BISO Briefs

UN Approved 2008 as Year of Planet Earth Highlights from ICSU’s 28th General Assembly African Science Academy Initiative BISO Welcomes New Policy Fellow UN Approved 2008 as Year of Planet Earth During the 2005 General Assembly meeting the United Nations proclaimed 2008 as International Year of Planet Earth. The initiative was lead by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) with the support of scientific unions for geodesy and geophysics (IUGG), geography (IGU), soil sciences (IUSS), and quaternary research (INQUA). This is the biggest ever international effort to promote the Earth sciences. The Year’s project leader, former IUGS President Professor Eduardo F J de Mulder, aims to raise $20 million from industry and governments and will spend half on co-funding research and half on outreach activities. The Year’s activities will span 2007-2009 with the objective to: • Reduce risks for society caused by natural and human-induced hazards, • Reduce health problems by improving understanding of the medical aspects of Earth science, • Discover new natural resources and make them available in a sustainable manner, • Build safer structures and expand urban areas, utilizing natural subsurface conditions, • Determine the non-human factor in climatic change, • Enhance understanding of the occurrence of natural resources so as to contribute to efforts to reduce political tension, • Detect deep and poorly accessible groundwater resources, • Improve understanding of the evolution of life, • Increase interest in the Earth sciences in society at large and • Encourage more young people to study Earth science in university. Back to BISO Briefs Highlights from ICSU’s 28th General Assembly Suzhou, China, 18-21 October 2006 Dr. Michael Clegg, the Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences, led the U.S. delegation to the ICSU General Assembly. Dr. Cynthia Beall, chair of BISO, and Dr. Hassan Virji, member of BISO, joined the delegation. Wendy White, BISO Director, also attended the General Assembly. Delegations from 63 National Members and from 25 Scientific Unions attended the General Assembly, ICSU’s highest governing authority which meets every three years. One of the primary goals of this meeting was to debate and approve ICSU’s first ever strategic plan. This ambitious plan, which BISO had thoroughly reviewed at various draft stages, is the culmination of a consultative process that ICSU initiated at the 2002 General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro. Covering the years 2006 to 2011, the plan outlines both a new vision and a new mode of operation for the Council. Click here for a copy of the strategic plan. Another major purpose of the General Assembly is to elect new officers and new members of the Executive Board. Goverdhan Mehta (India) is ICSU’s new President. Catherine Bréchignac (France) is the President-elect and will take over as President in 2008. Khotso Mokhele (South Africa) is Vice-President for Scientific Planning and Review and Hernan Chaimovich (Brazil) is Vice-President for External Relations. Ana-Maria Cetto (Mexico) will serve a second term as Secretary General and Roger Elliott will serve a second term as treasurer. BISO chair, Cynthia Beall, was successful in her bid to become a member of the Executive Board. Other members of the board are: Giovanni Berlucchi, Bryan Henry, Uri Shamir, Michel Denis, Sergio Pastrana, Francis Gudyanga, and Congbin Fu. Back to BISO Briefs African Science Academy Initiative Patrick Kelly, Director of the Board on African Science Academy Development (BASAD), recently briefed BISO staff on a partnership program between African Science Academies and the U.S. National Academies.  The U.S. National Academies received a 10-year grant of $20 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support African Academies of Science in developing their capacity to provide independent, evidence–based advice to their governments---primarily on health-related matters. Through mentorship programs the project aims to build the infrastructure and personnel of existing scientific academies. Scientific academies of Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda have been competitively chosen to participate initially in the program. Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and the African Academy of Sciences will be given seed money to develop a plan of action for fostering donor and scientific program partners. One of the greatest challenges facing the project is to encourage the academies to reach out to their governments to provide needed advice on issues of concern.  As such, part of the project will focus on a series of roundtables that will engage a broad range of scientist and government officials in building and promoting the visibility and strength of the respective academies. To learn more please visit the BASAD Web site. Back to BISO Briefs BISO Welcomes New Policy Fellow Katherine Bowman recently joined BISO as an NRC Policy Fellow.  She will be helping with the preparations for an international workshop to be sponsored by the Royal Society in London on science and technology developments relevant to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC).  