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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009>Amigos de la red TABDP, </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009>Aunque nuestra red esta organizada para compartir
informacion sobre mariposas andinas tropicales, les pido disculpas en esta
ocasion por enviar la siguiente </SPAN><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009>informacion, no relacionada con mariposas, pero si con
todos quienes hacemos investigacion en campo, y mas sufrimos con la penosa
burocracia existente para conseguir los permisos necesarios para realizar
investigacion en campo. </SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009>Desafortunadamente unos estudiantes (nacionales y
extranjeros) fueron arrestados en Brazil durante el desarrollo del trabajo de
campo, lamentablemente por no contar con todos los permisos necesarios.
Abajo pueden leer los detalles de esta penosa situacion, que pueda mejorarse con
la ayuda de todos firmando una peticion para que los liberen.
</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Solamente necesitan contactar al supervisor de los estudiantes arrestados
en la direccion: </FONT><A href="mailto:cohen@email.arizona.edu"><FONT
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>cohen@email.arizona.edu</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial size=2>, enviando su nombre, instituicion, cargo etc. (abajo hay un
ejemplo)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Este es un ejemplo y pueda ser una leccion sobre la importancia de tener
los permisos de investigacion necesarios, pero tambien pueda ser un ejemplo de
nuestra preocupacion por el desarrollo de la investigacion ayudando con la
peticion. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Un saludo cordial, </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Blanca</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009><SPAN
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style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'NHM Ingrid'"><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=1><FONT color=#000000>Blanca Huertas FLS DIC MSc
<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'NHM Ingrid'"><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=1><FONT color=#000000>Curator
(Lepidoptera)<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'NHM Ingrid'"><FONT face=Arial><FONT
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Department<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'NHM Ingrid'"><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=1><FONT color=#000000>The <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
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w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Natural</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
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style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'NHM Ingrid'"><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=1><FONT color=#000000>SW7 5BD, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">London</st1:City>, <st1:country-region
w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'NHM Ingrid'"><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=1><FONT color=#000000>Tel.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>+44
(0) 20 7942 6215<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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www.nhm.ac.uk<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
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color=#000000 size=1>TABDProject </FONT><A
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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> Ellinor Michel <BR><B>Sent:</B> 07 July
2009 20:54<BR><B>To:</B> Zoology; Palaeontology; Entomology;
Mineralogy<BR><B>Cc:</B> Andrew Cohen<BR><B>Subject:</B> FW: US graduate
students arrested in Brazil<BR><B>Importance:</B> High<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px">Dear
NHM Colleagues,<BR><BR>One of our collaborators on paleoclimates work has had
the extremely unfortunate experience of being arrested for inadvertently working
without appropriate permits in Brazil (in the third year of an ongoing
collaboration). There is an international effort to indicate that this is an
excessive misapplication of law enforcement and to encourage the Brazilian
authorities to release the research students who are now out of jail, but held
within country.<BR><BR>If you can send your signature in to support the attached
statement, please do so to Dr Andrew Cohen (address below). And of course
this is an object lesson in the importance of paperwork (as if we need to be
told).<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR><BR>Ellinor Michel & Jon Todd<BR><BR><BR>On Tue,
Jul 7, 2009 at 11:43 AM, Andrew S. Cohen <cohen@email.arizona.edu>
wrote:<BR><BR>Dear Colleagues,<BR>As many of you are no doubt aware from the
press, three US and two Brazilian<BR>graduate students in geosciences were
recently arrested while doing<BR>paleoclimate/paleolimnology field work in the
Pantanal region of western<BR>Brazil. The students are Mike McGlue and Mark
Trees from the University of<BR>Arizona, Kelly Wendt from the University of
Minnesota-Duluth, and Aguinaldo<BR>Silva and Fabricio Corradini from the
State University of Sao Paulo (UNESP). I<BR>am the co-director of this research
project (alongwith Mario Assine of UNESP)<BR>and am writing to ask for your
assistance by adding your name to the open<BR>letter attached. Two of the US
students were from the University of Arizona<BR>working directly with me-the
third Minnesota student was accompanying the UA<BR>students to assist with
sediment coring.<BR><BR>The circumstances of the student's arrest were that the
UNESP permits which our<BR>UA group thought in good faith covered our part of
the team, turned out not to<BR>be applicable to us. The initial charges were
that the students were extracting<BR>natural resources (there is gem smuggling
from Bolivia in this area) and that<BR>they were doing this extractive work
without permits. The police were also<BR>suspicious because one of the UA
students is retired military. Finally, the<BR>students were in Brazil on tourist
visas, although this does not seem to be the<BR>critical issue of why they were
detained.<BR><BR>After their arrest the Brazilian students were released on bail
after 2 days.<BR>The American students were held in a jail cell for 9 days
awaiting release on<BR>bail. They were released on bail on June 25th, but must
remain in Brazil<BR>awaiting the outcome of the legal process. In Brazil this
happens very slowly,<BR>and could take months or even years. In the meantime
these student's lives and<BR>academic work are on hold.<BR><BR>I am writing to
ask your help by simply adding your name to the attached letter<BR>of support,
which can be used to further demonstrate the nature of the<BR>student's
activities and the importance of their research to the Brazilian<BR>authorities.
