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Science and the Quality Education for Minorities Network. Further, the Cultural Equity Subcommittee of CEC, chaired by Cheryl McClenney-Brooker, is addressing the type of policies and programs that can foster the recruitment, retention, and promotion of members of minority communities at the Institution. 

Finally, the Council expressed a concern about expanding the coverage of the Smithsonian Magazine in ways that would advance the Institution's goals of cultural diversity. A meeting is being planned between members of CEC and the publisher and editor of the Magazine that will address both editorial and personnel considerations (and that will also need to consider the concerns of the latter that the Magazine's actions are not accurately reflected in the CEC report the Council received). In their capacity as Council members rather than as working journalists, I hope that two Council members with special expertise, Dorothy B. Gilliam and David R. Gergen, may be available to offer advice in this area. 

The Council continued its discussion on biological diversity, and on the relationship between systematics and whole systems biology, that had begun in the October, 1990 meetings. The discussion was substantial, and in a number of areas members reiterated concerns that had been expressed in earlier discussions: that knowledge of biological diversity lags considerably behind methods, technologies, and the expectations for solutions to pressing environmental problems; and that we still lack a comprehensive inventory of existing species, and of knowledge concerning the mechanisms by which species become extinct and new ones arise. Members cited the need to create a larger cadre of scientists and professionals in the field of systematics, in particular, and the need to elevate biodiversity research at the micro and regional levels as a condition for extrapolating trends on a global scale. Concerns also were expressed about strengthening the work being done in the tropics and in advancing the training and research capabilities in developing nations. There was widespread encouragement for having the Smithsonian continue to play a leadership role in the fields of systematics, biology, environmental conservation, and biodiversity.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Conservation and Research Center (CRC) of the National Zoological Park, and the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), continue to expand their collaborative activities in developing nations, working with host-country researchers and institutions to strengthen national research and training capabilities. 

STRI has taken the leadership, in collaboration with Princeton University and Harvard University, in establishing The Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) that will be headquartered at STRI. Created in 1991, CTFS will coordinate and promote long-term research on tropical forest ecology and dynamics worldwide. The programs that already exist in six countries in Asia and Latin America are principal tools for mapping forest habitats and assessing biological diversity, as well as for training researchers in these countries and strengthening their institutional capabilities.

Other major Smithsonian biodiversity programs, which were described in an August, 1990 report to the Council -- for example, the Amazonia Biological Diversity Program, the Neotropical Lowlands Research Program, the Aldabra Research Program on marine and terrestrial ecosystems, the Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems Program, and several Global Change programs -- continue to engage a large number of Smithsonian scientists, particularly from NMNH, all of whom are involved in collaborating with overseas institutions and contributing to the training of host-country scientists. The Smithsonian Conservation Training  Council, created in 1990, plays a major role in coordinating training and research programs throughout the Institution. The Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia, has organized a highly successful series of seminars each year for professionals overseas in the areas of wildlife and habitat conservation and management. This year, the request for congressional approval for the National Center for Biological Diversity to be housed at the Smithsonian Institution will be renewed, in-as-much as it was not acted upon in the last Congress.