News

SCOR is seeking for the new Executive Director – applications open

The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) is seeking its next full‐time Executive Director to carry on from the current Executive Director, Dr. Patricia Miloslavich.

SCOR is an interdisciplinary committee of the International Science Council and is the leading non‐governmental organization for the promotion and coordination of international ocean science activities (www.scor‐int.org). Thirty-three nations currently have national SCOR committees and form SCOR’s foundation. SCOR activities include (1) working groups that address focused ocean science topics, (2) large‐scale ocean research projects, (3) a variety of infrastructural activities for ocean science, and (4) capacity development in ocean science.

The duties of the SCOR Executive Director include the following:

  • Serve as the staff for the SCOR Executive Committee, SCOR Finance Committee, and SCOR Committee on Capacity Development;
  • Manage the SCOR Secretariat, raising funds from national SCOR committees, and national and international funding agencies;
  • Manage spending for SCOR activities according to the annual SCOR budget and regulations of financial sponsors;
  • Organize SCOR Annual Meetings;
  • Coordinate with national SCOR committees and partner organizations;
  • Prepare written reports for SCOR Annual Meetings and documents to publicize SCOR activities; and
  • Lead outreach activities for SCOR, including preparation of tri‐annual SCOR Newsletters, Tweets, and maintenance of the SCOR Website.

 

Applicants should preferably have (1) a Ph.D. or the equivalent in a field of Ocean, Earth, or Marine environmental sciences; (2) significant management experience in such a field; (3) excellent oral and written communication skills in English; (4) a record of successful grants; and (5) basic knowledge of accounting and financial management practices.

The new SCOR Executive Director will be based in United States; the SCOR Secretariat is currently located at the University of Delaware. The candidate should be either a U.S. citizen or have permission to work in the United States, having a “green card” or H1B Visa. The position requires international travel.

The starting annual salary will be competitive and will depend on qualifications, salary history, and experience of the successful applicant. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed via Zoom in mid-March 2023.

A cover letter of application with a curriculum vitae and the names of three references should be emailed no later than 17 of February 2023 to the SCOR Secretary, Prof. Peter Croot, peter.croot@nuigalway.ie.

Starting date for the position is the 1 of June 2023. During the first month (June 2023), the new Executive Director will overlap with Dr. Patricia Miloslavich for training purposes.

Any queries about this post may be addressed to the SCOR President (Dr. Sinjae Yoo, sjyoo@kiost.ac.kr), the SCOR Past-President (Dr. Marie Alexandrine Sicre, marie-alexandrine.sicre@locean.ipsl.fr) or SCOR Executive Director (Dr. Patricia Miloslavich, patricia.miloslavich@scor-int.org).

ISC statement on the exclusion of women from universities in Afghanistan

Education is critical to the social, cultural and economic progress of any country and to the well being of its citizens, and the ISC is deeply saddened by the recent decision of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to ban women from participating in university-level education. The ISC is fully committed to promoting equitable access to education and participation in science in all societies irrespective of their political structure and urge the authorities of Afghanistan to reverse their decision.

Read the full statement: https://council.science/current/news/afghanistan-women-education/

 

 

Special session on Mixoplankton at ASLO ASM 2023

SCOR WG #165 MixONET is organizing a special session at the ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2023 to be held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 4-9 June 2023.

The special session (SS018) is focused on Mixoplankton as the new paradigm testing the resilience of our science in the UN Ocean Decade.

 

Call for abstracts – WCRP Open Science Conference 2023

The next World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Open Science Conference, focusing on “Advancing climate science for a sustainable future”, will be held in Kigali (Rwanda) and online on 23-27 October 2023, with the major goal of bridging science and society.

The WCRP Open Science Conference 2023 call for abstracts is now open for oral and poster presentations in any of the 40 Oral & Poster Sessions and 44 Poster Clusters. More information about the conference can be found on the website – https://wcrp-osc2023.org.

To submit an abstract and/or apply for financial support, read the instructions and click here to access the submission forms.

Deadline for abstract submission and financial support application: 28 February 2023

 

SCOR Executive Committee member Trevor McDougall awarded the Australian 2022 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science

Professor Trevor McDougall from the University of New South Wales, President of the International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) and member of the SCOR Executive Committee was awarded the Australian top honour Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for his contributions to the field of oceanography and research on the ocean’s role in regulating the climate. Prof. McDougall is recognised for his discoveries of new ocean mixing processes and his work to redefine the thermodynamic definition of seawater.

The ceremony took place on the 21 of November 2022.

Announcement by the Australian Government

Watch in YouTube

Read article in The Guardian

Watch Cosmos Briefing interview to Trevor McDougall

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scientific community calls for science and monitoring to inform the negotiations of the UN plastic pollution treaty

At the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) in Nairobi in February 2022, Members States adopted a resolution to end plastic pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024. This is seen as the most important international multilateral environmental deal since the Paris climate accord.

The development of the international agreement on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, is supported by an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic. The first meeting of the INC is taking place in a hybrid format from 28 November – 2 December 2022 in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

The Science and Technology Major Group as representative of the International Science Council, delivered to the INC a statement on the position of the scientific community welcoming the negotiations on a legally binding treaty on plastic pollution in all environmental compartments and stressing the need that treaty negotiations are informed by science.

Stefano Aliani, a member of the Science and Technology Major Group and the chair of SCOR Working Group #153 on Floating Litter and its Oceanic TranSport Analysis and Modelling (FLOTSAM) stated that  ‘A coordinated and collaborative global response to these challenges will be fundamental in providing the adequate technical and scientific support for all parties engaged in implementing the negotiated UN treaty on plastic pollution and would offer a significant contribution to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.’

Read more at the ISC blog

Application for SOLAS Summer School 2023 is Open!

The SOLAS Summer School is a regular, international event with the goal to provide the multidisciplinary air-sea interaction background to the next generation of Earth System scientists. The next in-person School will take place in June 2023 at the Ocean Science Centre Mindelo on Cape Verde.
To apply for the in-person Summer School 2023, please use the provided form here. The application form should be returned as PDF to solas-school@geomar.de by 25 November 2022, and successful candidates will be contacted by the end of January 2023.

Please send an email to solas-school@geomar.de, if you have any questions or need further assistance regarding the Summer School.

Open Call for SCOR WG 161 ReMO Mentoring Program

The Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) working group 161 (Respiration in the Mesopelagic or ReMO) announces a capacity-development program to foster exchange of expertise and to establish international collaborations in the area of respiration in the mesopelagic ocean for early-career scientists. The mentoring program aims to enable participants to develop an original research project linked to mesopelagic microbial respiration, using either observations, experimentation, or modeling approaches. The program will further facilitate participants to start up new collaborations and strengthen their network in the field of mesopelagic respiration globally. The duration of the mentoring program will be limited to a maximum of 2 years until the end of the WG.

For further information, please visit the website, social media (Twitter @ReMO_SCOR161) or contact by email (natalia.osma@imochile.cl).

All applications should be sent to natalia.osma@imo-chile.cl

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 16 of December 2022