A milestone of sorts for sea turtle people around the world, the 20th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation attracted record numbers of international biologists, conservationists and students thanks in part to the generous support of the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.
In past years, most of the funds to support international and student travelers came from the Symposium auction as well as generous grants and donations by many institutions, foundations and individuals. This year the majority of travel support was secured by Jack Frazier through a Packard Foundation grant to the Symposium. Additional support came from US National Marine Fisheries Service as well as Southwest and Continental Airlines. Ana Barragan, Alan Bolten, Annette Broderick, Michael Coyne, Karen Eckert, Brendan Godley and Nick Pilcher rounded out this year’s travel committee and devoted more than 675 volunteer-hours (that’s nearly seventeen 40-hour work weeks) to sorting through applications, awarding travel grants and generally helping to make the long-distance migration of researchers and conservationists to Orlando smoother.
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