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Notes from the SCAR President, number 20 (23 February 2010)
Updates on Various Items
Colleagues,
SCAR activities on many fronts continue at a hectic pace! In this note I update you on a range of important items and developments.
By now you should have received the formal application from the Principality of Monaco to join SCAR as an Associate Member. I had the opportunity during the Antarctic Treaty Summit in December 2009 to have an audience with HSH Prince Albert 2nd (and Ambassador Patrick Van Klaveren) to discuss the advantages to Monaco of joining SCAR and to SCAR of having Monaco as a national member. I was pleased to see the application by Monaco in January and this application will be considered at the Delegates Meeting in August 2010.
Planning is moving along briskly for SCAR's 2010 biennial meetings in Buenos Aires, Argentina in August. The Meeting website is now available and accepting abstracts (deadline April 1, 2010) for the Open Science Conference – "Antarctica: Witness to the Past, Guide the Future". The site will be open for registration shortly. An impressive venue has been arranged at the Hotel Panamericano in the heart of Buenos Aires. I am pleased to report that due to the efforts of the local organizers, favorable hotel rates have been negotiated and the registration fee has been set from $325 - $450 for full participants and $125 to $200 for students depending on how early you register for the Open Science Conference (note that the Oslo 2010 IPY meeting fee is 490 -640 Euros!). In due time, we will begin a major advertising campaign promoting the meeting and ask for your assistance in getting the word out and encouraging people to submit abstracts and attend the meeting. Various national and SCAR initiatives are underway to provide travel assistance for those wishing to attend the Open Science Conference, especially targeted at students and early career scientists. We have a stellar group of plenary speakers scheduled for Buenos Aires (click on Plenary Lectures in the side menu on the Conference website).
We are close to completing the transition in staffing of the SCAR Secretariat. Colin Summerhayes officially retires April 7, 2010 (though he has agreed to assist us in Buenos Aires) and Mike Sparrow (former Executive Officer) assumes the Executive Directorship April 1, 2010. A new SCAR Executive Officer, Dr Renuka Badhe was selected from an international pool of 44 applicants. Renuka is from India, and holds dual Indian (OCI) and British citizenship. She is a marine biologist (PhD from the British Antarctic Survey) but with some policy background (M. phil. from Cambridge University in Environmental Policy). Since she completed her PhD in October last year, she has been working with the IUCN on climate change and species in Polar Regions. She has also been involved in conference organization, including responsibility for the budgets and has experience of being the treasurer of a small charity. Rosemary Nash continues as the SCAR Administrative Assistant filling out the SCAR Secretariat Team. I ask all of you to join me in wishing the best to SCAR's new leadership and staff in the Secretariat!
The Oslo IPY Conference in June 2010 has received a record 2600 abstract submissions and it is expected to be the largest polar science meeting ever! SCAR is a proud co-sponsor and will figure prominently in the meeting. Professor Steven Chown will be awarded the inaugural Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica ($100,000 cash prize) and I will be participating in the award ceremony representing SCAR as the prize administering organization.
There are many more items I could report on, but I close with just a few quick updates.
- Hearing no opinions to the contrary, SCAR Strategic Planning will proceed as described in my Note #19.
- SCAR (Delegates) and COMNAP will hold a joint session in Buenos Aires in 2010 to discuss ocean observing and data management issues, as well as schedule icebreakers together to encourage interactions.
- An Action Group on SCAR and COMNAP will be convened in March 2010 in the margins of a meeting on Subglacial Aquatic Environments in Baltimore MD, USA, to discuss SCAR and COMNAP interactions and develop a way forward for a joint partnership that benefits both organizations. I and Jose Retamales will co-Chair the group.
- The SCAR Standing Committee on the Antarctic Treaty System under the leader of Prof. Steven Chown is making great progress on SCAR's submissions to ATCM XXXIII in May 2010 in Punta del Este, Uruguay. SCAR is expected to submit nearly a dozen papers on topics such as alien species introductions, bioprospecting, environmental domains analyses, climate change, data and information strategies, SOOS and APECS. The SCAR ATCM Science Lecture will be given by Professor Gerday of Belgium, entitled "Psychrophiles: a challenge for life" and will address aspects of bioprospecting in Antarctica.
As always, I look forward to comments, questions, or any other items you might want to communicate to me. 2010 is off to a great start for SCAR and I expect that it will only get better as the year goes on!
Chuck Kennicutt
President of SCAR
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