Collecting trips: Unfortunately no trips. The present state of economics and particularly science budget makes difficult to organize collecting trips beyond limits of Central Russia. As for me personally, more important is the general shortage of time for research (see other activities).
Museum trips: Same as collecting trips.
Other activities: Until now I was completely engaged in conducting the project by Mr. George Soros to support biologists in the former Soviet Union, using 4,000 individual grants in biodiversity at $500 each, to be distributed in open competition. This left me practically no time for other work. Now I feel myself almost free from this occupation.
Projects in progress: There are 3 old projects: 1. The History of Insects: two multi-authored volumes in English, the first of which, that reviewing the system, phylogeny, and paleontological history of the insect orders. Nearing completion. 2. Revision of the Cretaceous Sphecidae known from impression fossils, with numerous new description (with Woj Pulawski, California Academia of Sciences, San Francisco). Nearly half-ready, but the progress is slow. 3. An analysis of the insect fauna of the Dominican amber, based particularly on the collection at the Smithsonian Institution (with Don Davis and possibly other contributors). Nearing completion. 4. New project (the worldwide database of the pre-quaternary fossil insects, myriapods, and arachnids) has been proposed in hope of obtaining a large grant from the International Science Foundation and hence to support my lab. The grant has been obtained, but in radically reduced amount ($10,000 instead of requested $93,000). Nevertheless we shall work on the project.
Papers published or in press: Bibliography numbers 69, 70.
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