Newsletter 451 0357 Isbn
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International o Aerobiology ISSUE NISSUE 62 December 2005 NEWSLETTER 451 0357 ISBN BI-ANNUAL PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR AEROBIOLOGY Invitation to 8th International Congress on Aerobiology Neuchâtel, 21-25 August 2006 ear Colleagues, D Editorial note On behalf of the International Association for Aerobiology and the organizing committee, I th cordially invite you to participate in the 8 International Cong ress o n Aerobiolo gy which will be he calendar for 2006 is full of interesting events for held in Neuch ât el, Swi tz er land, 2 1st -2 5 th August 2 0 06 . aerobiologists. The 8th International Congress on Aero biolog y (8 ICA) will b e held in Ne uch âte l The International Association for Aerobiology holds International Congresses every four years T since 1978. Such events are a forum for interdisciplinary discussion among specialists from many (Switzerland) from 21-25 August. This is a major opportunity for aerobiologists to meet and discuss the sciences related to the aerobiological pathway, from sources to impacts - emission, dispersion, future development of Aerobiolog y, and Bernard Clot on transport, deposition - of airborne particles from biolog ical orig in. The 2006 edition is jointly organized by the Swiss Society for Aerobiology, the Federal Office for Meteorology and behalf of the Organi zing Committee, has invited us to take part. Switzerland will also be the venue for the Advanced Climatology MeteoSwiss, and the University of Neuchâtel. Ae ro bi ol og y Cou rs e (AA2006) , wh ic h wi ll run from 14-19 Aerobiology has deserved increasing interest in the last decades. Switzerland has been for years Au gu st i n Si on . Add it i ona lly, a ero bi ol og is ts in te rest ed in very dynamic in this science. Added to the charm of the city, this makes of Neuchâtel an ideal th th attending the 15 International APLE Symposium and the place for the 8 International Congress on Aerobiology. 11th National Congress of the Italian Aerobiolog y Association can find details of these events on pages 3 and Plenary sessions and sp ecialized symposia will cont ribute to trace the scientific progress of our 5.. discipline in the past four years. During workshops, participants will be able to directly interact and share ideas on practical issues as well as outline future challenges. We will strongly encourage A new contribution on Aerobiology in the World by Ma rgr ét Hall sdóttir outlines th e ma jo r aims of interpersonal scientific exchanges by supporting attractive poster sessi ons and awards. aerobiologists in Iceland. A report from Switzerland A social program for both participants and accompanying persons will provide plenty of mark s the rece nt ret ire men t of Ru th M. Leu schne r from opportun ities to savour the flair of the city of Neuchâtel and its surroundings. professional aerobiological activities, and her Swiss Therefore, join your colleagues from around the world and learn about the latest advances in colleagues highlight aspects of her academic and scientific aerobiology; we are looking forward to welcoming you all in Neuchâtel in 2006. achievements. This issue also reviews a book entit led “Air Quality: Pollen Bernard Clot and Spores in Galicia”. This useful volume, written in Spanish, focusses on aerobiological information for Galicia (NW Spain). Information on a CDROM entitled RUTH MARIA LEUSCHNER: " Key to pol len id entific ation" pr od uced by the RNSA (National Network for Aerobiologic Monitoring) is A PIONEERING SPIRIT included. By B. Clot, A. Bircher, R. Gehrig, Ch. Pichler, Th. Rufli Also in this issue, a summa ry o f the doc toral thesis on Cu ltur al Heritage by Paol a de Nu nt iis of th e University of Ur bi no (I ta ly ). owadays, it seems obvious to click on the Internet and to Last November, the Spanish Association of Aerobiology get pollen data from many areas. That was not the case 37 (AEA) presented its annual Research Award for the best Nyears ago, when pollen could fly about freely and d oct or al thes is on Ae ro bi ol og y. unnoticed in Switzerland. The first impulse that led to a National The results of the 1st VPPS 2000 Photography po ll en moni torin g netwo rk w as g iven i n 1969 by Ru th M. Leuschn er, Competition were published recently, and the winning a lady with a passion for pollen grains. phot ographs are printed in this issue. Ruth Leuschner grew up in Basel, the youngest of a family of t hree. Once again I wou ld lik e to reme mber t hat IAA's At the time she