[DIALOGnews] DIALOG and DISCCRS News 07/22/05

[Susan Weiler]

  DIALOG and DISCCRS News
07/22/2005
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
RESOURCES
Preparing for an Academic Job Interview
    http://www.aslo.org/phd/interviewhints.pdf
NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research/Coastal Ocean  
Program Announcements of Opportunity
    http://www.cop.noaa.gov/opportunities/grants/funding_grants.html
New Website Available: Nordic IPY Humanities and Social Studies  
Workshop Work Site
    http://www.ipy.gl/ilulissat/index.htm
SCIENCE NEWS
Sea Life in Peril -- Plankton Vanishing
GOP Chairmen Face off on Global Warming
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/17/ 
AR2005071701056_pf.html
Scientists: Antarctic Has Strong Ecosystem
    http://tinyurl.com/9gsx7
Scientist Testifies On Global Warming
    http://tinyurl.com/9veeo
Deep-Sea Jelly Uses Glowing Red Lures To Catch Fish
    http://www.mbari.org/.
FORUM
Thoughts On Charles David Keeling (1928-2005)
Scientists Criticize House Panel's Investigation of Climate Studies
JOBS
Deputy Executive Officer for IMBER (Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry  
and Ecosystem Research) International Project Office.
    www.imber.info
Royal Society of UK, Manager of Science in Society Programme
    http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk

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Resources

Preparing for an Academic Job Interview
    This resource was developed by DIALOG VI symposium participants.  
The authors developed a list of frequently asked questions and  
general advice based on conversations at the symposium and their own  
recent experiences with academic job interviews.
    Campbell, R.W., M.C. Horner-Devine, J. Lartigue and G.C.  
Rollwagen Bollens. 2005. Preparing for an academic job interview:  
Compilation of frequently asked questions. http://www.aslo.org/phd/ 
interviewhints.pdf
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NOAA Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research/Coastal Ocean  
Program Announcements of Opportunity
    Announcements of Opportunity have been issued to submit proposals  
to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Center  
for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research/Coastal Ocean Program (CSCOR/ 
COP) under four different program elements.
    Proposals under a NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH  
PROGRAM (NGOMEX) closes 3:00 p.m. EST August 24, 2005.
    Proposals under CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM STUDIES (CRES) 2006 closes  
3:00 p.m. EST September 1, 2005.
    Proposals under a SOUTH FLORIDA PROGRAM closes 3:00 p.m. EST  
September 29, 2005.
    Proposals under ECOLOGICAL FORECASTING closes 3:00 p.m. EST  
October 25, 2005.
    Notices of Specific Announcements of Opportunity can be accessed  
through the NOAA CSCOR/COP funding announcements website at: http:// 
www.cop.noaa.gov/opportunities/grants/funding_grants.html
    Necessary instructions and forms for preparation of an  
application package for a CSCOR/COP proposal submission can be  
accessed at CSCOR/COP
grants information website at: http://www.cop.noaa.gov/opportunities/ 
grants/welcome.html
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New Website Available: Nordic IPY Humanities and Social Studies  
Workshop Work Site
    The website is available at: http://www.ipy.gl/ilulissat/index.htm
    This site is a work site for follow-up activities related to the  
research seminar and workshop "Nordic Research Cooperation Within the  
Social Sciences and Humanities Connected to the International Polar  
Year, IPY 2007-2008" Held in Ilulissat, Greenland, 28 April thru 2  
May 2005
    As a part of the preparation for the International Polar Year,  
IPY 2007-2008, the Greenland National Polar Year Committee organized  
a research seminar and workshop to utilize and further develop the  
existing Nordic research cooperation and to contribute to the  
coordination of a common Nordic research effort focusing on Man,  
Nature and Arctic Societies (one of the main themes decided by the  
Danish and Greenland national IPY committees) in connection with the  
IPY 2007-2008. This site hopes to facilitate a continuation of this  
process initiate with the research seminar and workshop.

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Science News

Sea Life in Peril -- Plankton Vanishing
San Francisco Chronicle, July 12, 2005
    Usual seasonal influx of cold water isn't happening Glen Martin,  
Chronicle Environment Writer
    Krill are a key food source for seabirds and larger fish. Photo  
by Benjamin L. Saenz, special to the Chronicle
    Oceanic plankton have largely disappeared from the waters off  
Northern California, Oregon and Washington, mystifying scientists,  
stressing fisheries and causing widespread seabird mortality.
