2. IUGG2015 – Congress of the Year
The Prague Convention Bureau (PCB), an association of professionals in the Prague’s meeting industry, is a non-profit organization established in 2008 with the principal aim to raise the awareness of the City of Prague as a convention destination. PCB runs an Ambassador Program, a project aimed at supporting the congress ambassadors, i.e. members of international professional associations such as renowned Czech scientists, doctors and other experts, as well as senior representatives from local branches of international companies based in the Czech Republic, who can influence the choice of destination for future conferences organized by these associations or companies in favor of Prague. Since 2010, PCB has organized an annual Ambassador Awards evening events, where eminent scientists and leading experts receive awards for their efforts in Prague congress tourism development. The awards are handed out by the Mayor of the City of Prague and the President of PCB. The latest Ambassador Awards Evening was organized on 7 June 2016 in the Prague Mayor's Residence. The 26th General Assembly of IUGG (IUGG2015) was awarded as Congress of the Year 2015. Vladimir Čermák, Chair of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of IUGG2015, received the award from the hands of the Mayor of Prague. Congratulations to Vladimir, the IUGG2015 LOC-Prague, and C-IN!
Eduard Petrovsky, Chair of the IUGG2015 Scientific Program Committee, and IAGA President
From left: Adriana Krnáčová, Mayor of Prague; Vladimír Čermák; Sanjiv Suri, President of PCB; and Karlab Šlechtová, Minister of Regional Development of the Czech Republic (photo: courtesy of PCB)
Congress of the Year 2015 Award (photo: courtesy of PCB )
________________________________________
3. Report on the 48th International Liège Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics
The 48th International Liège Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics took place in the University of Liège (ULg), Liège, Belgium, 23-27 May 2016. Every year, the colloquium addresses a cutting edge topic in Ocean Science with the goal being to foster discussions and collaborations among scientists from all around the world. The 48th edition of the colloquium was a success with 200 participants from more than 40 countries.
Group photo of the colloquium’s participant (photo: courtesy of C. Troupin)
Eight keynotes, 72 talks, and 143 posters were presented at the colloquium at seven topical sessions: (1) Multiscale interactions energy cascade, impact of submesoscales on other scales; (2) Mixed layer and frontal instabilities dynamical understanding, Lagrangian view, lateral mixing; (3) Internal waves, and Wavefront/eddy interactions; (4) Remote sensing of submesoscale dynamics – surface topography, ocean temperature and color; (5) Impact of atmospheric surface forcing, sea ice, river plumes and waves on mixed layer and submesoscale turbulence; (6) Physicalbiological interactions – implications for biogeochemistry, productivity, export, diversity and transport; and (7) Coastal submesoscale dynamics interaction with topography and bottom boundary.
The best poster awards were bestowed on early career scientists: Jacob M. Steinberg received the Jacques Nihoul Poster Award for his work entitled “The Evolution of a California Undercurrent Submesoscale Eddy (Cuddy)”, and Marina D. Moro received the Public Poster Award for her work on “3D reconstruction of mesoscale flows using observations of satellite high resolution data: twin experiments with a numerical model of the Solomon Sea”.
Most of the talks were followed by discussions. In order to increase the interactions between the young scientists (Master, PhD students and early postdocs) and some of the members of the scientific committee, two lunches were organized in the poster room. Each time about 25 people gathered (among which were 20 young scientists), and the lunches received a very good response from all the participants. IUGG provided financial support to the colloquium.
Submitted by Charles Troupin, co-organizer of 48th International Liège Colloquium
________________________________________
4. Report of the Second General Assembly of LACSC
The Second General Assembly of the Latin America and Caribbean Seismological Commission (LACSC), an IASPEI Regional Commission, was held in San José, Costa Rica, 20-22 June 2016. This Assembly was organized by the Costa Rica Volcanological and Seismological Observatory, a research institute at the National University in Heredia, and by the Costa Rica National Academy of Science, the IUGG Adhering Organization in Costa Rica. Given the prestige that seismological institutions have in Costa Rica, this event was declared of Public Interest in an official decree by the President of Costa Rica and the Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications. The Vice-President of Costa Rica, Ms. Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría, attended and officially opened the Assembly. Also present at the stage during the inauguration were the Acting Minister of Science and Technology of Costa Rica, the Chancellor of the National University, the President of the Costa Rica Academy of Sciences, and the President of the National Emergency Commission. A total of 207 participants from 37 countries submitted 283 abstracts to this assembly. The scientific program encompassed 16 sessions including a Forum on the Costa Rica Building Code and a special session on the Pedernales, Ecuador Earthquake, where for the first time data and results from this event were shared in an international meeting.
