Message from the President
27 November 2007
Hello all,
First, I am gratified that a number of you have agreed to be on the ballot for various positions on the Executive Board. Although the deadline I set was for 1 December, let me give you that list right now, as I doubt that it will change.
Councellor candidates, with affiliated country (four to be elected; two more to attend EB meetings without voting rights):
Tanja Cegnar, Slovenia
Jean-Claude Cohen, France
Chris de Freitas, New Zealand
LeRoy Hahn, USA
Robin Hicks, Australia
Irene Hudson, Australia
Shigeki Nomoto, Japan
Hesham Khalifa, Egypt
Karen Smoyer-Tomic, Canada
Rey Tiquia, Australia
Treasurer candidate
John Gaughan, Australia (unopposed)
Secretary candidate
John Scott Greene, USA (unopposed)
Vice president candidates (two to be elected)
Andreas Matzarakis, Germany
Mark Schwartz, USA
Masaaki Shibata, Japan
President elect candidate
Glenn McGregor, New Zealand (unopposed)
President candidate
Paul Beggs, Australia (unopposed); to assume office in September, 2008
Past president candidate
Larry Kalkstein (unopposed); to resign from office in September, 2008
I am very pleased with this slate of candidates, and all the people are top-quality and would represent ISB quite well. If I have missed anyone, or if anyone would like to add their name to the ballot, you have until 1 December. Please let me know of any changes prior to that.
Relating to other items, progress on our Congress in Tokyo next September is moving along very well. The Secretary-General of the upcoming Congress, Dr. Shigeki Nomoto, has informed me that 173 abstracts have been received thus far, and considering that the deadline is 15 January, this is a good number. I have not even submitted my own abstracts yet! The Congress website has been updated, and the scientific program is taking shape. The social program/excursions will be top-notch; Besides an icebreaker and a "Japanese evening" of traditional food and song, there will be trips to Mt. Fuji, the 2008 Grand Sumo Wrestling Tournament, a boat trip to Tokyo Bay with local food and drink, and Japanese Traditional Theater. There will also be an excursion to the National Institute for Environmental Studies, which will definitely prove enlightening. As you can see, the Secretariat and the Congress organizers have done an impressive job of making certain that we all are enlightened and entertained.
We would like to have individuals/groups consider hosting ICB11, which will be held in September, 2011. At present, Dr. Glenn McGregor has suggested that he might help organize the Congress in New Zealand at that time, but it would be good if there are other possible venues as well. The last four Congresses were held in Slovenia, Australia, the USA, and Germany, so Africa and South America have been lightly represented. However, any suggestions would be helpful, and I'd like to thank Dr. McGregor for considering New Zealand, a wonderful, exotic location, for ICB11.
Let me update you on some interesting Society activities that have occurred or are in the planning stage. Under the professional guidance of the head of the Climate and Health Commission, Dr. Pablo Fernandez de Arroyabe Hernaez (Spain), and the meeting organizer, Dr. Luis Lecha (Cuba), both good friends of mine, a very fruitful conference was held in Havana just a few weeks ago on progress related to key issues on climate change and human health, as well as weather and human health. I have just received a draft of the conference minutes, and upon approval, they will be sent to all of you. After reading the minutes, I am very regretful that I couldn't attend this wonderful meeting, only 300 km from my home, which conflicted with a heat/health meeting that I was required to attend in Phoenix, Arizona. There was also a recent workshop sponsored by our active commission on climate, tourism, and recreation held in late September in Greece. Two upcoming meetings should be of interest to our membership as well....the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting, to be held in mid-January in New Orleans will highlight work by many of our North American ISB members. And the AMS conference on Atmospheric Biogeosciences will be held in late April in Orlando, Florida, USA, with a special ISB session planned. One of our active members, Dr. Jill Coleman (jscoleman@bsu.edu) is on the organizing committee of this meeting; please contact her if you are interested. No doubt, there are a number of other activities that I am not familiar with; please send information to Dr. Scott Greene so he can publish the materials in the next issue of the Bulletin. If anything is time sensitive, send it to me, and I'll distribute it to the membership.
Our plans to unveil our "Adaptation Book" at ICB08 is proceeding on schedule. Dr. Kris Ebi, who leads the project, has informed me that completed chapters are arriving. The book will be an exciting accomplishment, with chapters by many of our members. Finally, I am pleased to continue to see membership rise, and we still are encouraging student members to join. Kate Bassil, a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto and an active member, has been corresponding with me about having some sort of ISB student group. I think this is a great idea, and she and I will be discussing this by phone tomorrow. I still encourage those of you in academics to continue to recruit students for ISB. The cost of student membership is very low, and the benefits are very great, in my humble opinion! Let's get some more active students involved!
I am always available if you would like to talk/email, and I wish all of you a happy and healthy holiday season and New Year. With 2008 rapidly approaching, we can anxiously look forward to raising a glass of sake in Tokyo and enjoying the typical good time that we have at our Congresses!
Warmest wishes,
Larry Kalkstein
President, International Society of Biometeorology
