WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- President George W.

President George Bush directed three top officials Monday to assess whether parts of the Pacific Ocean under U.S. control need more environmental protection.

By Handler, Alex T Gruner, Daniel S; Haines, William P; Lange, Matthew W; Kaneshiro, Kenneth Y Abstract: Palmyra Atoll, in the Line Islands of the equatorial Pacific, supports one of the largest remaining native stands of Pisonia grandis forest in the tropical Pacific Ocean.

What's it like to live in a far-off place most of us see only on a vacation? Foreign Correspondence is an interview with someone who lives in a spot you may want to visit. Kim Cobb, 32, is an assistant professor at Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, in Atlanta.

Dozens of scientists from Hawaii and the mainland are launching a cooperative research project at Palmyra Atoll to study the remote area's pristine coral ecosystem.