LTER Chair Jim Gosz presented an invited paper on the U.S. LTER Program at the Conferencia Internacional de la UNESCO sobre Reservas de Biosfera in Sevilla, Spain March 20-25, 1995. Four-hundred participants from many countries presented papers and posters on Biosphere Reserves. Dr. Gosz presented the rationale for the LTER Program and the developing ILTER effort.
From contacts developed at the conference, he visited several research sites in Spain and Portugal and met with scientists and administrators in Lisbon (Luso-Americano Development Foundation, FLAD). There he presented a seminar and lead a workshop on the U.S. LTER Program and ILTER that was attended by 20 individuals from academia, government, and the U.S. Embassy.
Additional presentations at the University of Lisbon and the National Board for Scientific and Technological Research (Junta Nacional de Investigacão e Tecnologica, JNICT) led to discussions of appropriate Portugese sites for ILTER participation, and the formulation of plans for a site visit exchange.
Subsequently, funding was received from NSF International Programs for a team of LTER scientists to visit sites in Spain, Portugal and Morocco in the spring of 1996, followed by a visit of scientists from the Iberian Peninsula to U.S. LTER sites and the potential development of collaborative research projects.