finished hi gh-school, during the Second World War, Ne wsle tter is ava ila ble in elec tr onic for mat at IAA we bsit e few girls had the opportunity to study at University. She trained to become a teacher of needlework and of typing and taught these http: //www.isao.bo.cnr.it /aerobio/iaa/IAABULL.html and the Galician Aerobiology Network website subj ec ts se veral year s, bu t never forg ot her desire to s tu dy b o tany. I n (ht tp :/ /www.u sc .es/ ae ro bio). IAA members interested in 1957, with the encouragement of Prof. Gundo Boehm, a lifelong receiving a printed copy should request it from me by e- friend, she started to study botany, zoology and chemistry. From 1965, she taught biology and chemistry at high-school level. Her mail at vj at o@u v ig o. es. I also want to express special thanks to everyone who has dipl oma research was dedicated to the study of apertures of t he contributed to this issue. alder pollens grains. The project to work in aerobiology came through a meeting with Erika Stix in Germany. Ruth Finally, I would like to wish all IAA members a very Leuschner was excited by the idea to conduct research that would take into accoun t related areas, peaceful and happy 2006. in this case the study of allergies. It was hard to start a completely novel project, but she finally got the support of a dermatologist, Prof. Rudolf Sch uppli, and in 1969, the first Hirst-type pollen trap Victori a Jato for Switzerland was installed in Basel. The data collected allowed her to publish her doctoral thesis e-mail [email protected] Newsletter Editor in 1974 with the title "Identification of airborne pollen in Basel in the years 1969 and 1970". fax +34 988 387001 Eventful year 1974! In addition to the publi cation of her dissertation, Ruth Leuschner contributed 1 to the "Atlas of European allergenic pollens" (Charpin J, Surinyach R, Frankland AW. Ed. Sandoz, Paris, 1974) and was one of the co-founders of the International Association for Aerobiology (IAA), on September 11th, in The Hague, during the 1st International Con fe ren ce of Ecolog y. She was devoted to the IAA, acting as tr easurer from 1974 to 1990, as vice-president from 1990 to 1994 and as a member of the council up to 2002. She was elected honorary member in 1990. During th ese years, Ruth Leuschner conducted several research projects, often in col laboration with Prof. G. Boehm, addressing various important questions and opening several new fields of investigation in aerobiology. She compared in particular airborne pollen and allergic symptoms, airborne pollen and meteorological parameters, pollen at different altitudes and in different cities. She was interested in outdoor and indoor measurement techniques, and devised means of measuring individual exposure. She analysed airborne spores after training with Ursula Allitt and studied the inorganic particles trapped by the pollen sampler. She was the first one to warn against a possible invasion of ragweed in Switzerland. She succeeded in promoting a network of measurement stations in Switzerland (Davos, Geneva, Zurich …) and supported th e development of aerobiology in many countries. She was the teacher of many subsequent aerobiologists. She organized a regular pollen bulletin for allergologists and opened the way to distribute pollen information for the public through the mass media. In 1984, she retired from teachin g bi ol og y and ch emist ry, and coul d at least work full ti me for aer obi ol og y. One yea r earl i er , in 19 83, she was co-founder of the Swiss Working Group for Aerobiology, that became the Swiss Society for Aerobiology in 1994. In 1986, at the peak of her career, she organised the 3rd International Con ference on Aerobiology in Basel (6-9 August). The proceedings of this Conference were published in a book entitled "Advances in Aerobiology" (Boehm G, Leuschner RM. Ed. Birkhäuser, Basel, 1987). She was the author of more than 110 scientific contributions, and thanks to her engagement, Basel is one of the oldest continuous aerobiological data series. Above all, sh e is a person ality with outstanding qualities: idealism, conviction, perseverance, an ability to work hard, a sense of humour, a talent for friendship. Until the end of 2004, she continued with pollen analysing and counting in Basel. Ruth Leuschner definitely (?) ret ire d from aerobi ol og ical act iviti es on 10 Dec embe r 2 004. We w is h he r i n p artic ul ar g oo d health i n t he c omi ng y ea rs and remain lo okin g fo rwa rd to we lcomi ng her next year at the congress in Neuchâtel! Reference Jenkins J.