Several similar letters have been circulating among the Brazilian<BR>scientific
community. I would be happy to share these with anyone who
is<BR>interested.<BR><BR>If you are willing to add your name to this letter
simply write back a brief<BR>note AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to let me know how you
want your name and affiliation<BR>to appear. If you hold a position as an
officer of a professional society that<BR>would add weight to the statement and
are willing to be identified as such<BR>please add that information. And
finally, please send this message along to<BR>anyone else not on this email who
you think might be interested in signing. I<BR>will take care of the rest. Time
is critical because the police are finishing<BR>their part of the investigation,
which will determine charges to be brought<BR>forward-it is important to act now
to help insure that the most serious of the<BR>charges (which have potential
prison time) are dropped.<BR><BR>Thank you very much for your help in
advance<BR><BR>Andy Cohen<BR><BR>Andrew S. Cohen<BR>Professor of Geosciences and
Joint Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology<BR>University of
Arizona<BR>Tucson, AZ 85721<BR>cohen@email.arizona.edu<BR><BR><BR>Andrew S.
Cohen<BR>Department of Geosciences<BR>University of Arizona<BR>Tucson, AZ
85721<BR>Tel 520-621-4691<BR>Fax 520-621-2672<BR><A
href="http://www.geo.arizona.edu/web/Cohen/AC_page.html">http://www.geo.arizona.edu/web/Cohen/AC_page.html</A><BR><BR>------
End of Forwarded Message<SPAN class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2> </FONT></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009></SPAN></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12px"><SPAN
class=398192010-08072009><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>***************ejemplo***************************</FONT> </SPAN><BR><BR><FONT
color=#0000ff>A few examples of how people who signed replied (i.e. all you need
to send is a name, affiliation and as many titles as is
appropriate):<BR><BR>Andy - I am very sorry to read that this unfortunate
incident is still ongoing and dark. <BR>Please add my name to the
open letter as follows - <BR><BR>Dr. John G. Lundberg<BR>Chaplin Chair of
Ichthyology<BR>President American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
<BR>Department of Ichthyology<BR>Academy of Natural Sciences<BR>1900 Benjamin
Franklin Parkway<BR>Philadelphia, PA 19103 USA</FONT><BR><BR><BR>Anthony W.
Walton<BR>Chairman, Board of Directors<BR>DOSECC, Inc. <BR>Associate
Professor<BR>Department of Geology<BR>The University of Kansas<BR>Lawrence,
Kansas 66045<BR>TWalton@KU.edu 785 864-2726<BR>Mobile: 785
727-0435<BR><BR><BR>-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*<BR></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Statement for signature by American
scientists (to be translated and issued in both English and
Portuguese)<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=3>Three American graduate
students, Michael McGlue and Mark Trees (U. Arizona), and Kelly Wendt (U.
