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28 March 2013
Dear Colleagues,
As I'm sure you are aware, SCAR has several avenues we use to keep people informed of science and other highlights. A good example is the latest Newsletter, which I urge you to take a look at (there have been some fascinating scientific advances over the last three months!) However, I would also like to start sending you, as SCAR Delegates, short quarterly updates on activities that I believe will be of particular interest.
Science
- Planning for the 1st SCAR Antarctic and Southern Ocean Science Horizon Scan is progressing rapidly. Over the next month or so you will be asked for your views on the top science questions in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean and to consider making nominations for attendees to the Scan (to be held in New Zealand in April 2014). This will all be done online. For more details see the related article in the SCAR Newsletter or see the Horizon Scan section of the website;
- All five new SCAR SRPs are moving ahead and will report on progress with implementation and membership of their steering committees at the upcoming EXCOM meeting this July;
- A major update to the SCAR Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment (ACCE) Report will be published this April in Polar Record. For more information, visit the ACCE section;
- A update on the SCAR/SCOR Southern Ocean Observing System is available from our Newsletters section.
Advice to Policy Makers
Preparations for the Treaty Meetings in Belgium are well in advance. SCAR will be submitting papers on Subglacial Exploration, Ocean Acidification, the ACCE Update, the Antarctic Environments Portal, the Strategy for Antarctic Conservation in the 21st Century, the Southern Ocean Observing System, Biodiversity.aq, and the SCAR Science Horizon Scanning Activity.
Finances
As you will remember, efficient use of SCAR financial resources was a key discussion point of the last Delegates' Meeting. Key to this was the continuation of the SCAR Development Council and finding additional sources of external funds to support SCAR activities. Highlights to date include:
- Three proposals submitted to the Tinker Foundation on: (1) The SCAR Science Horizon Scan for ~US$235k; (2) Renewal of the Martha T Muse Prize for ~US$303k and (3) The Martha T Muse Colloquium for ~US$74k.
- Two proposals submitted to ICSU, one of which "Identifying Ecosystem Essential Ocean Variables for measuring changes in marine ecosystems" (related to the SOOS) was funded for 30,000 Euros. This was a joint SCOR/SCAR proposal.
- A proposal to MFA Norway for SCAR to engage more with the UNFCCC (a request from the Treaty Parties) for ~US$8k.
- An agreement made with the Geological Society of London to publish certain SCAR Geoscience volumes - £1,000 per volume paid to SCAR (three volumes so far agreed).
- Professor Pete Convey (UK) has agreed to chair the SCAR Development Council. The SCAR President, Executive Officer and I have met with Pete to discuss the way forward and this will be actively pursued over the next few months. I'm sure Pete will be asking some of you to assist him with this important effort.
Capacity Building and Prizes
- Applications for the SCAR/COMNAP Fellowship Schemes are now open. The deadline for applications: 4 June 2013
- Nominations are open for the 2013 Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and Policy in Antarctica. The deadline for nominations: 23 May 2013
- The Visiting Professor Scheme has been launched. The deadline for applications: 16 August 2013.
Other Matters
- The webpage for the SCAR Executive Committee Meeting 2013, which will be held in Barcelona in July after the SCAR Biology Symposium, is now available in the members' area of the website. Papers will be posted to this page and we encourage any comments from Delegates in advance of the meeting.
- Development of the new SCAR Website is going ahead, with negotiations with the chosen company who will design the templates for the website taking place. The new website will allow SCAR groups and National Committees (if they wish) to have their own space within the SCAR website and update the pages themselves using a content management system. We are aiming to launch this around July.
- Jefferson Simões (Brazilian SCAR Delegate and Glaciologist) and Dana Bergstrom (Australian SCAR Delegate and terrestrial ecologist) will be the co-chairs of the International Scientific Organising Committee of the SCAR 2014 Open Science Conference. For more information, please visit the conference website.
Upcoming Meetings
- There will be a joint EXCOM meeting with IASC next month in Krakow, Poland;
- The CEP and Treaty Meeting will take place in May in Brussels, Belgium;
- The SCAR Biology Symposium and SCAR EXCOM/COs meetings will be held this July in Barcelona, Spain;
- There is a joint SCAR Social Sciences and History Workshop this July in Cambridge (email: C.Luedecke@lrz.uni-muenchen.de for more information);
- The SCAR AAA Workshop will be held in May in Siena, Italy;
- A Conservation Workshop will be held jointly with COMNAP this September in Cambridge, UK.
For further details, please visit our Events page.
If you have any questions or need further information, please don't hesitate to contact me directly or via info@scar.org.
Regards,
Mike Sparrow
SCAR Executive Director
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