Found this the other day, and was waiting for someone else on the forums to find it too
At a starting bid of $12,000 on eBay, you can "fight" to win the auction to name your very own species of orchid. This orchid was found around Pastaza, Ecuador on a cliff now included in the EcoMinga project (Lou Jost, Calaway Dodson, et al.). The orchid belongs to the genus
Cyclopogon (a terrestrial and semi-lithophytic genus), but may eventually be reclassified in a new genus. Here's all the info here:
eBay: Name a Newly Discovered Orchid Species for Charity (item 150112343333 end time Apr-23-07 17:05:00 PDT)
While discussing it with Lou Jost (who originally found the taxon growing on the cliff), he mentioned that the "bidding process is unnecessarily complicated, and I am not sure if it will work"... hopefully it does work out and help out the EcoMinga project.
Here are a few more links if interested in the EcoMinga project:
Lou Jost's website, discussing EcoMinga:
Ecominga
Index of EcoMinga related topics on Lou Jost's site:
Conservation
...and the EcoMinga website:
fundacion ecominga
-PM