The workshop will continue international scientific engagement on biosecurity issues.  It is also hoped that knowledge and recommendations that might be generated as a result of the workshop will be useful in informing some the discussions at the 6th Review Conference of the BTWC to be held at the end of 2006.  Katherine recently completed her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University.  Her doctoral research focused on using polymeric nanoparticles to deliver DNA for factor VIII, a coagulation protein that is defective in the disease hemophilia A.  She received a B.A. in biology from Amherst College and conducted research for her honors thesis on plant population genetics.  Katie is looking forward to working at the Academies and hopes to gain a greater understanding of the realities under which policy is made and the areas in which scientists can contribute to inform the policy debate.  She is particularly interested in emerging biomedical technologies, the ethical issues that may be involved with such research, and both the benefits and the potential misuses of such scientific advances. Union News United States to Host 2008 URSI General Assembly ICO Approved as Scientific Associate Member of ICSU Two USNC-URSI Members Honored at 2005 General Assembly IUPAP Hosts World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development INQUA Approved as Full Member of ICSU United States to Host 2008 URSI General Assembly Delegates to the 2005 URSI General Assembly approved a bid by the United States to host the 2008 triennial meeting. George Uslenghi, incoming chair of the USNC-URSI, will chair the organizing committee and serve as associate coordinator of the scientific program. Three bids were considered for the 2008 meeting: Chicago, USA; Goteborg, Sweden; and Istanbul, Turkey. The United States. also had submitted a bid in 2002 to host the 2005 meeting, yet was ranked third after India and China. Much of the concern at that time involved U.S. visa policy and practice. The approval of Chicago as a meeting site represents a significant reversal of worldwide opinion and a vote of confidence in improved visa processing. ICO Approved as Scientific Associate Member of ICSU The International Commission on Optics (ICO) was approved as an International Scientific Associate member of ICSU at the latter’s General Assembly in China in October 2005. Because optics is deeply rooted in Physics, the ICO will also keep its status as an Affiliated Commission in the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. ICSU recognition is considered a first step towards the recognition of optics as a scientific discipline of its own. To celebrate the organization’s new status, the ICO is planning a special event at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste on February 1, 2006. This date coincides with the 2006 ICTP Winter College on Optics. During the ICTP Winter College (30 January-10 February 2006), there will be an ICO-ICTP Prize ceremony and the annual meeting of the Trieste System on Optical Sciences and Applications.

Two USNC-URSI Members Honored at 2005 General Assembly

Prof. Yahya Rahmat-Samii was awarded the Booker Gold Medal. This award recognizes career achievements of the individual, as well as outstanding contributions to telecommunications or a related discipline within the most recent six-year period. The citation accompanying Prof. Rahmat-Samii’s medal stated, “For fundamental contributions to reflector antenna design and practice, near-field measurements and diagnostic techniques, handheld antennas and human interactions, genetic algorithms in electromagnetics, and the spectral theory of diffraction”. Prof. Susan Hagness won the Issac Koga Gold Medal. This award recognizes outstanding contributions by any young scientist (not more than 35 years of age) to any of the branches of science covered by the Commissions of URSI. The citation accompanying her medal stated: “For contributions to the development of enhanced finite-difference time-domain methods in computational electromagnetics, and ultrawideband microwave imaging techniques for early breast cancer detection". Back to Union News IUPAP Hosts World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development Following a successful General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa in October 2005, many of the delegates flew to Durban where they were joined by several hundred other scientists and educators at the World Conference on Physics and Sustainable Development (WCPSD). The October 31-November 2 event followed up on the UNESCO-ICSU World Conference on Science, held in June 1999, as well as the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, during the summer of 2002. Conference presentations and discussions in Durban focused on four themes: Energy and Environment, Physics and Health, Physics Education, and Physics and Economic Development. For each theme, an international program committee was formed to help conference participants summarize an action plan for