The University of the Virgin Islands will host the 33rd Scientific Conference of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean on UVI's St. Thomas campus from June 4 through 8, 2007. The conference sessions, which will take place in the UVI Sports and Fitness Center Monday through Wednesday and in Chase Auditorium on Thursday and Friday, will be held from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day.

The keynote speaker for the conference is Dr. Rita Colwell, who served as the 11th Director of the National Science Foundation from 1998 until 2004. Dr. Colwell now serves as a Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland and at Johns Hopkins, as well as serving as Chairman of Canon US Life Sciences, Inc. An internationally respected scientist and educator, she has authored or co-authored 16 books and over 700 scientific publications. In her spare time she produced the award-winning film "Invisible Seas."

A second featured speaker at the conference will be Dr. Craig Venter, one of the world's leading scientists. Dr. Venter founded Celera Genomics to sequence the human genome.

The Scientific Conference of the Association of Marine Laboratories of the Caribbean is held every two years and is attended by international scientists, managers, professionals, and students whose interests are focused on issues relevant to the greater Caribbean region. The price of admission is $75 for a day pass and $340 for the week.

For further information, please contact Dr. Richard Nemeth in UVI's McLean Marine Science Center at 693-1380 or by e-mail at rnemeth@uvi.edu .