THE AGENDA

VITAMIN D FIGHT? >> On April 8th, at the 13th Workshop on Vitamin D in Victoria, British Columbia, Barbara Gilchrest, who gained notoriety for asking a colleague at Boston University to resign after he wrote a book that championed sunlight for the prevention of cancer, will be paired up with Edward Giovannucci, who champions sun exposure for adequate vitamin D. Gilchrest's talk will be entitled "Sun Protection and Vitamin D: Three Dimensions of Obfuscation."

ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION >> If the issues raised on page 38 of this issue intrigue you, a conference this month might also. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), which uses "vast quantities of global biodiversity data" to promote "technological and sustainable development" will be holding its science symposium from April 5 to 6 in Cape Town, South Africa, not far from the Working for Water project featured in this issue.

BIOHAZARDS >> Supporters of convicted plague researcher Thomas Butler take note: From April 24 to 26, the 2nd Annual Transportation of Biologicals and Biotechnology Products Conference will take place in Philadelphia. Speakers will include regulatory officials as well as top biotech and pharmaceutical industry leaders.

MAY THE BEST WIN >> The CoEPrA (Comparative Evaluation of Prediction Algorithms) competition - whose goal is "to advance the algorithms and software for modeling chemical, biological, and medical data" - begins April 17. Submissions are due on May 17, and winners will be announced on May 29. For more, see www.coepra.org.