Taking advantage of the large and broad participation at the LACSC2016, two workshops were held in Costa Rica right after the assembly: (i) workshop on Seismic Hazard in South America, Central America and the Caribbean, organized by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Chile with support from the USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA); and (ii) expert workshop on Tsunami Sources for Central America, funded by UNESCO. The LOC of the LACSC2016 Assembly supported all students and early career scientists, who requested a travel support. 53 students and 31 early career scientists have been funded; thanks to the support from IUGG/IASPEI, USAID/OFDA, Seismological Society of America, and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS).
Two business meetings of LACSC were held during this assembly, one meeting of the Officers of the Executive Committee and Council, and a second meeting being a Plenary Session. An amendment to LACSC statutes was introduced to make them compatible with the new IASPEI statutes in terms of membership. A new Executive Committee was elected consisting of Victor Huérfano from Puerto Rico as President, Marino Protti (Costa Rica) as Past-President, Mario Ruiz (Ecuador) as Vice-President, Marcelo Assumpção (Brazil) as Executive Secretary, Patricia Alvarado (Argentina), Leandro Rodríguez (Peru), Sergio Barrientos (Chile), Franck Audemard (Venezuela), Eduardo Camacho (Panama), Xyoli Pérez-Campos (Mexico) and Lloyd Lynch (Trinidad and Tobago). Puerto Rico was chosen as the venue for the next LACSC2018 Assembly. That assembly will be held jointly with the Annual Meeting of the Seismological Society of America in April 24-26, 2018.
Submitted by Marino Protti, President of LACSC
________________________________________
5. News from the International Council for Science (ICSU)
Call for applications: Future Earth Science Committee
Send in applications by 11 September 2016 (11:00 UTC) to join the Future Earth Science Committee and advise Future Earth on generating science that is solution-focused and of the highest quality. Future Earth is now accepting applications for six new members to join its Science Committee. You can see the full announcement at: http://futureearth.org/news/call-applications-future-earth-engagement-committee-0. Future Earth will add six new members to the Science Committee. They will be appointed by 1 December, 2016 and should be present at the Science Committee meeting on the week of 20 March, 2017 in Montreal, Canada.
Future Earth is a 10-year international research programme that seeks to generate the knowledge needed to support transformations to sustainability around the world. Future Earth brings together thousands of researchers from the natural and social sciences, as well as engineering, the humanities and law. The Future Earth Science Committee is a strategic advisory group that provides scientific guidance to Future Earth. Working together with the Future Earth Engagement Committee and the Secretariat, the Science Committee reviews new and existing projects and initiatives, advises the Secretariat and Governing Council on research priorities for Future Earth, helps to mobilize research capacities globally and works to ensure that Future Earth science is both solution-focused and of the highest quality.
Source: Future Earth website
________________________________________
6. Meeting calendar
A calendar of meetings of interest to IUGG disciplines (especially those organized by IUGG Associations) is posted on the IUGG website (http://www.iugg.org/calendar.php). Individual Associations also list more meetings on their websites according to their disciplines.