    The phenomenon could have long-term implications if it continues:  
a general decline in near-shore oceanic life, with far fewer fish,  
birds and marine mammals. No one is certain how long the condition  
will last. But even a short duration could severely affect seabird  
populations because of drastically reduced nesting success,  
scientists say.
    The plankton disappearance is caused by a slackening of what is  
known as "upwelling:" the seasonal movement of cold, nutrient-rich  
offshore water into areas near shore.
    This cold water sustains vast quantities of phytoplankton and  
zooplankton, which are the basis of the marine food web. During  
periods of vigorous upwelling and consequent plankton "blooms,"  
everything from salmon to blue whales fattens and thrives on the  
continental shelf of the West Coast.
    The larger fish and baleen whales eat mostly krill: free- 
floating, shrimp- like crustaceans ranging from one to two inches,  
the upper size limit of the zooplankton realm.
    When the water is cold, krill swarm off the Northern California  
coast by the tens of thousands of tons. Now that they are largely  
absent, fisheries and wildlife are feeling the effects.
    In perhaps the most ominous development, seabird nesting has  
dropped significantly on the Farallon Islands off San Francisco, the  
largest Pacific Coast seabird rookery south of Alaska.
    Bill Sydeman, the director of marine ecology for the Point Reyes  
Bird Observatory, a science and conservation organization that  
maintains a research station on the Farallones, said the collapse of  
the nesting season is unprecedented in the three decades the group  
has monitored the islands.
    Cassin's auklets -- a relatively rare seabird that feeds almost  
extensively on krill -- have been particularly hard hit, Sydeman said.
    "Normally they breed in March," Sydeman said. "They got started  
late this year, and by May they had virtually disappeared. We expect  
zero nesting success for them this year, or close to it. We've never  
seen anything like it."
    Sydeman said other seabirds are also showing the effects of the  
reduced marine productivity.
    "We have little or no nesting of pelagic cormorants (at the  
Farallones), and Brandt's cormorants are nesting at reduced numbers,"  
he said. "Double- crested cormorant nesting is down by 50 percent (in  
the Bay Area)."
    Upwelling cessation is typically caused by El Niño events -- warm  
water intrusions from the equatorial Pacific. But what is happening  
off the coast right now is not a true El Niño, Sydeman said.
    "We really don't have a clear idea of what it is," Sydeman said,  
noting that standard El Niños can be tracked as they progress from  
the equator to temperate waters, something that hasn't occurred in  
the current case.
    "Some are calling it an El Niño Norte; others think it's some  
sort of anomalous intrusion of warm offshore blue water onto the  
continental shelf," he said.
    A recent study indicated the phenomenon may be long term, and  
linked to global warming.
    Last week, Fisheries and Oceans Canada -- the federal agency  
dealing with Canada's marine and inland waters -- released a report  
saying 2004's spring and summer ocean surface temperatures in the  
Gulf of Alaska and off British Columbia were the warmest in 50 years.
    The study concluded the record high temperatures were caused by  
abnormally warm weather in Alaska and western Canada, as well as  
"general warming of global lands and oceans."
    Some pulses of upwelling occurred off Northern California in  
June, Sydeman said, but they're unlikely to significantly increase  
marine productivity.
    "Upwelling has slackened along all the West Coast, except for a  
little bit of recent activity off Northern California," Sydeman said.  
"At this point, it's too little and too late. Things aren't going to  
turn around. For krill predators in this system, it's a very serious  
situation."
    Juvenile rockfish numbers are also way down.
    "We annually survey (juvenile rockfish) from San Diego to Cape  
Mendocino, and this is the lowest catch we've recorded in the 23  
years we've been doing it," said Stephen Ralston, a supervising  
research biologist at the Santa Cruz office for the National Marine  
Fisheries Service, the federal agency that oversees fisheries in  
federal waters.
    Like krill, young rockfish are a significant food source for  
seabirds, large fish and marine mammals; they are also essential to  
maintaining healthy stocks of mature rockfish, esteemed by commercial  
fishermen and sport anglers.
    Off the coast of Oregon, abnormally warm marine water is  
continuing unabated, affecting local birds and salmon.
    "Things are pretty grim up here," said Bill Peterson, an  
oceanographer with the National Marine Fisheries Service office in  
Newport, Ore.
    Peterson said a major die-off of double-crested cormorants  
recently occurred in Oregon, and juvenile salmon numbers have dropped  
precipitously. Both events, he said, are likely due to the warm water.
    "We do salmon surveys every spring and summer," he said.  
"Normally, we catch several hundred salmon in the spring. This year  
we caught eight. And we usually get several thousand fish in the  
summer. This year, it was 80."
