| Crisci
and Katinas are world authorities on plant sytematics, biogeography,
phylogeny, and conservation. They are the authors of over 110
scientific publications and three books on these subjects. Thier
newest opus, "Historical Biogeography: The Geographic
Distribution of Organisms as an Evolutionary Process in Space-Time"
(with co-author Paula Posadas) will be published by Harvard
University Press in March 2003 and promises to be an excellent
synthesis of the foundation, history, and methods of this complicated
subject. Crisci and Katinas have led workshops and symposia
on biogeographic theory and analyses, systematics, and molecular
phylogenetics for several institutions, including the National
Science Foundation. Crisci and Katinas will be assisted by Federico
Ocampo in the hands-on laboratory during the workshop.
As
Dr. Jorge Crisci so aptly stated in his 2001 keynote paper in
the Journal of Biogeography, the study of biogeography is in
the midst of an extraordinary revolution. In part, this revolution
is due to breakthroughs in computer technology that allow us
to interpret distributional data. In part, it is also due to
our growing understanding of organisms (extant and extinct),
geology, cladistics, and molecular systematics. Yet in the midst
of the revolution is a confounding problem. In order to advance
the science of biogeography, Crisci tells us that we must unite
to build a common language and common methods that encompass
all aspects of comparative biology from molecular systematics
and parasitology to plate tectonics and biogeography. We need
these tools in order to advance biogeography, to break the mold,
and to create a paradigm shift in the science of biogeography.
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