum Spring Systematics Symposium

The Andes: Dynamics of biotic, human and geologic patterns through time 

Saturday, May 11, 1996  -  The Field Museum, Chicago

Organizers: John J. Flynn and Barry Chernoff, The Field Museum 

The Andes Mountains are one of the richest regions on the planet in their
diversity of organisms, human cultures, climates, and geology.   The
interactions among these elements also make the Andes one of the most
dynamic and important global ecoregions to study.  This symposium will
examine the ontogeny of the physical structure of the Andean Cordillera, and
associated climates, in relation to their impact on the evolution and
biogeography of Andean flora and fauna over time.  Similarly we will
integrate the human perspective:  How  humans have changed the physical
topography and local environments in ways that have influenced patterns of
biodiversity; as well as 
how climate, geology, and biotic diversity have influenced human activities.
The essential goal of the symposium is to integrate the biological with the
physical and with the human element to shed light on the dynamics of the
entire system: inferring processes from past and present patterns over a
variety of timescales (thousands, 10's of thousands, millions, and 10's of
millions of years).  These insights also will generate more realistic
predictions of the range of future changes possible as humans and the
remaining biota interact dynamically with the physical environment, and will
provide an enhanced scientific basis for social planning of conservation and
development 
priorities.  Although a synthesis has never been attempted for this complex
region, when newly emerging information is assembled, it will pave the way
for future research in this crucial region.

The Andes have long been the focus of research by Field Museum scientists,
inspiring the interdisciplinary nature of this event.  The symposium will
bring together colleagues from throughout the United States and South
America, and will provide a vehicle for highlighting a critically
significant region for the educational communities that typically attend our
Spring Systematics Symposium (the Chicago area, the surrounding Midwest, and
elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad).  This symposium builds on last year's
extremely successful event focusing on environmental and biotic change in
Madagascar.

SPEAKERS:

Victor Ramos, Universidad de Buenos Aires:
"The Andes: a tectonic dynamic model" 

John Flynn, The Field Museum 
"Mammals and mountain-building: new insights on fossil faunas, Andean
tectonics, and environmental change"

John Lundberg , The University of Arizona
"Linking the deep diversification of South American freshwater fishes to the
evolution of drainages and Andean tectonics" 

Bruce J. MacFadden, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
- Gainesville 
"Andean fossil mammals, stable isotopes, and Cenozoic ecosystem evolution"

Lonnie Thompson, Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University
"The Pleistocene climate history from the tropical mountain glaciers"

Paul Colinvaux, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
"Climatic changes in and around the Andes through glacial cycles"

Michael Binford, Harvard University  
"Environmental change, cultural adaptation, and land-water interactions in
the Andean altiplano: The process ecology of long times and large spaces"

Michael O. Dillon, The Field Museum, and John E. Cadle, Harvard University
"The Huancabamba Deflection: physiographic fragmentation and biodiversity
patterns in the northern Peruvian Andes"

Shannon Hackett, John Bates, and Doug Stotz, The Field Museum
"Birds and the Andes: Diversity patterns and evolutionary history"

Charles Stanish, The Field Museum, and Alan Kolata, The University of Chicago
"Human alteration of altiplano environments in the Lake Titicaca Basin, Peru"

Anna Roosevelt, The Field Museum 
"Early hunter-gatherer adaptation to Andean environments""

MODERATORS AND DISCUSSANTS:
Barry Chernoff, The Field Museum		Ray Rogers, Cornell College	
Margaret Thayer, The Field Museum		Lance Grande, The Field Museum 
Bruce Patterson, The Field Museum		

PROGRAM: 
Saturday -- Symposium presentations in two sessions (8-12 AM; 1:15-5:15 PM),
with 4 plenary speakers among 15 speakers total (40 minutes per plenary
speaker, 25 mins. for other speakers; 25 minutes for discussion in each
session)     

Saturday Evening -- Concluding Reception for attendees (5:30-7:00).

Note:  A special Andes exhibit, highlighting The Field Museum's collections
and research programs in Paleontology, Botany, 
Anthropology, and Zoology, will be on view in The Museum's Searle Lounge
during the Symposium. 
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Registration:  
Advance registration is recommended, and must be received by May 3, 1996.
Pre-registration is $40 for professionals, $20 for students.  
Registration after May 3, and on-site registration, is $55 for
professionals, $30 students.  Symposium registration includes entrance to all 
symposium sessions, an abstract volume, refreshments during breaks, the
Saturday evening reception, and admission to The Field Museum, including the
Andes special exhibit, throughout the day. 

Checks should be made payable to The Field Museum and mailed to:
       Andes Symposium, Dept. of Geology
       The Field Museum
       Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive
       Chicago IL  60605-2496

Refunds must be requested in writing and are subject to a $15 processing
fee.  No refunds will be issued after May 3, 1996. For more information
write to the address above, call 922-9410 x293, or via e-mail at:
symposia@fmnh.org




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Note on travel and accommodations:
Chicago is easily accessible by air and ground transportation.  Both O'Hare
International Airport and Midway airport are served by public and private
transportation services.  AMTRAK and several commuter train lines serve
Union and Northwestern stations in the western part of downtown Chicago.
South Michigan avenue offers a range of hotels within easy walking distance
of the Museum, and the Museum is easily accessible from other downtown
hotels by taxi or mass transit.