Minnesota), working with two Brazilian colleagues, Aguinaldo Silva and Fabricio
Corradini (<SPAN class=apple-style-span><SPAN style="COLOR: black">Universidade
Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=apple-style-span><SPAN lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black">
</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT size=3>) were arrested on June 17, while
doing paleoclimate and environmental change field work in the Pantanal, north of
Corumba. This research project has investigated how changing climate conditions
in the recent geological past <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>have
affected the Pantanal ecosystem, world famous as one of the Earth’s largest
wetlands. The UA research team, under the direction of Professor Andrew Cohen
and in collaboration with Prof. Mario Assine of UNESP does this research by
collecting short sediment cores from the bottom of lakes and wetlands in the
Pantanal region. The cores provide records of past climate as particles
sensitive to climate change settle to the bottom of the lake. <st1:place
w:st="on">Lake</st1:place> and wetland deposits are well known for their ability
to provide detailed information about global warming and other aspects of
environmental change.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Since its inception the project has offered
an opportunity for Brazilian and American scientists to work together, and
obtain important training on climate and environmental research methods.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Two UNESP scientists spent 3
months at the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Arizona</st1:PlaceName> in 2008 working on this project
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tucson</st1:City></st1:place> and
taking advantage of UA facilities for the collaborative effort and UA scientists
have made several visits to the Pantanal with the Brazilian
team.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">The five researchers were initially arrested
and charged with Article 2<SUP>nd</SUP>, paragraph 1<SUP>st</SUP>, law # 8176/91
and Articles 44 and 55, law 9605/98, charges primarily related to the extraction
of mineral resources and permit violations. The charge that these researchers
were involved in minerals or natural resource exploitation of any kind is simply
untrue-the sediment cores are only collected to interpret signals of
environmental change such as global warming and its affect on the Pantanal
region. The Students were working in good faith under the Geosciences Research
Project grant on research and collaborating with Brazilian scientists at the
time of their arrests. The University of Arizona and the Students each believed
that all of the necessary Brazilian research permits were in place to authorize
the research The Brazilian environment, and especially the Pantanal region<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>benefits greatly from this type of
environmental research from sediment cores, since it gives clear signals of how
such changes have affected and will affect the region in the future.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><o:p><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">We the undersigned can understand why the
authorities initially may have questioned the legality and appropriateness of
what the researchers were doing.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>But with a clear understanding of the beneficial nature of this research
program, we urge the authorities to treat this issue as a simple
misunderstanding on the researcher’s part of permit requirements. We
respectfully request that the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> students be permitted to return to the
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United
States</st1:place></st1:country-region> as soon as possible to continue their
education and research</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </P><SPAN
lang=EN-US><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>Statement for
signature by international scientists <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>(to be
translated and issued in both English and Portuguese)<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>Three American
graduate students, Michael McGlue and Mark Trees (U. Arizona), and Kelly Wendt
(U. Minnesota), working with two Brazilian colleagues, Aguinaldo Silva and
Fabricio Corradini (<SPAN class=apple-style-span><SPAN
style="COLOR: black">Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do
Sul</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class=apple-style-span><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-US>) were
arrested on June 17, while doing paleoclimate and environmental change field
work in the Pantanal, north of Corumba. This research project has investigated
how changing climate conditions in the recent geological past have affected the
Pantanal ecosystem, world famous as one of the Earth’s largest wetlands. The UA
research team, under the direction of Professor Andrew Cohen and in
collaboration with Prof. Mario Assine of UNESP does this research by collecting
short sediment cores from the bottom of lakes and wetlands in the Pantanal
region. The cores provide records of past climate as particles sensitive to
climate change settle to the bottom of the lake. <st1:place
w:st="on">Lake</st1:place> and wetland deposits are well known for their ability
to provide detailed information about global warming and other aspects of
environmental change.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>Since its
inception the project has offered an opportunity for Brazilian and American
scientists to work together and obtain important training on climate and
environmental research methods.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Two UNESP scientists spent 3 months at the <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Arizona</st1:PlaceName> in 2008 working on this project in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tucson</st1:place></st1:City> and taking
advantage of UA facilities for the collaborative effort, and UA scientists have
made several visits to the Pantanal with the Brazilian
team.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>The five
researchers were initially arrested and charged with Article 2<SUP>nd</SUP>,
paragraph 1<SUP>st</SUP>, law # 8176/91 and Articles 44 and 55, law 9605/98,
charges primarily related to the extraction of mineral resources and permit
violations. The charge that these researchers were involved in minerals or
natural resource exploitation of any kind is simply untrue-the sediment cores
are only collected to interpret signals of environmental change such as global
warming and its effect on the Pantanal region. The students were working in good
faith under the Geosciences Research Project grant on research and collaborating
with Brazilian scientists at the time of their arrests. The <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Arizona</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> and the students each believed
that all of the necessary Brazilian research permits were in place to authorize
the research. The Brazilian environment, and especially the Pantanal region<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>benefit greatly from this type of
environmental research from sediment cores, since it gives clear signals of how
such changes have affected and will affect the region in the future.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN
lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN-US>We the
undersigned can understand why the authorities initially may have questioned the
legality and appropriateness of what the researchers were doing.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But with a clear understanding of the
beneficial nature of this research program, we urge the authorities to treat
this issue as a simple misunderstanding on the researcher’s part of permit
requirements. We respectfully request that the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> students be permitted to return to the
<st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United
States</st1:place></st1:country-region> as soon as possible to continue their
education and research.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt"><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN> </P>
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