E-mail Announcements

Subject: 2007 Gordon Research Conference on Polar Marine Science

Every other year, the Gordon Research Conference on Polar Marine Science brings together an outstanding and diverse group of scientists at the forefront of research as well as younger scientists and students. The format and intimate nature of these meetings (maximum attendance is 125) makes them ideal venues to learn about the latest research and to meet and discuss new and exciting directions with a highly interdisciplinary group of colleagues.

The focus of the 2007 GRC on Polar Marine Science , which will take place 25-30 March at the Four Points Sheraton in Ventura , California , will be " An Interdisciplinary Look at Processes Over Multiple Scales of Variabilit y ". The rationale behind this choice of topic is to explore in detail the physical, chemical, and biological processes that dominate temporal and spatial scales ranging from the “micro” to the “paleo”. For example, Monday's session on microscale processes will include a talk by Peter Franks about the physics and biology responsible for the development of ”thin layers” and another by Dave Caron about the ecological implications of microbial diversity. At larger scales, Bob Pickart's talk on the physics driving shelf-basin exchange will be followed by Lee Cooper's talk describing some of the chemical and biological implications of this exchange. I'm excited about this new format because it allows us to avoid the typical mode of starting a meeting with physical oceanography, moving on to the biology, and ending with the charismatic megafauna or global modeling. Other topics to be discussed at the meeting include the impacts of natural (Rebecca Korb) and anthropogenic iron enrichment, polar regions and paleoclimate (Danny Sigmun and Steve Emslie), land-ocean interactions (Kelly Faulkner), phytoplankton physiology (Jean-Eric Tremblay), and ocean-ice sheet coupling (Ted Scambos), to name a few.

The guiding principle of a Gordon Conference is the presentation of new, unpublished work and the free, unhampered discussion that follows. This tradition of freely sharing ideas is due in large part to GRC's “off the record” policy which prohibits photography or tape recording of sessions or the publication of conference proceedings. The agenda for this meeting is still being developed, ( http://www.grc.org/programs/2007/polar.htm ) but I hope you and your students will consider attending and presenting a poster of your most exciting new research results.

Sincerely,

Back to main Email Announcements Page