By: Charles Darwin Foundation
The University of California has recently received support for a broad scientific undertaking in the Galapagos Islands. This programme entitled the Galapagos International Scientific Project (GISP) will begin in Berkeley, California in early January 1964 and end approximately two and a half months later. Working in close cooperation with the University of California is the Charles Darwin Foundation, the Government of Ecuador, the California Academy of Sciences, and other organizations. Under the terms of the agreement with the National Science Foundation, the Charles Darwin Foundation will receive a sum of twelve thousand dollars for the construction of housing and other facilities at its field station in the Galapagos where the participants will make their headquarters.This project, which is the first international scientific venture of its kind in the Galapagos, can be divided into several phases. Beginning with the second week of January, 1964, about fifty participants, including scientists from different disciplines, backgrounds, nationalities, and ages, will be invited to assemble at the University in Berkeley for a five-day public program of lectures, seminars, motion pictures, and exhibits dealing with Galapagos science. Following this, the group will embark upon a ten day cruise to the Galapagos Islands, during which time an extensive ship-board symposium will be held.The scientific papers will be organized around such topics as the physiographic setting of the Galapagos, evolutionary problems, distributional patterns, origins of the biota, oceanography of the eastern Tropical Pacific, and conservation.Many of the speakers will report on Galapagos research in progress, or summarize present knowledge of various aspects of Galapagos science, or deal with theoretical considerations based on work done elsewhere whose results are relevant to Galapagos research.
Around the latter part of January, 1964, there will be an official dedication of the Charles Darwin Research Station at Academy Bay, Isla Santa Cruz, with representatives of the Ecuadorian Government, UNESCO, THE Darwin Foundation, and other organizations in attendance. Following this program scientists will devote the remaining five weeks to independent research projects on the islands, with opportunities to visit many remote parts of the archipelago, including distant islands and high volcanic peaks. Several field camps will be set up to accommodate those scientists wishing to work for an extended period of time away from the main centers of habitation.