September
-2-10, IAVCEI, Shikotsu and Toya Calderas, Japan, 6th Workshop & 4th Course on Collapse Caldera. Web: https://staff.aist.go.jp/geshi-nob/CCC/
-4-7, IAG, Wroclaw, Poland, IAG Commission 4 Positioning and Applications Symposium. Web: http://www.igig.up.wroc.pl/IAG2016/
-4-9, IAMAS, IUGG, Edinburgh, UK, Quadrenial Ozone Symposium 2016. Web: http://www.ozone-symposium-2016.org
-4-11, IASPEI, Trieste, Italy, 35th General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission. Web: http://www.35esc2016.eu
-4-10, IAGA, Dourbes, Belgium, XVIIth IAGA Workshop on Geomagnetic Observatory Instruments, Data Acquisition and Processing. Web:http://www.meteo.be/meteo/view/en/20342754-IAGA+2016.html
-5-9, IACS, Reykjavik, Iceland, 6th International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration. Web: http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/marspolar2016/
-11-17, CODATA, WDS, Denver, CO, USA, International Data Week 2016. Web: http://www.internationaldataweek.org/
-12-15, IAG, Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal, 18th General Assembly of WEGENER. Web: http://wegener.segal.ubi.pt
-19-24, IAGA, IUGG, URSI, Hermanus, South Africa, 7th biennial VERSIM and Radiation Belt Symposia. Web:http://events.sansa.org.za/versim-information
-19-23, IAG, Thessaloniki, Greece, 1st Joint Commission 2 and IGFS Meeting. International Symposium on Gravity, Geoid and Height Systems 2016. Web: http://gghs2016.com/
-23-25, Chinese National Committee for IUGG, Nanjing, China, 2nd Congress of China Geodesy and Geophysics (2nd CCGG). Web:http://cnc-iugg2.csp.escience.cn/dct/page/70016
-26-27, IAHS, Quebec City, Canada, STAHY 2016 Workshop. Web: http://stahy2016.ca/
October
-3-9, IAVCEI, IUGG, Rhodes, Greece, Advanced International School on “Early Warning Systems for Geohazards”
-5-6, IAG, Bonn, Germany, First International Workshop on VLBI Observations of Near-field Targets. Web: http://www3.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/div/meetings/vonft/
-9-14, GFZ, Potsdam, Germany, 20th International Workshop on Laser Ranging. Web: http://iwslr2016.gfz-potsdam.de/international-workshop-on-laser-ranging/
-10-23, IAVCEI, Olot, Spain, 5th International Course on Volcanology (in Spanish). Web: http://www.gvb-csic.es/CURSO/CURSO_OLOT/Home.html
-11-13, IAPSO, IUGG, Brest, France, ACO2016. A connected Ocean. Web: http://aconnectedocean.sciencesconf.org/
-21-22, CCEC, IAG, IUGG, Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 2nd Workshop of the IUGG Union Commission on Climatic and Environmental Change. Web: http://ccec-iugg.org/content/ccec-2016-luxembourg
-24-28, IAG, Cambridge, MA, USA, GGOS Days. Web: http://www.ggos.org/
-24-28, ICTP, IUGG, Trieste, Italy, School on Recent Advances in Analysis of Multivariate Ecological Data: Theory and Practice. Web:http://indico.ictp.it/event/7617/
-26-28, IAHS, Gaborone, Botswana, Integrated Water Resources Management: Water Security, Sustainability and Development in Eastern and Southern Africa. Web: http://www.waternetonline.org/
-31 October – 4 November, IAG, La Rochelle, France, International Doris Service Workshop (IDS). Web: http://www.ostst-altimetry-2016.com/
November
-14-18, ICTP, IUGG, San Jose, Costa Rica, Second Workshop on Climate Change, Variability and Modeling over Central America and Mexico. Web: http://indico.ictp.it/event/7621
-13-17, IAHS, Shenzhen and Wuhan, China, International Workshop on Hydrological Knowledge Innovation and its Practices in Developing Countries.
Web: http://iahs.info/uploads/Meetings/Workshop%20Announcement_2016_HKIPDC.pdf
-16-18, IAG, Quito, Ecuador, Sub-commission 1.3b Reference Frame for South and Central America (SIRGAS) Symposium 2016. Web:http://www.igm.gob.ec/sirgas/
-20-25, IAVCEI, Puerto Varas, Chile, Cities on Volcanoes 9. Web: https://www.citiesonvolcanoes9.com/en/
-21, IAHS, Frascati, Italy, MOXXI 2016 – Measurements and Observations in the 21st Century Conference. Web:http://iahs.info/Commissions--W-Groups/Working-Groups/MOXXI/Information/AGU-2015/
-21-25, IAG, Quito, Ecuador, SIRGAS School on Vertical Reference Systems. Web: http://www.igm.gob.ec/sirgas/
________________________________________
End of IUGG Electronic Journal Volume 16 Number 9 (1 September 2016)
Editors: Tom Beer, Alik Ismail-Zadeh (Editor-in-Chief), Franz Kuglitsch (Associate Editor), and Kathryn Whaler.