    Peterson said the water temperature off Oregon in late June is  
normally 10 degrees Celsius (about 50 Fahrenheit), "and this year  
it's 16 degrees (about 61 F). Our (upper layer of warm water) is  
normally 15 meters thick, and this year it's 30 meters. Krill numbers  
are down, and the plankton we are seeing are as unusual as can be --  
warm water
species that you'd find off San Diego or Monterey."
    Peterson said it is unlikely Oregon waters will cool  
significantly this summer.
    "It takes an enormous amount of (offshore wind) energy to push  
that much warm water offshore, which is what we would need to see for  
significant upwelling," he said. "I don't see that happening anytime  
soon."
    Near San Francisco, salmon have switched from krill to bait fish,  
and appear to be holding their own -- at least for now.
    "The fishing is terrific," said Roger Thomas, the president of  
the Golden Gate Fishermen's Association and the owner of the  
recreational angling boat the Salty Lady.
    "It's true there's not much krill, but there're lots of anchovies  
and sardines," Thomas said, "and the salmon are filling up on those."
    Thomas acknowledged that the bait fish wouldn't benefit many  
coastal and offshore birds.
    "Sardines are too big for the auklets, and even for other species  
like common murres," he said. "They rely on smaller prey species."
    In fact, say scientists, krill are the keystone forage species  
for almost everything that swims off Northern California.
    "It's the krill that drive the food web dynamics off this coast,"  
said Ellie Cohen, the executive director of the Point Reyes Bird  
Observatory. "Their absence has tremendous implications for  
everything out there, right up to the humpback and blue whales. We  
don't know if this is a result of global warming or some natural  
cycling, but without the krill, you could be looking at a food web  
collapse."
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Gop Chairmen Face Off On Global Warming
from The Washington Post (Registration Required)
    House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-N.Y.)  
has demanded that another senior Republican, Energy and Commerce  
Committee Chairman Joe Barton (Tex.), call off his investigation of  
three scientists who have charted Earth's rapid warming in recent  
decades.
    The unusual public tiff between two powerful GOP lawmakers  
highlights the sharp divide that drives the nation's climate change  
debate. Barton, along with President Bush and many other House  
Republicans, opposes mandatory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions and  
questions the science underlying such efforts. Boehlert, who backs  
limits on carbon dioxide pollution, said he fears such attacks could  
chill future scientific inquiry. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ 
content/article/2005/07/17/AR2005071701056_pf.html
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Scientists: Antarctic Has Strong Ecosystem
from Associated Press
    Syracuse, N.Y. (AP) -- An expansive ecosystem of knee-high mud  
volcanoes, snowy microbial mats and flourishing clam communities lies  
beneath the collapsed Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica, say researchers.
    The discovery made in February in a deep glacial trough in the  
northwestern Weddell Sea was detailed this week in Eos, the weekly  
newspaper of the American Geophysical Union.
    Such sunless, cold-vent ecosystems have been found elsewhere —  
near Monterey, Calif., in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Sea of Japan  
— but never in Antarctica, the report said. http://tinyurl.com/9gsx7
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Scientist Testifies On Global Warming
from Associated Press
    WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Global warming is caused primarily by humans  
and "nearly all climate scientists today" agree with that viewpoint,  
the new head of the National Academy of Sciences — a climate  
scientist himself — said Wednesday.
    Ralph Cicerone's views contrasted with Bush administration  
officials' emphasis on uncertainty about how much carbon dioxide and  
other industrial gases warm the atmosphere like a greenhouse.
    "Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now at its highest level in  
400,000 years and it continues to rise," said Cicerone, an  
atmospheric scientist who left as chancellor of University of  
California-Irvine to become academy president this month. "Nearly all  
climate scientists today believe that much of Earth's current warming  
has been caused by increases in the amount of greenhouse gases in the  
atmosphere, mostly from the burning of fuels." http://tinyurl.com/9veeo
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Deep-Sea Jelly Uses Glowing Red Lures To Catch Fish
from CORE weekly newsletter
    As successful fishermen know, if you want to catch fish, you have  
to use the right bait or lure. This is true even in the deep sea,  
where scientists recently discovered a new species of jelly that  
attracts fish by wiggling hundreds of glowing red lures. This is the  
first time any marine invertebrate has been found to use a  
bioluminescent lure or to display red bioluminescence. This discovery  
is described in an article written by Steven Haddock of the Monterey  
Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), along with several  
coauthors, in the July 8, 2005, issue of Science magazine.
