Hoping to develop better strategies for tackling environmental problems, researchers from throughout the western United States will share their expertise in a variety of scientific disciplines when they gather Oct.14-15 in Old Sacramento for a conference on ecotoxicology -- the study of how chemicals affect the environment. Titled "Multiple Stresses in Ecosystems," the conference will be hosted by the Center for Ecological Health Research at the University of California, Davis. The center is funded by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. "Ecologist Aldo Leopold once likened an ecosystem to a 'great orchestra' with each plant and animal as one of the instruments," said conference co-coordinator Barry Wilson, a professor and chair of the avian sciences department at UC Davis. "Leopold chided scientific specialists for listening to only the instrument they studied, ultimately dismembering it in their examination and destroying the orchestra itself. This conference is an affirmation of the importance of orchestrated, multidisciplinary research -- if only at the quartet level." Wilson noted that scientists once determined the health of natural habitats by simply counting the number of plants, animals and microbes in that habitat. Today, however, researchers realize that they must scrutinize the ecosystem at the biophysical, molecular, cellular, tissue and organismal levels to acccurately evaluate the impact of physical and environmental stresses on living systems and to rehabilitate those that are damaged, he said. The meeting, to be held at the Delta King Riverboat Conference Center, will feature experts in the areas of toxicology, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, agriculture, mathematics and computer modelling. Lecture and discussion sessions will feature topics that include the impact of multiple stresses on ecosystems, establishing the health of ecosystems and future methods in ecotoxicology. Reporters interested in attending the conference should contact Cheryl Smith at the Center for Ecological Health Research, (916) 752-5028.