26th International Ornithological Congress (IOC) in Tokyo, Japan

Directors of the Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation (SBC) Program, Drs. Ricardo Rozzi and Jaime Jiménez, and Research Assistant Professor, Dr. Rajan Rijal from SBC Program participated in the 26th International Ornithological Congress (IOC) that took place at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan from August 18 - 24, 2014.  Their presentations on symposia as well as posters sessions communicated results generated by the longest sub-Antarctic forest birds mist-netting program in the Southern Hemisphere, encompassing research on ethno-ornithology and ecology of the world’s southernmost forest avifauna.  Long-term ornithological research from southern Chile was presented in the Congress.

In addition, Dr. Rijal also had a table displaying the editorial line of the SBC books associated with UNT Press and the  Center for Environmental Philosophy, including among them the 2014 Magellanic Sub-Antarctic Ornithology book (Rozzi & Jiménez, eds.) that present a summary of the first decade of bird studies at Omora Park in Cape Horn, Chile. Dr. Rijal also introduced to the IOC audience the UNT-Chile Partners of America (POA) research grant that includes collaborative research and educational activities for 2014 and 2015. This grant provides an ideal opportunity for UNT students and other foreign students to travel to Chile to participate in educational activities and conduct research. IOC opened great new opportunities for collaboration with world class ornithologists and broader international academic exchanges.

For his participation, Dr. Rijal received an IOC 2014 travel award. He was further supported by UNT-International, the UNT Department of Biological Sciences, the Institute of Applied Sciences, and the SBC Program.