the future. Much of this work is occurring electronically, and bulletin boards have been established on the WCPSD Web site for this purpose. INQUA Approved as Full Member of ICSU INQUA was approved as a full member of ICSU during the October 2005 General Assembly in China. Back to Union News Scientific and Technological Issues Geologists Plan Symposium for Soil Science Congress Seeking New Frontiers in Soil Science DIVERSITAS Open Science Conference: "Integrating Biodiversity Science for Human Well-Being" Geologists Plan Symposium for Soil Science Congress Members of the national committee for geological sciences have organized a symposium for the upcoming World Congress of Soil Science, to be held in Philadelphia July 9-15. The symposium, focusing on soil sustainability, will provide an opportunity for a broader community of scientists to engage in a dialog on sustainability and renewable and nonrenewable resource management. There are many issues where the physical, biological, and social sciences can and should work together, including landslides and slope stability; soil erosion and surface runoff; soil quality and land use; chemical, biological, and physical soil processes; carbon sequestration; resource assessment; and expected demand to gain an understanding of sustainable development for current and future generations. More information on the Congress can be found at www.18wcss.org. Seeking New Frontiers in Soil Science More than 120 scientists from various disciplines and from around the world attended a valuable three-day workshop that addressed emerging research opportunities in soil science at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, DC, December 12-14. The President of the National Academy of Sciences, Ralph Cicerone, welcomed the participants noting the complexity of soils and the challenges facing soil science research. Brent Clothier of the Horticultural and Food Research Institute of New Zealand gave a keynote speech describing how New Zealand’s soil science research funding was restructured after identifying and interacting with end-users and stakeholders, clarifying their needs, and exploring the value of soil science as an ecosystem service. A workshop report will be released later this year. More information, including audio files of the presentations, may be obtained on the Frontiers in Soil Science Research Web site. DIVERSITAS Open Science Conference: "Integrating Biodiversity Science for Human Well-Being" The first DIVERSITAS Open Science Conference was held 9-12 November 2005 in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Oaxaca conference was a great success with close to 700 leading and young scientists from 60 countries representing many facets of biodiversity science and policy. The goal of the Open Science Conference was to provide a comprehensive global overview of the current status of biodiversity science and future directions for international research. It is part of a long-term strategy by DIVERSITAS to increase global capabilities for understanding, predicting, and assessing biodiversity changes that will impact the function of ecosystems and human health. The National Committee for DIVERSITAS received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support 35 scientists from across the globe to participate in the conference. The individuals supported by the NSF award presented their research in five symposia covering the following topics: Remote sensing technologies to access, monitor, and manage biodiversity loss, Phylogeny and patterns of biodiversity through time and across landscapes, Freshwater biodiversity, Agricultural biodiversity, and Crop pollination services – economic and human impact. represented a breadth of perspectives from various regions throughout the world, particularly scientists from developing countries. Information about the conference and resulting news articles, please see: http://www.diversitas-international.org/ Capacity Building Call for Applicants: Climate Change Workshop Pakistan and Iraq Benefit from On-line Access to Scientific Information International Reception at Atlanta American Chemical Society Meeting URSI Supports Young Talent Call for Applicants: Climate Change Workshop The USNC/INQUA and the American Quaternary Association (AMQUA) are co organizing an educator’s workshop on climate change with a grant from the National Science Foundation. The workshop is scheduled to take place August 14-15, 2006 prior to the biennial AMQUA meeting in Bozeman, Montana. The aim of the session---Teaching Climate Change: Lessons from the Past---is to offer resources and techniques to help university-level educators integrate current developments in climate change research into science curricula. The workshop led by keynote speakers Dr. William F. Ruddiman, (University of Virginia) and Dr Mark Chandler (Columbia University) will include demonstrations, writing sessions, and discussion periods. Pakistan and Iraq Benefit from On-line Access to Scientific Information In 2005 the Pakistan scientific community gained wider access to U.S. scientific journals and databases through a program