    It has been estimated that about 90 percent of deep-sea animals  
are bioluminescent. Yet in many cases, scientists do not know how  
these animals benefit from the energy-intensive process of producing  
their own light. Some jellies use bioluminescence as a defense-they  
glow when disturbed in order to light up their predators, making  
their attackers vulnerable to even larger animals. A few deep-sea  
fishes and squids have glowing organs that look like lures, but even  
these animals have never been observed actually using their glowing  
organs to capture prey. For full story, visit http://www.mbari.org/.
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Forum
Thoughts On Charles David Keeling (1928-2005)
Wolfgang Berger, SIO
    It is difficult to single out scientists whose contributions are  
so deep, unique, and valuable as to clearly rank with the very best  
and most prominent. No such difficulty arises when contemplating the  
contributions of Charles David Keeling, whose research career spanned  
the last half century. It is to Keeling's everlasting credit that he  
recognized the importance of serial measurements of atmospheric  
chemistry, and that he insisted on the highest possible quality for  
such measurements. By monitoring chemical changes in the atmosphere  
at high precision during several decades of substantial and  
irreversible change, he documented the crucial element of the great  
geophysical experiment that humankind is now performing on the life- 
support systems of the home planet. Every month, every year, and  
every decade of documentation is precious. The fact that there is a  
detailed record of carbon dioxide starting from the late 1950s  
(rather than, say, the 1970s or 1980s) we owe to Dave Keeling's  
insistence on keeping track and on doing it right. Dave was intensely  
aware of the broader ramifications of the ongoing human experiment,  
and he worried about what the climates of the future would look like.  
"Everyone is talking about doubling the CO2," he once said to me,  
"but what about tripling and quadrupling - we don't have the faintest  
notion of what that will do." He was aware of the ramifications, but  
he was averse to making statements with policy implications that  
would go beyond of what we actually know. He preferred to let the  
data speak. It was a good strategy, and it fit his unassuming manner  
and his trust in solid data and transparent logic. Now that the  
rising carbon dioxide is affecting the pH of the surface waters of  
the sea, we can think back on the very beginnings of Dave's career,  
in 1954, when he decided to study the effect of atmospheric carbon  
dioxide on the pH of rivers and lakes during his postdoctoral time in  
Pasadena (perhaps to indulge both a love of chemistry and of hiking).  
He ended up giving us the tools and data to understand what is  
happening to the pH of the entire ocean, a change with many  
implications. The Keeling Curve, the ever-rising line describing  
carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere with the attendant  
annual wiggles, has become the icon of global change the world over.  
It represents what's happening on the planet, and it reflects well on  
what is going on at Scripps. Yes, he had coffee with the rest of us.  
And yes, he was great company, a caring man generous in sharing his  
thoughts, wise in appreciating our limits of knowledge, and hard to  
dislodge in argument. And we miss him very much.  -- (Wolf Berger)
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Scientists Criticize House Panel's Investigation Of Climate Studies
from ESA Public Affairs Office
    House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton's (R-TX)  
request for the personal and financial records of three scientists  
who wrote a controversial climate change study is an attempt to  
intimidate them, the head of the American Association for the  
Advancement of Science (AAAS) said.
    In a letter to Barton, AAAS Chief Executive Officer Alan Leshner  
said the "aggressive
congressional inquiry into the professional history of scientists"  
could intimidate other
researchers. He said the Barton's requests "give the impression of a  
search for some basis on which to discredit these particular  
scientists and findings, rather than a search for understanding."
    At issue is a four-year-old graph, published in the journal  
Nature by the three scientists that depicts global average  
temperature records stretching back 1,000 years. It shows a sharp  
increase during the 20th century, with an upward curve resembling the  
blade of a hockey stick. Often cited as evidence that human emissions  
are the dominant cause of rising global temperatures, the graph  
became controversial after it appeared in a 2001 Intergovernmental  
Panel on Climate Change report.
    Barton's request came after two Canadians with no expertise in  
climate change ublished academic papers and opinion articles  
challenging the methods used to generate the graph.  He requested  
detailed explanations as well as raw data, documents and financial  
information from the scientists.
    The inquiry has since been criticized by scientists, Democratic  
lawmakers, and the
Chairman of the House Science Committee, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R- 
NY), who sent a letter to Mr. Barton calling the investigation  
"misguided and illegitimate."
    Larry Neal, a spokesman for the Energy and Commerce Committee,  
responded to Mr. Boehlert's letter. "Requests for information are a  
common exercise of the Energy and Commerce Committee's responsibility  
to gather knowledge on matters within its jurisdiction," he said.  
