Frank and I are back from the beautiful Galápagos Islands, still smiling about the great people and friendly sea lions we met there. As I was wondering how I could publicly thank the great team from USFQ, I found out that Lynn Margulis already did so with such elegance I should just quote her:
GAIAS, the Galápagos Academic Institute for the Arts and Sciences, is a recent thrust of the University of San Francisco at Quito (USFQ). The meteoric rise of this new university, complete with classes in gourmet cooking, undergirds the best scientific meeting I have been privileged to attend. Founded by Ecuadorian physicists (Santiago Gangotena, Bruce Hoeneisen and Carlos Montúfarall three received Ph.D.’s at U.S. institutions), USFQ now accommodates 2,800 students on the main campus at Cumbayá. A resolutely private institution in a beautiful valley half an hour from Quito’s center, it also boasts the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Amazon basin, where field research is conducted in collaboration with Thomas Kunz of Boston University. Two new scientific programs are slated to begin next year: archaeological research at Rio Bamba and a collaboration on evolutionary themes with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The irrepressible, diligent and generous founders of USFQ invented this meeting. Philosophically oriented educators on a continent nearly devoid of our peculiarly North American institutions display unbounded enthusiasm toward the liberal arts college.
As you can see, GAIAS hosts a variety of conferences: last year evolution, this year physics, next year history. My advice is–if they invite you, say yes, yes, yes!
So, thank you, Carlos and Bruce and Santiago! And Mona! And Gloria! And Ana Teresa! And Paola! And Regina! And Gaby! And all the whole mighty army of minders and mavens and chefs and cheerleaders and futból fans who made the event so enjoyable. Please have a physics conference again soon–or else a blogging conference where I can bring Frank as my date…