administered by BISO Director Wendy White together with Kamran Naim of the Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC). The Pakistan Digital Library Project established relationships with scientific societies and associations enabling Pakistan scientific community to obtain affordable rates to on-line scientific information. Building on these relationships, Ms. White and Mr. Naim are currently working with these and other scientific associations to bring similar results to the Iraq scientific community beginning in 2006. The success of the Pakistan program is a result of the generosity of the following participating organizations: American Chemical Society American Physical Society American Institute for Physics American Association of Physics Teachers Optical Society of America American Society for Microbiology American Society for Civil Engineering American Society for Mechanical Engineering American Society for Agricultural Engineers Association for Computing Machinery Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers American Association for the Advancement of Science Interview with Kamran Naim of the HEC For more information contact Wendy White, wwhite@nas.edu Back to Capacity Building International Reception at Atlanta American Chemical Society Meeting The national committee for IUPAC is once again co hosting a reception with the International Activities Committee of the American Chemical Society (ACS). IUPAC affiliates and members of the national committee together with international members of the ACS and the ACS Executive Board will attend the Saturday, March 25 in Atlanta. This reception is in conjunction with the ACS national meeting and is a great opportunity to introduce U.S. and international chemists from industry, academia, and government to the workings of IUPAC and the national committee. URSI Supports Young Talent The national committee for URSI has always taken a very proactive approach in involving graduate students and other young scientists in the organization and the field of radio science. The committee has used a substantial part of its private resources as well as its NSF funds to provide travel and other support to a number of young scientists so they could attend important meetings and gatherings. These include: Awards of $590 each to graduate students to attend the 2006 USNC-URSI meeting in Boulder, Colorado Awards of $590 each to graduate students to attend the 2005 USNC-URSI meeting in Boulder, Colorado Awards of $1000 each to young scientists from the USA to attend the 2005 General Assembly in India The committee also supports a Student Paper Contest at its annual meeting. The awards are for the best three scientific papers presented by students at the annual URSI national meeting in Boulder, Colorado. The awards include a cash prize as well as travel support to attend the annual meeting. In addition, the USNC was pleased to see two special events held for young scientists during the 2005 URSI General Assembly in India. These were a young scientists gathering on October 24 and tea for young scientists hosted by the President of India, His Excellency, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at his official residence on October 27. While USNC funds were not used for this event, the committee applauds the attention paid to young scientists. Information and Data CODATA Workshop on Scientific Information in Southern Africa Global Information Commons for Science Initiative Launched USNC/CODATA Involvement in the World Summit on the Information Society CODATA Workshop on Scientific Information in Southern Africa The USNC/CODATA co-organized a major workshop in Pretoria, South Africa on 5-7 September 2005 together with the South African CODATA Committee, the National Research Foundation of South Africa, and the CODATA Task Group on Preservation and Access to Scientific and Technical Data in Developing Countries. The title of the Workshop was Strategies for Permanent Access to Scientific Information in Southern Africa: Focus on Health and Environmental Information for Sustainable Development. Information about this event is available at: http://stardata.nrf.ac.za/html/workshopCodata1.html. The Workshop report will be published by the National Research Foundation in February 2006 and will be freely available through this Web site. Back to Information and Data Global Information Commons for Science Initiative Launched The USNC/CODATA was instrumental in developing an important international initiative focused on promoting open access to scientific information from publicly funded research. The committee director co-chaired an international workshop on this topic at UNESCO in Paris on 1-2 September 2005. Information about that meeting is available at http://www.codataweb.org/UNESCOmtg/index.html. The results of the September workshop led to the launching of the Global Information Commons for Science Initiative at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in November. The Initiative, which is led by CODATA in collaboration with the other ICSU data and information groups, is also supported by