The IUGG Electronic Journal

Volume 4 No. 11 (November 1, 2004)

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. 2007 General Assembly Web site now activated
  2. ICSU Grants Programme for 2006
  3. Report of the 9th SEDI International Symposium
  4. Corrections and updates to the IUGG Yearbook now due
  5. IGY+50 Developments
  6. SCOPE Executive Committee nominations are invited
  7. IUGG-related meetings occurring during November 2004 - January 2005

1. 2007 General Assembly Web site now activated

The Theme for the 2007 General Assembly is Earth: Our Changing Planet.

The Perugia Local Organizing Committee has activated the web site www.IUGG2007Perugia.it and invites everyone to download the First Call and the mailing list form. Printed copies will be available at the Association scientific assemblies, and at the IUGG booth at the Fall American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.


2. ICSU Grants Programme for 2006

ICSU has announced the procedures to apply for grants for 2006. Because the total amount of money available is only $350,000 (USD) compared with $800,000 for 2004, there will be no Category I grants for 2006.

Proposals are limited to 50,000 Euros or less (Category 2), and grants must be spent in 2006. IUGG is permitted to submit only 2 grant proposals as the lead applicant. Proposals must address one of 5 priority areas as specified in the documents. These 5 areas are:

  1. Science and Technology for Sustainable Development
  2. Capacity Building and Science Education
  3. Science/Policy Interface
  4. Dissemination of Data and/or Information from Science and Technology
  5. Emerging Science -- Creation of New Knowledge

Proposals for 2006 are due in Paris by 1 March 2005. Contact the IUGG Secretariat (secretariat@iugg.org) for necessary forms and additional information.


3. Report of the 9th SEDI International Symposium

The 9th International Symposium on Study of the Earth's Deep Interior (SEDI) was held 4-9 July 2004, in Garmisch-Partenkirchern, Germany. An excellent report on the meeting written by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Christensen has been received in which he reported that 164 participants, including 44 students, enjoyed a congenial atmosphere, high-quality scientific presentations and discussions, and good interaction across disciplinary boundaries. At each session, an overview lecture and two invited talks were followed by a long break to view posters that ended in a one-hour plenary discussion. Discussion leaders identified key questions or controversies and selected a few poster presenters to give micro-presentations to the plenum. This strategy proved to be highly effective. Among the sessions that were organized, a large number of contributions addressed Earth's magnetic field and the dynamo process that generates it in the liquid core. Other topics included the composition and temperature of Earth's lower mantle and core, global seismic tomography, and the interiors of our planetary sisters, for which space missions in the last decade have provided new and sometimes unexpected constraints. As a special feature of the SEDI symposia, the Doornboos prizes were awarded. These prizes, which commemorate the life and work of Durk Doornboos, were awarded to Arwen Deuss of the University of Cambridge, UK, and Cinzia Farnetani of IGBP, France.

SEDI is a Union (formerly called Inter-Associations) Commission of IUGG, sponsored by IAG, IAGA, IASPEI, and IAVCEI. The next symposium will be in 2006, at a location yet to be determined.


4. Corrections and updates to the IUGG Yearbook now due

Corrections and updates to the information contained in the IUGG Yearbook are now being finalized in preparation for the 2005 Yearbook. Please contact the IUGG Secretariat as soon as possible or by November 28 (secretariat@iugg.org) with additions and corrections.


5. IGY+50 Developments

Barbara Thompson, a member of the International Heliophysical Year (IHY) Organizing Committee, informed IUGG that the US Senate passed a resolution on October 11 that endorses the concept of a worldwide campaign of scientific activity for the 2007-2008 timeframe and directs the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in association with the National Academy of Sciences and other relevant governmental and nongovernmental organizations, to continue interagency and international inquiries and discussions that ensure a successful worldwide international science year in the 2007-2008 timeframe. Activities are expected to emphasize global environmental research, education, and protection. A report describing possible activities and organizational structures for an international science year in 2007-2008 is due to the US Congress no later than March 15, 2005. The full text of the Senate Bill can be found on the IHY web page (ihy.gsfc.nasa.gov) under Newsroom.

D. Pallamraju, Scientific Coordinator for the SCOSTEP initiative CAWSES (Climate And Weather of the Sun-Earth System) reports that there has been remarkable progress on various activities in the past six months. Please download their September newsletter which can be found on the CAWSES website www.bu.edu/cawses.


