"Rebecca Repasky... Along this winding trail through the Peruvian cloud forest, ... has found approximately 150 species of orchids since August... It's possible that up to five species in Repasky's collection are completely new to science.
... Repasky is... doing field research that has rarely, if ever, been undertaken. ... her... cataloging of these rare orchids could help to spur the Peruvian government to protect the exotic forests that are their home, rather than allowing the land to be logged and denuded, turned into pastureland... Repasky, 23, is a Texas Christian University graduate student in biology... her professor recommended her to John Janovec, a research botanist at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas in Fort Worth. Janovec... directs BRIT's Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program (AABP), a $2.3 million, three-year conservation project in Peru, funded by a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Last August... Repasky found herself dropped into an isolated stretch of the Peruvian Andes, in an area they call Wayqecha, at an elevation close to 10,000 feet... ... BRIT... is concurrently doing orchid field research in Costa Rica; the orchid project is funded by $91,000 in grants from the Moore Foundation and the Beneficia Foundation... ... After she finishes her field research this summer, Repasky hopes to publish a manuscript on her research and a field guide to the orchids of the region. The Amazon Conservation Association, which will be applying to the Peruvian government for a "conservation concession" in these mountains (something like a lease on the land), says that AABP's orchid findings will play a role in its arguments for conservation" source / complete news story : http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/14794065.htm?source=rss&channel=dfw_living see photos : 1) caption : "BRIT research assistant Martin Avendaño holds an orchid of the genus Pachyphyllum that the team found in the cloud forest in Wayqecha, Peru." http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/startelegram/news/2081139-875342.jpg 2) caption : "TCU graduate student Rebecca Repasky catalogs orchids." http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/startelegram/news/2081139-875343.jpg 3) caption : "An orchid of the genus Epidendrum" http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/startelegram/news/2081139-875344.jpg 4) http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/startelegram/news/2081139-875345.jpg 5) http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/startelegram/news/2081139-875346.jpg 6) http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/startelegram/news/2081139-875347.jpg 7) http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/startelegram/news/2081139-875348.jpg 8) map. "The orchid project" http://www.dfw.com/images/dfw/startelegram/news/2081139-875349.jpg ********** regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