UNESCO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), and the Science Commons. Background on the Initiative may be found at: http://www.codata.org/wsis/GICSI-prospectus.html. Back to Information and Data USNC/CODATA Involvement in the World Summit on the Information Society The second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was held in Tunis, Tunisia on 16-18 November 2005. The USNC/CODATA played a key supporting role on behalf of the United States and the international scientific and technical (S&T) community leading up to and during the WSIS. At the national level, the committee: (a) compiled an inventory of U.S. public sector scientific and technical activities that responded to the actions items proposed in the WSIS I Agenda for Action ; (b) held public meetings as a forum for discussing national S&T interests in WSIS; (c) worked with S&T organizations at the national level to coordinate input into the WSIS process; (d) coordinated with the State Department on issues and positions leading up to WSIS II; and (e) maintained and updated the National Academies' WSIS Web portal (see http://wsis.nap.edu/). At the international level, the USNC: (a) tracked the international developments related to WSIS II, with specific attention to S&T issues and activities; (b) worked with other foreign S&T organizations, particularly ICSU and CODATA, to coordinate activities and develop common positions for WSIS II; (c) developed, in conjunction with CODATA, the Global Information Commons for Science Initiative, which was formally announced at the WSIS in Tunis; and (d) actively participated in WSIS II, including S&T-related side meetings in Tunis. Additional information about some of these activities is located at http://www7.nationalacademies.org/usnc-codata/WSIS_Summary.html. Back to Information and Data Back to Table of Contents Membership News We would like to welcome the following members to the national committee network: Hal Abelson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USNC/CODATA William L. Anderson, Praxis101, Co-Chair of the CODATA Task Group on Preservation of and Access to Scientific and Technical Data in Developing Countries Peter Arzberger, University of California, San Diego, (second term) USNC/CODATA Stanley Blum, California Academy of Sciences, Co-Chair of the CODATA Task Group on Access to Biological Collection Data Christopher Cahill, George Washington University, USNC/Cr Jim Gray, Microsoft Research, USNC/CODATA Wilfred Iwan, California Institute of Technology, USNC/TAM Herbert Kroehl, Co-Chair of the CODATA Task Group on Virtual Laboratories in Earth Physics and Environmental Sciences Vladimir Papitashvili, University of Michigan, USNC/IUGG Sandy Ressler, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Co-Chair of the CODATA Task Group on Anthropometric Data and Engineering Bernard D. Santarsiero, University of Illinois at Chicago, USNC/Cr David Scott, Rice University, USNC/CODATA Jennifer Swift, Georgetown University, USNC/Cr Sandra Troian, Princeton University, USNC/TAM Mary Waltham, Publishing Consultant, USNC/CODATA Victor G. Young Jr., University of Minnesota, USNC/Cr We would also like to thank those members who have recently completed their service: William L. Anderson, Praxis101, USNC/CODATA. Louis E. Burnett, Jr., College of Charleston, USNC/IUPS Mark Cloos, University of Texas, Austin, USNC/IUGS Jon Clardy, Harvard University, USNC/Cr Allen W. Cowley, Medical College of Wisconsin, USNC/IUPS Ian Dalziel, University of Texas at Austin, USNC/IUGS William A. Eaton, National Institute of Health, USNC/IUPAB Yale E. Goldman, University of Pennsylvania, USNCIUPAB Andrew S. Greene, Medical College of Wisconsin, USNC/IUPS Barbara John, University of Wyoming, USNC/IUGS Maureen Kelly, Consultant, USNC/CODATA Lynn T. Landmesser, Case Western Reserve University, USNC/IUPS Patrick Leahy, U.S. Geological Survey, USNC/IUGS Suzanne Mahlburg Kay, Cornell University, USNC/IUGS Peter Moore, Yale University, USNC/IUPAB Ingrid H. Sarelius, University of Rochester, USNC/IUPS John Williams, University of Michigan, USNC/IUPS We would like to announce the following change in committee leadership: James A. Kaduk, Innovene USA is the new Chair of the USNC/Cr and replaces Jon Clardy of Harvard University. Piergiorgio Uslenghi, University of Illinois,Chicago was appointed Chair of the USNC/URSI and Umran Inan of Stanford University completed his service as committee Chair. Virginia H. Huxley, University of Missouri-School of Medicine, concluded her term as Chair of the USNC/IUPS Back to Table of Contents Staff News We regret to announce that Mariza Silva is leaving the BISO staff in February. Mariza will be moving to Honolulu, Hawaii with her husband who has accepted a position there. Since 2003 Mariza managed the International Visitors Office, assisting National Academies’ staff, Academy members and foreign scientists and scholars with visa issues. Previously, she was the program assistant for the national committees in the mathematical and physical sciences. BISO is grateful for Mariza’s years of service; she will be greatly missed by the BISO staff and community.