[DIALOGnews] DIALOG and DISCCRS News
Susan Weiler
weilercs at whitman.edu
Tue Dec 28 14:30:52 CST 2004
DIALOG and Disccrs News
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
RESOURCES
Science Magazine's Top Employers
http://recruit.sciencemag.org/feature/advice/foc_112604.shl
Science & Technology Web Awards 2004
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00085684-2613-115C-A61383414B7F0000
SCIENCE NEWS
PHOTO ARCHIVES: SHRINKING GLACIERS EVIDENCE OF
GLOBAL WARMING http://snipurl.com/bfpj
SCIENTISTS DEBATE DECLINE OF OIL STORES: SOONER
OR LATER? http://snipurl.com/bdty
1 IN 10 BIRD SPECIES COULD VANISH WITHIN 100 YEARS http://snipurl.com/bcrn
New Panel to Direct U.S. Policy on Oceans
LAKE TAHOE WARMING MIRRORS WORLD TREND http://snipurl.com/bihf
FORUM
The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/306/5702/1686
Policy Recommendations from New Approaches on
Energy and the Environment.
http://www.rff.org/rff/RFF_Press/CustomBookPages/NewApproachesonEnergyandtheEnvironment/NewApproache
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Resources
Science Magazine's Top Employers
http://recruit.sciencemag.org/feature/advice/foc_112604.shl
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Science & Technology Web Awards 2004
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00085684-2613-115C-A61383414B7F0000
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Science News
Check out this section both for news tidbits, and for
examples of how to communicate science to a non-scientist audience
PHOTO ARCHIVES: SHRINKING GLACIERS EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL WARMING
from San Francisco Chronicle
Glaciers throughout Alaska are shrinking more
and more rapidly, and scientists comparing old
photos taken up to a century ago with digital
images made during climbing expeditions today say
the pictures provide the most dramatic evidence
yet that global warming is real.
And it's not only the glaciers reflecting the
climate change. Everywhere on the treeless tundra
north of the jagged slopes of Alaska's Brooks
Range, explosive bursts of vegetation -- willows,
alders, birch and many shrubs -- are thriving
where permafrost once kept the tundra surface
frozen in winter.
Two geophysicists and a government geologist
who spend much of their working lives exploring
changes in the Arctic displayed dozens of
photographs from the thousands in their files
Thursday at the annual meeting of the American
Geophysical Union in San
Francisco.http://snipurl.com/bfpj
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SCIENTISTS DEBATE DECLINE OF OIL STORES: SOONER OR LATER?
from San Francisco Chronicle
Scientists meeting at the American Geophysical
Union conference in San Francisco debated Tuesday
whether the world has plenty of oil for centuries
to come -- or if it faces impending shortages
that might trigger economic chaos, even war, in
coming decades.
On the one hand, optimists are confident that
vast untapped oil reserves and continual
improvement in drilling methods will assure
plenty of cheap, abundant oil for Earth through
this century and perhaps the next.
On the other hand, some experts fear a
global-scale repeat of scientists' past failure,
in the 1950s, to heed a warning from the
Cassandra of petroleum geology: M. King Hubbert,
who prophesied the oil shocks of the
1970s.http://snipurl.com/bdty
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1 IN 10 BIRD SPECIES COULD VANISH WITHIN 100 YEARS
from USA Today
By 2100, about 10% of all bird species probably
will be extinct, killed off by habitat loss,
hunting and climate change, conservation
biologists estimate.
"We are changing the world so much that even
birds cannot adapt," says biologist Cagan
Sekercioglu of Stanford University, who led the
extinction analysis.
Roughly 1,200 bird species, about 12% of the
total, are threatened with extinction. A
"critically endangered" 179 of those species face
an extremely high risk of immediate
disappearance. Last month, for example, the last
known Hawaiian po'ouli bird died.
http://snipurl.com/bcrn
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New Panel to Direct U.S. Policy on Oceans
by Jim VandeHei and Juliet Eilperin (from
vcarroll at coreocean.org as a courtesy of
washingtonpost.com)
President Bush created a White House panel
yesterday to consider ways to clean up the
world's oceans by better managing fish
populations, regulating pollution and more
thoroughly examining future threats to ocean
life. But some environmentalists charged that
Bush is moving too slowly and timidly to address
what they called a serious environmental crisis
off the coasts of the United States.
Responding to recommendations of a presidential
commission that spent nearly three years
investigating ways to restore the oceans to
health, Bush issued an executive order to begin
revising the nation's policies through a
Cabinet-level Committee on Ocean Policy.
The commission, which issued its final report
three months ago, said that the nation's
fisheries are in trouble and that the federal
government must change how it manages the seas
and must spend more on ocean research and
conservation within the next five years.
The United States spends $8 billion on
ocean-related activities each year. The new
committee will begin reviewing government
programs dealing with everything from protecting
coral reefs off the Florida coast to managing
fisheries, according to James L. Connaughton,
chairman of the White House Council on
Environmental Quality.
Connaughton, who will head the committee, told
reporters the president wants "strong management
from the top" for the 4.5 million square miles of
ocean under U.S. jurisdiction.
Connaughton said the White House will act
immediately on 40 of the commission's 200-plus
recommendations, although most of these actions
would not lead to noticeable changes in the
nation's oceans policies. The White House did not
offer an opinion on some of the most sweeping
proposed changes, including creating a $4
billion trust fund for new ocean initiatives.
