Skip navigation


You are in:  Home » Publications » Bulletins » Bulletin 147

bulletin 147

SCAR Bulletin 147, October 2002

Twenty-seventh Meeting of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
Shanghai, China, 15 - 26 July 2002

A Summary Report of the Meeting

The Twenty-seventh Meeting of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (XXVII SCAR) was held in Shanghai, China, 15 - 26 July 2002 at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre. This was a landmark meeting for SCAR as the re-structuring of SCAR, recommended by the ad hoc Group on SCAR Organization and Structure and adopted by the Delegates at XXVI SCAR in Tokyo, Japan, July 2000, was put into place.

The first week of the meeting began with the traditional meetings of all the SCAR Working Groups plus a meeting of the Group of Specialist on Seals, and informal meetings of the Groups of Specialists on Subglacial Antarctic Lake Exploration and Antarctic Neotectonics. The groups completed the reports of their final meetings on Tuesday. Wednesday was devoted to a very successful symposium on "The Antarctic sea ice zone: physical and biological processes and interactions". On Thursday and Friday the members of the former Working Groups and Groups of Specialists reconvened in three Scientific Standing Groups on Geosciences, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences. Each of these three groups elected a Chief Officer, Deputy Chief Officer and a Secretary. They also established a number of sub-groups to accommodate their various activities.

On Saturday morning there was a SCAR-COMNAP discussion forum with presentations on four main themes: Subglacial Lakes, Antarctic neotectonics, a Cyber-cartographic Atlas, and the Southern Ocean.

The SCAR Delegates Meeting took place during the second week. Delegates first agreed to accept Peru as a Full Member of SCAR, bringing the number of Full Members to twenty-seven. Delegates also noted with regret that Estonia had withdrawn from Associate Membership of SCAR. After receiving presentations by the Chief Officers, the Delegates divided into two Delegate Committees to discuss scientific and organizational matters. Two new small Standing Committees were established on the Antarctic Treaty System, and on SCAR Finance but a third Standing Committee on Antarctic Data was not considered necessary. Delegates also agreed that the Prince of Asturias Prize for International Cooperation 2002, awarded to SCAR for international cooperation in Antarctica, should be used to establish a SCAR Fellowship Programme to fund five young scientists to undertake relevant Antarctic research at an organization in a country other than their own. The planned arrangements for the XXVIII SCAR meeting in Germany during 2004 were confirmed. Elections were held for a new President and two new Vice-Presidents. Delegates also agreed that an Executive Director should be appointed to reinforce the staffing of the SCAR Secretariat.

Thus the major work of re-structuring SCAR was achieved. The process of re-organization will continue during the next two years, as the new Scientific Standing Groups refine their modi operandi, and will be completed at XXVIII SCAR in 2004 with the new style of SCAR meeting.

The XXVIII SCAR meeting will be held in two parts: a SCAR Science Week to be held in Bremen, Germany, 25-31 July 2004 when the Scientific Standing Groups will meet around a symposium on a relevant subject; and the Delegates Meeting to be held in Bremerhaven, Germany, 3-9 October 2004.

SCAR Executive Committee (2002-04)

back to top

President: Professor Dr J Thiede (Germany)
Past President: Dr R H Rutford (United States)
Vice-Presidents: Dr R Schlich (France)
Professor C G Rapley (United Kingdom)
Professor J López-Martínez (Spain)
Dr C Howard-Williams (New Zealand)

Professor A C Rocha-Campos (Brazil) was elected an Honorary Member of SCAR.

Scientific Standing Groups

back to top

The Standing Scientific Groups have established a number of sub-groups to accommodate the various activities in progress and being planned. Action Groups are short-term groups to address specific matters and will normally be expected to complete their activity in 2 - 4 years. Expert Groups will address matters on a longer time-scale. Scientific Programme Planning Groups may be established to develop plans for a research programme that will be presented to SCAR for adoption as a Scientific Research Programme. Such proposed programmes will normally be multi-disciplinary and will normally involve more than one Scientific Standing Group. There will normally be up to five Scientific Research Programmes representing priority research fields for SCAR. Each programme will be coordinated by a Scientific Programme Group.

At XXVII SCAR the Delegates approved the following sub-groups to take account of existing activities of the former Working Groups and Groups of Specialists and to prepare for activities planed for the future.

