The IUGG Electronic Journal

Volume 1 No. 11 (December 3, 2001)

This short, informal newsletter is intended to keep IUGG Member National Committees informed about the activities of the IUGG Associations, and actions of the IUGG Secretariat. Past issues are posted on the IUGG Web site. Please forward this message to those who will benefit from the information. Your comments are welcome.

Contents

1. President's visit to Association Assemblies
2. IAPSO awards first Prince Albert I Award to Walter Munk
3. New Secretaries-General of IAGA and SEDI
4. IUGG-related meetings occurring during November, 2001 - January 2002

1. President's visit to Association Assemblies

During the last quadrennium (1995--1999), IUGG President Peter Wyllie visited the Scientific Assemblies of most of the Associations. I was the IAGA President at that time, and remember with gratitude his visit to the 1997 IAGA Assembly held in Uppsala, Sweden. It helped the IAGA officers to understand what happens at the Union level, and strengthened
ties with the Union.

Upon becoming President following Peter, I decided to continue what he started as far as is practically possible. I began last summer, and continued to visit the Assemblies until this autumn. In October, I finally completed the tour to all of the Association Assemblies. My travels were as follows:

2000/07/17 -- 07/20 IAVCEI Dempasar (Indonesia)
2001/07/15 -- 07/17 IAMAS Innsbruck (Austria)
2001/07/18 -- 07/21 IAHS Maastricht (The Netherlands)
2001/08/18 -- 09/01 IAGA/IASPEI Hanoi (Vietnam)
2001/09/05 -- 09/09 IAG Budapest (Hungary)
2001/10/20 -- 10/29 IAPSO Mar del Plata (Argentina)

At the Assemblies, I joined in Opening Ceremonies, special lectures, or special symposia, as I could. But, in all cases I was invited to the meeting of the officers of the Associations (Bureau, Executive Committee) and was given a chance to explain what the Union is doing, especially concerning the preparations for the next Union General Assembly at Sapporo, Japan, in 2003. The travel required a lot of resources (time, air fare, etc.), but it was fruitful to know how individual Associations operate.

Entering into the 21st century, the IUGG is trying to reformulate our modus operandi to meet the needs and challenges of the present day and the world wide geophysics community. Thus it was quite important to exchange opinions with the Association officers. I was also informed of and impressed by the effort of several Associations which are trying to
change their structure or operation at the Association level. I benefited from these visits, and hope that the Association leaders also received good information about the Union activities.

For these trips, I did not use any of the IUGG funds. The travels were subsidized entirely by Japanese sources. I would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and Okayama University for funding. I also thank the Associations and local organizers of the Assemblies for their hospitality.

M. Kono, IUGG President

2. IAPSO awards first Prince Albert I Award to Walter Munk

The International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) presented their first Prince Albert I Medal to Dr. Walter Munk at their October Scientific Assembly in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Prof. Munk was recognized for "a half century of superb science and discoveries in physical oceanography." The medal is named for the late Prince Albert I of Monaco, who organized the oceanography section of IUGG in 1919. Prof. Munk teaches at the Scripps Institution's Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics in La Jolla, California, U.S.A.

3. New Secretaries-General of IAGA and SEDI

At their August Scientific Assembly, the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy elected a new Secretary-General for the 2001-2005 term. He is Dr. Bengt Hultqvist of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna, Sweden. His e-mail address is hultqv@irf.se.

The Inter Associations Committee on the Study of the Deep Interior of the Earth (SEDI) also has new Secretary-General. He is Dr. Michael I. Bergman at Simon's Rock College of Bard, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S.A. His e-mail address is bergman@simons-rock.edu.

4. IUGG-related meetings occurring during December, 2001 - February, 2002

A calendar of meetings of interest to IUGG disciplines (especially those organized by IUGG Associations) is posted on the IUGG Web Site [www.IUGG.org]. Specific information about these meetings can be found there. Individual Associations also list more meetings on their web sites appropriate to their disciplines.

• December 10-14 AGU, San Francisco, California, USA, AGU Fall Meeting

There are no January meetings in the data base.

• February 4-8 SCAR, Ithala Game Reserve, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Polar Conjugate Studies of Geospace and the Space Weather Environment
• February 4-8 Valencia, Spain, 3rd Spanish-Portuguese Assembly of Geodesy and Geophysics
• February 5-7 VAMOS/CLIVAR, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, Workshop on South American Low-level Jet (SALLJ)
• February 5-10 COSPAR, Sofia, Bulgaria, Plasma Processes in the Near-Earth Space: INTERBALL and Beyond
• February 11-15 AGU/ASLO, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, Ocean Sciences 2002

End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 1 Number 11 (December 3, 2001)
J. A. Joselyn, Secretary General  [ http://www.IUGG.org ]
jjoselyn@cires.colorado.edu, fax:  1 303 497 3645.