"When global warming studies were criticized and results seemed hard  
to replicate by other researchers, asking why seemed like a modest  
but necessary step. It still does."
    Scientists expressed concerns about Mr. Barton's apparent  
presumption that Congress might reveal truths that the scientific  
process cannot.  That sentiment was echoed in a letter sent to Mr.  
Barton by Ralph J. Cicerone, the new president of the National  
Academy of Sciences and one of the country's leading atmospheric  
chemists.
    Dr. Cicerone said a Congressional investigation "is probably not  
the best way to resolve a scientific issue, and a focus on individual  
scientists can be intimidating." He offered the services of the  
academy, which traditionally has served as an arbitrator on  
complicated, controversial scientific issues.
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Jobs
Deputy Executive Officer for IMBER (Integrated Marine Biogeochemistry  
and Ecosystem Research) International Project Office.
    IMBER is a new international research project focussed on marine  
biogeochemical and ecosystem research (www.imber.info). IMBER is  
seeking to appoint a Deputy Director to assist the Executive Officer  
at the International Project Office (IPO) located at the Institut  
Universitaire Europeen de la Mer, Brest, France. IUEM is a joint  
institute between Conseil National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)  
and the University of Western Brittany (UBO). The tasks of the Deputy  
Director and IPO staff include assisting the Scientific Steering  
Committee (SSC) in implementing the IMBER Science Plan and  
Implementation Strategy, by organising and servicing meetings of the  
SSC, working groups and task teams, liaising with sponsors (IGBP and  
SCOR) and other relevant organisations, seeking and managing project  
finances, representing the project at international meetings,  
maintaining the project website and interacting with IMBER national  
committees and groups, as well as o!
ther international projects. For this position, we seek a candidate  
with a Ph. D. degree and experience in multidisciplinary and  
multinational science projects, as well as familiarity, and  
preferably some experience, in the IMBER research area. Experience  
with data management, website development and maintenance and ability  
to speak French would be an asset. The successful candidate will have  
excellent communications skills both spoken and written in English,  
excellent computer knowledge and skills, excellent interpersonal  
abilities, and will have the ability to take initiative and work  
independently. This position is available for three years and shall  
begin on October 1st, 2005. Starting net salary will be of 23,640 Euros.
    Details of the IMBER project can be viewed at www.imber.info.  
Informal enquiries should be made to Dr Julie Hall (J.Hall at niwa.co.nz
    Applications, to include a CV, and names and contact information  
of three referees should be sent before August 20th, 2005 to:
    Dr Julie Hall
    NIWA
    PO Box 11 115
    Hamilton
    New Zealand
    or j.hall at niwa.co.nz or Fax 64 7 856 0151
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Royal Society of UK, Manager of Science in Society Programme
    The Royal Society, the UK’s premier scientific body, is looking  
for an enthusiastic and creative person to manage its Science in  
Society programme, funded by the Kohn Foundation.
    Manager, Science in Society Programme
    This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in further  
developing the Royal Society’s Science in Society programme of work.  
Reporting to the Senior Manager, Science Communication the postholder  
will be responsible for the management of a range of activities,  
particularly focusing on the broader social, ethical and public  
policy issues of science.
    Candidates should have a thorough understanding and appreciation  
of the issues surrounding science in society, experience of  
qualitative research methodologies for public engagement and be  
capable of working with people at all levels. The post holder will be  
responsible for managing two officer level posts. S/he should have  
excellent
communication (both  oral and written), IT, project management,  
interpersonal and teamworking  skills.
    The post will be on a fixed term contract for one year in the  
first instance.
Salary circa £30,000 per annum
Applicants can download further information and an application form  
from http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk or telephone the HR Section on 0207  
451 2529 or email recruitment at royalsoc.ac.uk quoting reference number  
V20.05. Closing date for applications is Monday 8 August 2005.   
Interviews will be held on 16 August 2005.
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This newsletter has been developed by C. Susan Weiler to distribute  
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 do not necessarily reflect those of the  
funding agencies or sponsoring societies. Dr. Weiler reserves the  
right to edit or reject material submitted to the list.
         Please submit announcements of interest to recent PhDs to  
phd at whitman.edu.  Send a short message in the body of an e-mail  
message, and link to any appropriate websites. Do not send attachments.
         Moving? Send address changes to dialog at whitman.edu or  
disccrs at whitman.edu

**********
C. Susan Weiler, Ph.D.
Office for Earth System Studies    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
    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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