Recent Environment Surrounding Basic Researches Including
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IAVCEI News 2011 No: 1-3 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF VOLCANOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH'S INTERIOR FROM THE PRESIDENT • President, Ray Cas, Monash University, Australia Dear Colleagues, • Vice President, Steve Self, Open University, UK/USA • Vice President, Hugo Delgado-Granados, UNAM, Mexico It is a great honour to have been • Secretary General, Joan Marti, CSIC Jaume Almera, Spain elected President of the International • Immediate Past-President, Setsuya Nakada, University of Tokyo, Association for Volcanology and Japan Geochemistry of the Earth’s Interior • Greg Valentine, University at Buffalo, USA (IAVCEI) for 2011-2015, especially • Patty Mothes, Politécnica Nacional Casilla, Ecuador as the first Australian to be so • Horoshi Shinohara, Geological Survey of Japan honoured. I hope that I can serve • Károly Németh, Massey University, New Zealand IAVCEI as well as previous ___________________ presidents. • Editor of Bulletin of Volcanology: James White, Otago University, New Zealand First, on behalf of all IAVCEI • Assistant Secretary for membership, and webmaster: Adelina members, I thank the outgoing Geyer Traver, CSIC Jaume Almera, Spain President, Setsuya Nakada, the • Editor of IAVCEI News: Károly Németh Ray Cas continuing Secretary-General, Joan President of the Marti, and his Assistant Secretary, I have been a member of IAVCEI since 1986. Membership of IAVCEI Adelina Geyer, for their tireless work IAVCEI, particularly as a young scientist, provided me with an in keeping IAVCEI in a healthy state, but also in strengthening it opportunity to undertake collaborative research projects all over in many ways, especially in simplifying the structure of IAVCEI’s the world, leading to some amazing experiences, and working finances, in development of the IAVCEI website, and in keeping with many fantastic research colleagues, who are now friends. I IAVCEI members informed about IAVCEI activities and news. In have been able to share those experiences and opportunities with addition, thank you to the outgoing committee for their my many research students. I hope that all young scientists contribution to IAVCEI and to John Stix for his conscientious interested in the various aspects of volcanology also seize such approach as Editor of Bulletin of Volcanology. opportunities through membership of IAVCEI and participation in its wide range of activities. These experiences have provided me Thank you also to James White for agreeing to take on this very with many insights into the state of volcanological research and important role for IAVCEI. There are a number of new and volcano monitoring in many countries. exciting initiatives being developed with regards to the publication options for IAVCEI members that will be reported on IAVCEI however faces many challenges that we all need to be as they develop. cognizant of and work together to overcome. There are also many exciting opportunities that IAVCEI can grasp to strengthen its role Secondly, I want to introduce the new IAVCEI Executive as the leading international learned society for the volcanological Committee for 2011-2015: sciences. IAVCEI News 2011 No. 1-3 Page 1 Groups, including workshops, courses for young scientists, Let me first discuss some of the challenges facing IAVCEI. providing research grants, and providing support for young scientists and scientists from developing countries to attend all 1. IAVCEI’s relationship with IUGG and its importance these various IAVCEI activities. There is a catch however. The to us all amount of funding that IAVCEI receives is proportional to the number of IAVCEI affiliated delegates who attend IUGG General IAVCEI is not an independent association. It was established in Assemblies. Without this financial support, IAVCEI would die. It 1919, as a member association of the International Union of is therefore very important that scientists involved in IAVCEI Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), which in turn is one of 30 support IUGG General Assemblies and thereby help to make the scientific organizations affiliated with the International Council IAVCEI scientific programs in IUGG GA ’ s, successful for Science (ICSU). IUGG is an umbrella organization for many conferences for IAVCEI. different earth related scientific discipline associations. The IUGG name is somewhat outdated, because it now consists of IAVCEI must therefore strengthen its involvement in IUGG eight different associations (IACS – Cryospheric or Ice Science; General Assemblies. It is therefore very important for IAVCEI IAG – Geodesy; IAGA – Geomagnetism and Aeronomy; IAHS – that we all work together to make the IAVCEI Scientific Program Hydrology; IAMAS – Atmospheric and Climate