Dear Arctic Info Subscriber,
U.S. planning for the International Polar Year has begun. Individuals,
communities, and agencies are joining in on the excitement to make the
most of this unique and exciting research opportunity. The Polar
Research Board of the National Academies initiated web-based
conversations for input several months ago. They have now formed the
U.S. National Committee to the IPY
(http://www.nationalacademies.org/prb/ipy). On behalf of the National
Committee, I am asking for your input; we welcome input on various
aspects of IPY planning now and throughout the coming months.
The U.S. Committee has been asked to submit a report on possible U.S.
activities for the IPY to the International IPY Planning Group by
December. At the end of September our National Committee will have a
meeting devoted to discussing the IPY. We will formulate a draft report
that identifies compelling, broad science issues and attempts to 'make
the case' for the IPY. We hope that this report can serve as a rallying
point for individuals, communities, and agencies to work together
internationally toward the more detailed planning of the IPY that will
be needed in the coming year. We plan to make our draft report
available for your comments by late October.
Please accept my apologies for the tight schedule, which is driven by
national and international timelines that must be met in order to plan a
successful IPY, but we especially welcome your input now to help us
identify the compelling science issues and questions, the societal
relevance of those questions, and what could be done to answer those
questions. Because there are compelling science questions in many of
the wide areas of science, it will help us if you could condense your
input into 2-3 page contributions in the following form:
- What are the compelling science issues that could serve as key
drivers of the International Polar Year 2007-8, and why is it important
that we address these questions now? - What are the major past findings and what questions remain
unanswered? - What broad programs should be considered by the IPY to answer these
questions?
We also welcome input on possible ways to conduct outreach, improve
educational opportunities, and engage school children, undergraduates,
graduate students, and the public. We welcome your input in general
terms on:
- How can we better train the next generation of scientists?
- How can we better educate and engage our youth and the public about
science?
We encourage individuals to work with others in your community to
provide us with a joint short contribution (2-3 pages). Please email
your contributions to Sheldon Drobot at the National Academy of
Sciences: SDrobot [at] nas.edu
Contributions by September 25 will be extremely helpful, but we will
welcome contributions on these topics through October 10.
Thank you for your contribution.
Mary Albert
Chair, U.S. National Committee for the International Polar Year
Geophysical Sciences Division
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab
Email: malbert [at] crrel.usace.army.mil