pdf SCAR XXXVII Paper 12: Life Sciences Group (SG-LS)

XXXVII SCAR Delegates Meeting
5-7 September 2022, Goa, India

SCAR XXXVII Paper 12: Life Sciences Group (SG-LS)

Agenda Item: 4.2.2
Person Responsible: Yan Ropert-Coudert
Report Authors: Yan Ropert-Coudert, Marc Shepanek and Ian McDonald

Summary

Over the last 2 years the Life Sciences group has done work to help support the action and expert groups during this period of significant COVID disruption, including the reallocation of funding to help support BEPSII to fund and run a summer school, during the recent Arctic summer in Canada, as well as to help ImPACT develop an interactive map for chemical pollution in Antarctica.

During this period the leadership of the group have all come to the ends of their terms of office and as such a new leadership team was elected during the recent business meeting: Ian McDonald (CO – NZ), Natalie Pattyn (Deputy CO – Belgium/JEGHBM) and Byron Adams (Secretary – USA).

A number of groups have requested extensions: Extension of expert group EG-ABI for 6 years; Extension of action group PLASTICS for 2 years; Extension of action group ImPACT for 1 year, with unanimous approval from all members present given for all extensions. SKAG requested to become an expert group (SKEG) and this also received unanimous approval from all members present.

The group also has a proposal to formalize as a rule in the “Rules of Procedure for SCAR Subsidiary Bodies” that the LS Deputy CO is a member of JEGHBM. This would require a recommendation to the Delegates for rewording the language in section 3.4.1. as follows: “The three officers should be from different scientific disciplines within the overall discipline of the SG, and from different regions. The Deputy Chief Officer of Life Sciences will be a member of JEGHBM, if nominee available. Appointments must be approved by the Meeting of Delegates”. This proposal received unanimous approval from all members present.