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Dear Colleague,
The third and final JGOFS Open Science Conference, entitled
"A Sea of Change: JGOFS Accomplishments and the Future of Ocean
Biogeochemistry," was successfully held at the U.S. National
Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., May 5-8, 2003. The
venue recognized the birth of JGOFS in 1984 at an NAS-sponsored
workshop held in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It also reminded
us that the first international JGOFS science meeting, the North
Atlantic Bloom Experiment Symposium, was held at the NAS in
1990.
The conference celebrated the successful completion of JGOFS,
focusing on the exceptional legacy of JGOFS with an in-depth
look at 15 years of JGOFS ocean carbon cycle research while
also looking ahead to the crucial questions that future programs
should address with a preview of the future of ocean ecology
and biogeochemistry.
Its purpose was to provide an opportunity for 332 scientists
and students from 32 countries around the world to report on
what JGOFS has contributed to our larger understanding of the
ocean carbon cycle. The format of the conference included provocative
plenary sessions with a number of keynote
talks pairing speakers with commentators and contributed
poster sessions. A special session of the Minorities Striving
and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success Program (MS and PHDS
Program) occurred at the conference, enabling minority students
to meet with mentors from among the conference participants.
The JGOFS program has been wider, deeper
and richer than most of us ever imagined it would be. The global
ocean carbon dioxide system has been mapped with unprecedented
coverage and precision. Several oceanic time-series studies
have amassed more than a decade's worth of high-quality observations
of ecological and biogeochemical indicators of climate change
and ecosystem transformation. A wealth of insights and data
from process studies is being enshrined in new models of ocean
dynamics. Two generations of graduate students have learned
from JGOFS fieldwork and publications.
The introductory paragraphs have been paraphrased by the
U.S. JGOFS PDMO from the original conference invitation by ...
Hugh W. Ducklow
Chair, International JGOFS Scientific Steering Committee
and
Deborah K. Steinberg
Chair, Conference Scientific Program Steering Committee
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