[Coral-List] ISRS 2006 European Meeting Bremen: Field course announcement

[ISRS 2006 Bremen]

Dear coral-list

The local organizing committee of the "ISRS 2006 European Meeting in Bremen" is
very glad to announce the following offer from Gert Woerheide and Mike Reich for
a post-meeting field course exploring the "Geobiology und Biodiversity of
Recent and Fossil Coral Reefs and Geology of the Sinai” (Red Sea, Egypt).

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Gert Woerheide and Mike Reich from the Department of Geobiology of the
University of Goettingen, Germany (www.geobiology.eu;
www.geobiologie.uni-goettingen.de) offer participants of the “International
Society for Reef Studies 2006 European Meeting in Bremen” (19 - 22 September
2006; http://isrs2006.zmt-bremen.de/) to participate in their annual student
field course “Geobiology und Biodiversity of Recent and Fossil Coral Reefs and
Geology of the Sinai” to Dahab (Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, Egypt).

Up to 10 people can be accomodated in addition to the 12 students from
Goettingen.

This postgraduate-level field course is now running in its third year, in close
collaboration with the Red Sea Environmental Centre (RSEC, www.redsea-ec.org)
in Dahab.

Departure is scheduled on Tuesday September 26, 2006 from Hannover Airport
(relatively close to Bremen), with return on October 10.

During the first days of the study course an overview about the geobiology and
biodiversity of the recent fringing reefs as well as the Pleistocene reefs will
be given. Reefs in direct vicinity of the RSEC and Dahab, as well as more
distant ones in the southern Ras Muhammed National Park will be visited during
the course. In Nabq National Park we look at the northernmost mangroves, in Ras
Muhammed National Park, at the southernmost point of the Sinai, we will visit
diverse habitats, from recent to fossil (particularly fish-rich coral reefs,
expanded lagoons, elevated Pleistocene reefs, mangroves, sabkhas).

During further day trips to the hinterland of the Sinai (Wadi Qnai), attention
will be drawn to local geology as well as to cultural aspects (e.g. St.
Katherine’s Monastery and Mount Sinai can be visited during free day). During
four days of the study course, students will accomplish own small research
projects in small groups in Dahab around the RSEC, to familiarize themselves
with the biodiversity and geobiology of the recent and fossil reefs. During
this time, other participants can book a 3 day live-aboard trip to dive the
Tiran Island Reefs and/or Ras Mohammed/Thistlegorm wreck or participate in
those student projects. This live-aboard trip, as well as any SCUBA diving is
an extra and not included in the costs of the package, details of which,
including total costs and schedule, can be downloaded at:
http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~gwoerhe/sinaifieldtrip2006.pdf

More information about this field course can be found at www.geobiology.eu ->
teaching -> study courses.

Due to the gap between the end of the conference in Bremen and the start of the
field course, participants can also make their own travel arrangements to Egypt
and meet us in Dahab.

If you are interested to come along to visit the spectacular recent and fossil
coral reefs of the Red Sea and enjoy a cup of authentic bedouin tea and the
Arabic lifestyle, we request that you reply BEFORE MAY 1, 2006. Sorry for the
late notice and close deadline, but flights during this peak season need to be
booked asap.

If this is something for you, please contact Gert Wörheide
(gert.woerheide at geo.uni-goettingen.de) or Mike Reich (mreich at gwdg.de).

Jun. Prof. Dr. Gert Woerheide, Dr. Mike Reich
Geoscience Centre Goettingen - Dept. of Geobiology- University of Goettingen
Goldschmidtstr. 3 - 37077 Goettingen (Germany)
Phone: + 49-551-3914177
http://www.geobiology.eu


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Local Organising Committee
ISRS 2006 European Meeting Bremen
Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT)
Fahrenheitstr. 6
D-28359 Bremen
Germany
Fax +49-421-2380030
http://isrs2006.zmt-bremen.de
mailto: isrs2006 at zmt-bremen.de