This month's newsletter is being written from our temporary conference headquarters in Panama. As a result, the content this month focuses on Panama. The February newsletter will focus on the results of our workshop on digital libraries in Rabat, Morocco at the end of January.

With assistance from the US-based Nature Conservancy, FAST obtained office space at the National Association for the Conservation of Nature (www.ANCON.org). Phone and fax communications are being routed to Panama, so our services to you should be unchanged.

ANCON was founded in 1985 by a group of prominent scientists and business leaders in Panama. In the past 22 years, it has had major success in their work to conserve the biodiversity and the natural resources of Panama. For example, ANCON was a main catalyst in the creation of La Amistad International Park, which protects more than 400,000 hectares of tropical forest near the Costa Rica border. At the other end of the country, ANCON´s personnel have been by training and equipping park-rangers and conducting other activities in the Darien National Park along the Colombian border. Panama also has marine borders - the Caribbean and the Pacific - and is home to the largest coral reef on the Pacific coast of the Americas. ANCON has worked on the protection of the reefs and the associated island ecosystems.

The participants at our March 1-4 conference will have the chance to see some of the natural beauty in and around Panama City.

The Panamanian Secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation awarded FAST $10,000 to help build ties between Panamanian scientists and Fulbrighters in other countries. Awarded on December 22nd, these funds will used to sponsor 15 visiting scientists from Latin America who wish to participate in our Panama conference. Each of these individuals will receive free registration as well as funds to cover most of their expenses while in Panama.

Dupont and the Nebraska Institute of Forensic Sciences are also sponsoring participants, and two US government agencies are also expected to contribute as well. Betweeen now and the end of the month, the Academy will continue to seek matching funds - grants and donations - so that an even larger number of free registrations will be available to alumni from low and middle-income countries.

If you or your employer might be willing to make a matching donation, please contact Eric at 207-799-3098 or ehoward@FulbrightAcademy.org.

The theme for the conference is the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. These goals call for global action in areas such as economic development, environmental sustainability, health and education. We will discuss the work of Fulbright scholars in these four areas - approaching the issues from a variety of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The participants have experience in places such as Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, Germany, India, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Nicaragua, Palestine, Panama, Singapore, Ukraine, UK and USA.

Here is an example of the the people coming from one of the sectors: Dr. Tanya Popovic, the Chief Scientist at the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention is leading the panel on health. Other participants include Dr. Marianne Hattar, Dean at Azusa Pacific University and Chair of the Expert Panel on Global Nursing & Health for the American Academy of Nursing; Dr. Majdi Ashour, medical officer with the UN Relief and Welfare Agency in Gaza; and Dr. Yehuda Danon, Founding Director of the Schneider Children’s Hospital, a professor of immunology and pediatrics at Tel Aviv University and the former Chief Medical Officer for the Israel Defense Force.

In the economic development arena, we are very pleased to have Mr. Philip Yeo, Chairman of the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Mr. Yeo was an early supporter of the Fulbright Academy concept. Through his efforts in his home country, Singapore has become a major center for scientific research - in biomedical research, in engineering and in information technology.

All of the people mentioned above are Fulbrighters, but please note that participation is not limited to Fulbright scholars and their spouses. We seek to build ties within the community and recruit other leaders into the Fulbright program. For example, our speaker on the opening night is not a Fulbrighter, but Sir Harold Kroto of Florida State University was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and received the Nobel Prize for his work in chemistry.

Registration is $400 for the four-day program, and discounts are available to students, members, employees of institutional members and people from low- and middle income countries. Rooms are being held at the hotel until February 5. The deadline for registration is February 16.

Our 4th Annual Report, which covers the year 2006, has been posted on the "about us" section of our website.

The Fulbright Academy was started in 2003 by people like you, and at the end December 2006, we had individual and institutional members in 37 countries and 41 states and Washington, DC.

FAST is a non-profit membership-based organization that serves scientists, executives, and scholars worldwide. Our sponsors and supporters include individual and institutional members such as universities, corporations, government agencies and foundations. The Fulbright Academy is not affiliated with the US State Department, the US Fulbright Association or the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. We are independently funded, and so your support is very important to us.

By joining the Academy, you will be supporting our work - our conferences, the study committees, and our Fulbright Forums. You will receive invitations to special events, and we also help members link up with other Fulbrighters in their respective fields. Individual memberships start at $60, with reduced rates available for students, retired individuals and those living in low- and middle-income countries.

Institutions in the US and elsewhere are collaborating with the Academy on several projects and programs. As described above, these collaborations typically are funded by a grant or contract from a foundation or agency. The first step is in this process typically is joining as an individual or institutional member. Please join today.

As a fellow grantee of the Fulbright program (Germany '89), I look forward to having you as a member and participant.

Sincerely,

Mr. Eric S. Howard, Executive Director