The fund would require congressional approval
and would be financed by diverting about 80
percent of the government's oil and gas
royalties. Retired Adm. James D. Watkins, who
chaired the commission, has warned that it would
be a tough sell politically because lawmakers
prefer tapping those funds for other programs.
The only new funding Connaughton announced was
$2.7 million that will be requested in the fiscal
2006 budget for coral reef improvements in
Florida and elsewhere. He said it is unclear how
much the other 39 changes will cost.
"For the president and the administration to
recognize there is a crisis in the oceans is an
important step," said Leon E. Panetta, a White
House chief of staff during the Clinton
administration, who has been a strong advocate
for a new policy. "One can quarrel with the
[details], but I have to look at this as a good
first step."
Some environmentalists said they are pleased
the president has taken initiatives to address
the ocean's current plight, but others said the
White House is not devoting enough money or
attention to the problem.
Sarah Chasis, director of water and coastal
programs at the Natural Resources Defense
Council, said the new commission needs "clear
policy direction" from the president and
questioned why the administration is not doing
more to reform fishery management councils.
These councils are often dominated by
commercial and recreational fishing interests and
often allow bigger catches than many scientists
recommend. The administration backs individual
fishing quotas that would allow fishermen to buy
and trade commercial allowances.
"We were looking for bold leadership, and what
we've seen today indicates a tepid response with
minimal detail," said Ted Morton, federal policy
director at Oceana, a conservation group. © 2004
The Washington Post Company
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LAKE TAHOE WARMING MIRRORS WORLD TREND
from San Francisco Chronicle
Tahoe City -- Global warming seems to have
reached the lowest depths of Lake Tahoe,
scientists warned Monday, potentially
complicating plans to preserve the lake's fabled
water clarity and biological health.
A new study by researchers at UC Davis suggests
the lake has heated by nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit
since the early 1970s, when readings began. The
warming may be significantly altering the
dynamics of Lake Tahoe's cold-water upwellings
and seasonal mixing of sediments and nutrients,
the scientists said. http://snipurl.com/bihf
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Forum
The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change
Essay by Naomi Oreskes Science, Vol 306, Issue 5702, 1686 , 3 December 2004
"Policy-makers and the public who are not
members of the relevant research community have
had to form opinions about the reality of global
climate change on the basis of often conflicting
descriptions provided by the media regarding the
level of scientific certainty attached to studies
of climate. In this Essay, Oreskes analyzes the
existing scientific literature to show that there
is a robust consensus that anthropogenic global
climate change is occurring. Thus, despite claims
sometimes made by some groups that there is not
good evidence that Earth's climate is being
affected by human activities, the scientific
community is in overwhelming agreement that such
evidence is clear and persuasive. The 928 papers
were divided into six categories: explicit
endorsement of the consensus position, evaluation
of impacts, mitigation proposals, methods,
paleoclimate analysis, and rejection of the
consensus position. S..Of all the papers, 75%
fell into the first three categories, either
explicitly or implicitly accepting the consensus
view; 25% dealt with methods or paleoclimate,
taking no position on current anthropogenic
climate change. Remarkably, none of the papers
disagreed with the consensus position."
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/306/5702/1686
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Policy Recommendations from New Approaches on
Energy and the Environment.
http://www.rff.org/rff/RFF_Press/CustomBookPages/NewApproachesonEnergyandtheEnvironment/NewApproache
"This collection of twenty-five "memos to the
President" from economists and policy analysts at
Resources for the Future, a Washington DC think
tank with a tradition for independent, objective
research, offers constructive policy options on
critical challenges related to energy, the
environment, and natural resources.
Each contributor was asked to address the
question: "Based on your research and knowledge,
what policy recommendation would you like to make
to the next U.S. President?"
Writing in advance of the 2004 election so as
to keep their essay free of partisan
interpretations, the authors took pains to make
their ideas accessible to a busy president as
well as a wide range of readers interested in a
concise, authoritative overview of the nation's
energy and environmental policy choices."
The book is available for purchase, but the
policies section has videos of the scientists
presenting their recommendations available for
free viewing.
Taken from Sci-Tech (NF) Library Newsletter
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Jobs for PhDs
http://www.higheredjobs.com/about/
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This newsletter has been developed by C.
Susan Weiler for the purpose of distributing
information of potential interest to recent PhDs
engaged in interdisciplinary aquatic science or
climate change research, and to build an
international sense of community among recent
grads. It provides an international forum for the
exchange of information and opinions regarding
research, professional and social issues.
The views and opinions expressed are strictly
those of C.S. Weiler or of the individual who has
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opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect
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societies. Dr. Weiler serves as producer and
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Please submit announcements of interest
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weiler at whitman.edu.
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--
C. Susan Weiler, Ph.D.
Biology Department Tel: 509-527-5948
Whitman College Fax: 509-527-5961
Walla Walla, WA 99362
weiler at whitman.edu
Programs for Recent PhDs http://aslo.org/phd.html
Minorities in the Aquatic Sciences http://www.aslo.org/mas.html
DIALOG poster http://www.aslo.org/phd/dialogposter.pdf
DISCCRS poster http://www.aslo.org/phd/disccrsposter.pdf
Workshop Report, Meeting the Needs of
Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Graduates in a Changing
Global Environment
http://marcus.whitman.edu/~weilercs/biocomplexity/
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