6. SCOPE Executive Committee nominations are invited

The ICSU Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) will elect a new Executive Committee at its upcoming Assembly in February to govern the affairs of SCOPE until 2008. Officers and Members of the Executive Committee are elected only for one term and consequently all 10 positions in the Executive Committee are renewed at each Assembly. The composition of the Executive Committee and the person now serving in that position follow:

  • President -- Jerry Melillo (USA)
  • Vice-President -- Wang Rusong (China)
  • Vice-President -- Bernard Goldstein (USA)
  • Past-President -- (not subject to election)
  • Treasurer -- Ian Douglas (UK)
  • Secretary General -- Osvaldo Sala (Argentina/IGBP)
  • Members representing adhering countries (3) and adhering ICSU Unions and Scientific Committees (2):
    • Himansu Balijnath (South Africa/IUBS)
    • Manuwadi Hungspreugs (Thailand)
    • Venugopalan Ittekkot (Germany)
    • Holm Tiessen (Canada)
    • Reynaldo Victoria (Brazil)

IUGG may propose candidates for one or more positions in the new Executive Committee. Each nomination must specify the position in the Executive Committee for which the candidate is nominated, and must be supported by a curriculum vita as well as a message signed by the candidate indicating his/her willingness to serve if elected. Nominations are due by 7 January 2005. Please contact the IUGG secretariat for additional information.

In addition, IUGG may submit items and issues to be included in the XII General Assembly Agenda. These are due by 5 November. Any report that IUGG would like to make on our activities that are relevant to SCOPE is needed by 31 December.


7. IUGG-Related Meetings Occurring during November 2004 - January 2005

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

October 25 - November 5, 2004
ICTP; Miramare - Trieste, Italy; 7th Workshop on 3-D Modeling of Seismic Waves Generation, Propagation and their Inversion

November 2 - November 4, 2004
IAHS; Windhoek, Namibi; 5th WATERnet/WARFSA Symposium, IWRM and the Millennium Development Goals: Managing Water for Peace and Prosperity

November 7 - November 10, 2004
ICSU; Berlin, Germany; 19th CODATA International Conference

November 8 - November 11, 2004
IAPSO/GOOS/SCOR; Cape Town, South Africa; International Workshop on Forecasting and Data Assimilation for the Benguela Current and Comparable Systems

November 9 - November 17, 2004
IAGA; Kakioka and Tsukuba, Japan; XIth IAGA Workshop on Geomagnetic Observatory Instruments, Data Acquisition, and Processing

November 14 - November 19, 2004
IAVCEI; Pucon, Chile; General Assembly: "Volcanism and its Impact on Society"

November 15 - November 20, 2004
SCOPE; New Delhi, India; 12th General Assembly

November 19 - November 23, 2004
IAHS; Laghouat, Algeria; L'eau et le risque dans le contexte saharien

November 27 - December 2, 2004
ICSU; Santa Cruz de Tenerife; Workshop on Comet/Asteroid Impacts And Human Society

December 2 - December 4, 2004
IUGG GeoRisk Commission; Hyderabad, India; Conference on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability

December 6 - December 8, 2004
IAG; University of New South Wales; Sydney, Australia; The 2004 International Symposium on GPS/GNSS (GNSS 2004)

December 6 - December 9, 2004
Japan Water Forum; Tokyo, Japan; International Conference on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

December 6 - December 10, 2004
WMO/IAMAS; Montreal, Canada; The 1st International Science Symposium for THORPEX: A Global Atmospheric Research Programme

December 13 - December 17, 2004
AGU; San Francisco, California - USA; Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union

December 15 - December 18, 2004
IAHS; Hong Kong, China; 4th International Symposium on Environmental Hydraulics -and- 14th Congress of Asia and Pacific Division International Association of Hydraulic Engineering Research

January 13 - January 15, 2005
UNESCO; Paris, France; Physics for Tomorrow, the Launch Conference of the UN International Year of Physics 2005

January 17 - January 23, 2005
IAG/IASPEI; Trieste, Italy; Joint Capacity Building Workshop on Deformation Measurements and Understanding Natural Hazards in Developing Countries

January 18 - January 22, 2005
UN-ISDR; Kobe, Japan; World Conference on Disaster Reduction

January 31 - February 5, 2005
IAG; Budapest, Hungary; International IGeS Geoid School


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. Your comments are welcome.


End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 4 Number 11 (November 1, 2004)
J. A. Joselyn, Secretary General  [ http://www.IUGG.org ]
jjoselyn@cires.colorado.edu, fax:  1 303 497 3645.