Geosciences

Chief Officer: Dr P E O'Brien (Australia)
Deputy Chief Officer: Prof A Capra (Italy)
Secretary: Prof B C Storey (New Zealand)

Action Groups on:

Age, Growth and Evolution of Antarctica (AGEANT)
Permafrost (PAG)
Communication and Outreach
Geospatial Information

Scientific Programme Planning Groups on:

Antarctic Climate Evolution (ACE)
Antarctic Neotectonics (ANTEC)
Scientific Programme Group on:
Subglacial Antarctic Lake Exploration (SALE)

Life Sciences

Chief Officer: Prof S L Chown (South Africa)
Deputy Chief Officer: Prof L A Palinkas (United States)
Secretary: Dr A H L Huiskes (The Netherlands)

Action Groups on:

Global International Waters Assessment (GIWA)
Best Practices for Conservation

Expert Groups on:

Birds
Seals
Human Biology and Medicine

Scientific Programme Planning Groups on:

Evolution and Biodiversity in Antarctica: the Response of Life to Change
Biological Monitoring

Scientific Programme Groups on:

Ecology of the Antarctic Sea-Ice Zone (EASIZ)
Antarctic Pack Ice Seals (APIS)
Evolutionary Biology of Antarctic Organisms (EVOLANTA)

Physical Sciences

Chief Officer: Dr J Turner (United Kingdom)
Deputy Chief Officer: Dr M Candidi (Italy)
Secretary: Dr T H Jacka (Australia)

Action Groups on:

Plateau Astronomy Site Testing in Antarctica (PASTA)
Middle Atmosphere Dynamics and Relativistic Electron Precipitation (MADREP)
Antarctic Peninsula Tropospheric&endash;Ionospheric Coupling (APTIC)
Oceanography
Reference Antarctic Data for Environmental Research (READER)
Antarctic Katabatic Winds
Antarctic Tropospheric Aerosols and their Role in Climate (ATAC)

Expert Groups on:

Solar-Terrestrial Processes and Space Weather (STEPS)
Antarctic Astronomy and Astrophysics (AAA)
Operational Meteorology in the Antarctic
Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level (ISMASS)
International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition (ITASE)
Antarctic Sea-Ice Processes and Climate (ASPeCt)

Scientific Programme Planning Groups on:

Antarctica and the Global Climate System
Inter-hemispheric Conjugacy on Environmental, Solar-Terrestrial and Atmospheric Research (ICESTAR)

Standing Committees

back to top

Antarctic Treaty System

Chief Officer: Prof D W H Walton (United Kingdom)
Deputy Chief Officer: Prof M C Kennicutt II (United States)
Secretary: Prof D M Stoddart (Australia)

To provide SCAR with independent scientific advice on issues relating to the Antarctic Treaty System, particularly the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, and to other relevant organizations as appropriate.

 Finance

Chief Officer: Dr R Schlich (France)
Deputy Chief Officer: Dr G Kleinschmidt (Germany)
Secretary: Dr S H Lee (Korea)

To advise SCAR on all financial matters, to prepare annual accounts and to propose balanced annual budgets.

[SCAR-COMNAP Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management (JCADM)]

Chief Officer: Mr D Peterson (New Zealand)
Deputy Chief Officer: Dr L Belbin (Australia)
Secretary: Dr T de Bruin (The Netherlands)

To advise SCAR (and COMNAP) on all aspects of Antarctic data matters.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

back to top

AAA Antarctic Astronomy and Astrophysics
ACE Antarctic Climate Evolution
AGEANT Age, Growth and Evolution of Antarctica
ANTEC Antarctic Neotectonics
APIS Antarctic Pack Ice Seals
APTIC Antarctic Peninsula Tropospheric-Ionospheric Coupling
ASPeCt Antarctic Sea-Ice Processes and Climate
ATAC Antarctic Tropospheric Aerosols and their role in Climate
ATS Antarctic Treaty System
COMNAP Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes
EASIZ Ecology of the Antarctic Sea-Ice Zone
EVOLANTA Evolutionary Biology of Antarctic Organisms
GIWA Global International Waters Assessment
ICESTAR Inter-hemispheric Conjugacy on Environmental, Solar-Terrestrial and Atmospheric Research
ISMASS Ice Sheet Mass Balance and Sea Level
ITASE International Trans-Antarctic Scientific Expedition
JCADM SCAR-COMNAP Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management
MADREP Middle Atmosphere Dynamics and Relativistic Electron Precipitation
PAG Permafrost (Action Group)
PASTA Plateau Astronomy Site Testing in Antarctica
READER Reference Antarctic Data for Environmental Research
SALE Subglacial Antarctic Lake Exploration
SCAR Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
STEPS Solar - Terrestrial Processes and Space Weather

back to top

Address List of SCAR Executive Committee, Honorary Members,
National Committees, Delegates and Officers

A Major International Prize for SCAR

Stations of SCAR Nations operating in the Antarctic, Winter 2002