| Description | Present at the meeting: Professor C F A Pantin in the chair; Dr W E China; Dr J E Dandy; Dr F C Fraser; Mr C E Hubbard; Dr M W Holdgate; Mr E O Pearson; Professor R A Stephenson
Matters discussed;
1. Membership and terms of reference
2. Problem of the supply of taxonomists and the provision of taxonomic training Papers SP/9 (60), SP/10 (60) and SP/11 (60) by Dr China, Dr Fraser and Dr Cain previously circulated. The following proposals were put forward after an introduction on the subject by the Chairman;
a. Grants needed for the training of students interested in taxonomic work and somebody, possibly the Nature Conservancy, should be asked to give grants for taxonomy. Such grants might be on two levels; first, a short-term grant for training such as the Nature Conservancy's diploma course in conservation, and second, a full-scale grant for three years to enable research in a taxonomic subject to be done for a Ph.D.
b. The expansion of facilities at the British Museum should be urged. Further staff were needed to cover the taxonomic groups and perhaps the employment of more staff to deal with the day-to-day problems at the Museum would set free others to carry on taxonomic research.
c. With regard to publication, there were ample facilities in such journals as those of the Linnaean Society, but financial aid might be needed at the start of a project to increase quantity of published matter.
d. At the present time some taxonomic experts were far too few and the consequences of any steps taken would take time to mature. Consideration might be given to making grants to competent amateurs who were already able to help with identification.
Further discussion related to problems concerned with examination of taxonomic material, the contents of the paper by Dr Cain on the situation in the British Museum, grants for taxonomic research, grants for taxonomic research for a Ph.D at the British Museum, and co-operation between the Universities and the British Museum.
' It was therefore agreed that;
1. There was a clear need for taxonomists at the present time
2. Grants should be provided for students to work on taxonomy as a subject for a a Ph.D degree
3. If such grants were made a grant-giving body should be found to administer them.
4. A closer relationship should be encouraged between the Universities and the British Museum (and Kew). Training for a Ph.D degree should be a much more common thing at these institutions. ' |