Acknowledgments 



The International Mussel Watch Project has been freely supported by the good- will and 

 dedicated effort of many people over a long period of time from concept through planning to 

 implementation and completion of the Initial Phase in South and Central America and the 

 Caribbean. Were we to adaquately acknowledge individual contributions by each person, this 

 section would be equal to, or greater in length than, the main report It is our belief that for the 

 people dedicated to the success of this program, the results described here and the use of these 

 results by global societies within the United Nations family is the desired acknowledgment. 

 Nevertheless, several people deserve special recognition and these are given in the following 

 paragraphs. 



The Project was concieved by scientists from many countries, several of whom came 

 together as the International Mussel Watch Committee to oversee the implementation and progress 

 of the concept Intergovernmental mechanisms provided by UNESCO- IOC and UNEP assured 

 that national agencies in each country were contacted and their endorsement solicited. The role of 

 these intergovernmental bodies in providing official sanction for the Program is acknowledged. In 

 addition, the GIPME program functions as a scientific umbrella that can provide links to other 

 national and international programs to disseminate the results of International Mussel Watch. The 

 US NOAA, in addition to the direct support mentioned below, cooperated at the agency level with 

 UNESCO-IOC and UNEP to ensure the success of the Project 



The Initial Implementation Phase of the International Mussel Watch Program was a 

 complex logistical undertaking. Dr. Jose Sericano of the Geochemical and Environmental 

 Research Group (GERG) of Texas A & M University in the United States was temporarily 

 seconded to the Marine Environmental Laboratory (MEL) of IAEA to serve as the Field Scientific 

 Officer for this Initial Phase of the IMW Project. Dr. Sericano personally collected the vast 

 majority of the samples and supervised the few other collections in the program. The remarkable 

 scope of this undertaking is underscored when viewing the sampling location chart in the body of 

 this report. Dr. Sericano was also the principal analyst in the analytical chemistry effort by GERG. 



The field sampling effort by Dr. Sericano and other key aspects of the program was 

 successful because of the support of the Host-Country scientists on whom he relied. Without 

 their cooperation and support in each country, this project could not have been completed. A base 

 of operations for the field program was generously offered at the University of Costa Rica by Dr. 

 Manuel Murillo, Director of the Centra de Investigacion en Ciencas del Mar y Limnologia 

 (CTMAR). Local support of the Field Scientist at CEMAR was reliably and consistently given by 

 Dr. Jenaro Acuna. 



