Perhaps the key word in the Wilson quote was "jetting". The footprint of ecological meetings would be considerably smaller if, when available, folks traveled by train (Amtrak gets 800 mpg per passenger when full) instead of plane (around 80 mpg per passenger when full).(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_efficiency_in_transportation). Granted, you need an extra day for travel, but the journey is generally more pleasant.
Tim Meehan. _____________________________ Tim Meehan Department of Entomology University of Wisconsin 1630 Linden Drive Madison, WI 53706 USA 608-262-4319 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://entomology.wisc.edu/~tdmeehan/ >>> William Silvert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 8/5/2007 5:45 PM >>> Although skipping meetings may reduce environmental impacts, I really wonder whether this is a wise policy. E. O. Wilson of course does not need to go to meetings, people go to him. As for those of you who just run back and forth between the presentations and your hotel without even staying for the discussions, you won't miss much if you stay home. But if you want to hear or participate in discussions, meet colleagues in your field and ferret out their ideas, interview prospective students or professors, and in general integrate with the scientific community, I think that meetings are so valuable that their merit outways their environmental impact. You could of course go all the way and not only skip meetings but discontinue your field work, doing your research just by computer simulation! Unfortunately it is already difficult enough to get funding for meeting travel, especially for many government scientists, and Wayne's posting may make the situation worse. A lot of scientific progress depends on the exchange of ideas, and the internet has a long way to go before it approximates human interaction. Bill Silvert ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wayne Tyson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 8:25 PM Subject: ECOLOGY How to Help the Ecosystem Succeed? Re: How to Succeed in Ecology session in San Jose > As E. O. Wilson has suggested, we might consider not jetting > around the world to interesting places for meetings so much, but > taking full advantage of modern technology like the Internet and > teleconferencing. May I add that ecolog-l already is doing just > that, and could do much more--with, of course, help and support.
