SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1MEMORANDUM

January 1, 2008

SUBJECT: Foreign Travel Request

TO: Dr. W. H. Blackburn, Area Director, NPA

THROUGH: _________________, Research Leader, Sidney MT

FROM: _________________, Research Scientist, Sidney MT

Departure date: _________

Return date: _________

I will attend the International Conference on the Ecology of Invasive Alien Plants, October 13-16, 1999 in Sardinia, Italy. This conference will address many of the questions that we are working on with my Research Associate and my cooperator at the University of Montana. These include: early warning and risk analysis of alien invasive plants, use of geographic information systems (GIS), and modeling plant invasions. This will be a very valuable opportunity to learn about recent advances in these areas. The International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds just held in Bozeman did not address these topics, this meeting will continue interactions with other colleagues and scientists. I will be presenting a poster titled, "INVADERS computer system and database on the distribution and spread of invasive alien plants in the northwestern U.S.A.".

I will also take advantage of this trip to visit the USDA-ARS-EBCL laboratory in Montpellier, France from Oct. 7-8 to meet Chuck Quimby and R. Sobhian to discuss foreign exploration for spotted knapweed agents in the former USSR, and I will visit the CSIRO laboratory in Montpellier (John Scott) to discuss analysis of climate matching to help direct foreign exploration.

On Oct. 11 I will meet with Gaetano Campobasso and Massimo Cristofaro (USDA-ARS-EBCL employees) in Rome, Italy to discuss foreign exploration for spotted knapweed agents in the former USSR, and collaboration with Slovakian scientists evaluating potential biological control agents of field bindweed.

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United States Department of Agriculture

Research, Education, and Economics

Agricultural Research Service

Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab

1500 N. Central Ave., Sidney, MT 59270

Phone: 406-433-2020

Fax: 406-433-5038

An Equal Opportunity Employer