Beautiful Ames, Iowa sits in the heart of Iowa's corn and soybean
agriculture croplands. Ames was established in 1864 as a railroad town.
Just west of Ames was the Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State
University) established in 1858 under the Morill Land Grant Act.

Access to Ames is made easy by two major interstate hignway systems.
Interstate 35 is a major north/south route and sits on the east edge of
Ames. Interstate 80, a major east/west route, interscts I-35 just 30 miles
to the south in Des Moines. Individuals interested in flying can fly
comercial flights into Des Moines International Airport. Transportation
from the airport to Ames during the meeting is being planned. Ames has a
small airport for anyone interested in flying a small aircraft directly to
Ames.

Ames is a classic university town, a great place to learn. Iowa State
University is the birthplace of the electronic digital computer. The
University is ranked as one of the top 25 most beautiful campuses in the
nation where you can see the Gothic-inspired campanile and trumpeter swans
on Lake LaVerne. Take time while you're in Ames to visit our many art
galeries and museums or take a walking tour of art on campus where you will
see murals by Grant Wood and sculptures by Christian Petersen.

Last but not least, Iowa State University will be home of the 1998 Guild of
Natural Science Illustrators' annual conference. The committee is busy
planning an interesting and informative meeting. We hope to highlight our
native tall grass prairies, some of which are pristine, while others are
remanent or restored. We hope to have several field trips, workshops, and
papers planned on grass and plant illustration, wildlife illustration, area
praire and wildlife restoration, copywrite changes and legal matters,
photography, computer illustration, computer maintainence, and traditional
techniques.

As an added extra, we would also like to recieve some input from interested
individuals on whether to plan a fieldtrip to the Boundry Waters Canoe Area
(in Minnesota, my old "stomping grounds"). We will need to know the number
of people interested and lenght of time that individuals are willing to
stay in the BWCA to estimate cost. This will require advanced registration.
Those intersted in the BWCA trip should contact Dean Biechler (email:
[log in to unmask]), as he will be one of the guides.

Look for further updates and an incredible web site in the next few weeks.

Thank you,
John

John O. Dorn, MA
Medical Illustrator
Engineering Animation Inc.

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W 515-296-9908
H 515-292-9388
F 515-296-7025