About the series
The U.S. opening ceremony for the International Polar Year 2007-2008 is scheduled for Feb. 26 at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) auditorium, 2100 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. The opening ceremony, which is jointly sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Academies, will include remarks from polar scientists about the nature and scope of U.S. IPY research, as well as remarks from government officials whose agencies play an active role in IPY. The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., eastern time, and will be webcast live.
The webcast will be available at http://www.vodium.com/goto/usipy/webcast.asp .
Seating is limited; online registration is available through the NAS at http://us-ipy.org/ipy-evreg.php
Participants will include:
Ralph Cicerone, President, National Academy of Sciences
U.S. Government Leadership Panel:
- Arden L. Bement,Jr., Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator, State of Alaska
- Brian Baird, U.S. Congressman, State of Washington – 3rd District
- P. Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
- James L. Connaughton, Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
- Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary, Democracy and Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State
- Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce
- David L. Evans, Under Secretary for Science, Smithsonian Institution
- Mark D. Myers, Director, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
- James Herrington, Director, Division of International Relations, Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Panel of Scientists:
- Robin E. Bell, Doherty Senior Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
- Robert Bindschadler, Chief Scientist, Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
- Gretchen E. Hofmann, Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara
- Deanna Kingston, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University
- Konrad Steffen, Director, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado - Boulder
- Mead Treadwell, Chair, US Arctic Research Commission
