Editor's Advisory: Researchers will present findings on coastal ecosystems in public symposium on March 10

What: The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) is hosting a Public Symposium to present findings from three years of research on coastal ecosystems. Researchers, managers, ocean enthusiasts, and the general public are invited to join scientists from this West Coast research consortium to learn about recent progress.

PISCO involves researchers from four major universities in California and Oregon and is dedicated to advancing the understanding of shallow-water, rocky-shore ecosystems along the West Coast of the United States. PISCO's partner institutions are the University of California, Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, Oregon State University, and Stanford University, Hopkins Marine Station. PISCO is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

When: Sunday, March 10, 2002, from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

Where: California State University, Monterey Bay University Center, Sixth Ave.

Who: Speakers will include:

Bill Douros, Superintendent, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

George Somero, Director, Hopkins Marine Station

Peter Raimondi, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Santa Cruz

Mark Carr, Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Santa Cruz

Jenn Caselle, PISCO Science Coordinator, UC Santa Barbara

Registration: Registration is FREE at the event; no preregistration is necessary.

For more information: Contact Lydia Bergen, PISCO-UCSC, at (831) 459-5022 or bergen@biology.ucsc.edu. Additional information about PISCO is available on the web at http://www.piscoweb.org.