Science; IAPSO at IUGG General Assemblies as strong and scientifically – Oceanography; IASPEI – Seismology; IAVCEI – Volcanology attractive as possible. And as I have said there are many scientific and Geochemistry). benefits in doing so in terms of the opportunities to experience science at the periphery of our mainstream research interests. Many IAVCEI members will not even be aware of this diversity in The next IUGG General Assembly will be held in the stunningly IUGG. Some may even question why IAVCEI should be affiliated beautiful city of Prague, in the Czech Republic in 2015. Please all with a bigger organization, and why it shouldn’t just be totally put this date in your diaries now and please start thinking about independent. There are several simple answers to this. First, being the symposium theme that you would like to organize or be part of insular will inevitably limit the development of our scientific at IUGG2015 In Prague. ideas. IUGG is clearly as diverse in its discipline scope as the AGU and EGU organisations, and offers the same, exciting, 2. IAVCEI Membership issues interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scientific opportunities as these other organizations. However, IUGG conferences are IAVCEI’s current membership numbers are about 800. Yet almost actually better because they are not as big as AGU meetings. As a 3,000 people have registered with Volcano Listserv, the email result you can meet people, you can more easily network, you can based volcanology news service started by Jon Fink and Arizona switch between symposia and even from those in one discipline to State University many years ago. Why aren’t all of those 3000 those in another, to experience some of the exciting science people also members of IAVCEI? It can’t be that the IAVCEI accessible through those other disciplines and associations. Those membership fee is crippling, because it is not. Perhaps IAVCEI who attended the just completed IUGG General Assembly in and IAVCEI members have just not adequately communicated Melbourne were able to experience not only outstanding with the volcanological community what IAVCEI is, and the volcanological science, but also in other disciplines, including benefits of being members of an international research community. symposia on the Japan and New Zealand earthquake crises, Any thoughts on this issue would be gratefully considered by the tsunamis, nuclear installations co-convened by our new new IAVCEI Executive Committee. vice-president Steve Self, as well as the eight IUGG Plenary Lectures (one presented by an eminent international scientist from To date, IAVCEI has offered membership at a fee related to one’s each discipline area of IUGG. income. However, IUGG has recently informed IAVCEI that according to IUGG Statutes, no association of IUGG can charge Consider the disciplines represented by the eight associations of membership fees. IAVCEI is now in the process of making IUGG. Every one of them has relevance to some aspect of member contributions optional. That is, anyone can now join volcanology and provides opportunities for developing IAVCEI as a member and not pay a fee. As attractive as that interdisciplinary research and broadening our perspectives on our sounds, it may also mean that members get nothing for nothing. own volcanological science. All IAVCEI members have a The reason for this is that the income IAVCEI received in the past wonderful opportunity through IAVCEI’s involvement in IUGG from its membership fees was about 50% of its total income when General Assemblies to strengthen our own science. I implore you added to the annual contribution from IUGG, as explained above. all not to miss this opportunity, especially IAVCEI’s young If members who used to pay don’t continue to make voluntary scientists, to attend future IUGG General Assemblies, the next contributions as supporting members, then the research support one being in Prague in the Czech Republic in 2015. programs provided by IAVCEI that I outlined above will have to be halved. There will therefore be very little funding available to There is also a more pragmatic reason why we as IAVCEI support conferences, workshops, research and students and members should value our involvement in IUGG. IUGG receives scientists from developing countries attending conferences. I funding through IUCU and the United Nations to oversee research therefore ask you all to continue to support IAVCEI financially to in the earth sciences that are important to mankind and modern the ability that you are able by becoming a supporting (financial) civilization. It has many scientific responsibilities as a result, but member. We will develop guidelines for appropriate contributions these also include presenting scientific opinions and policy soon. Secondly of course, as outlined above, you can a support statements on issues