Association Affairs

Announcements

Planning is in the advanced stage for the 11th Pacific Science Inter-Congress. The Inter-Congress will be held at the Sheraton Tahiti in Tahiti, French Polynesia from 2–6 March 2009. The conference will have plenary and parallel sessions, invited keynote lectures, poster sessions, as well as cultural activities and optional post-conference field trips.

The main theme of the Inter-Congress is “Pacific Countries and their Ocean: Facing Local and Global Changes”. Five parallel sessions have been organized around the following sub-themes:

• • Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development

• • Climate Change and Ocean Acidification

• • Health Challenges in the Pacific: Infectious Diseases, Non-communicable Diseases, and Health Workforce

• • Culture and Politics: The Stakes of Modernity

• • Governance and the Economy: Future Challenges for the Pacific

There will also be a Plenary Session that will discuss inter- and intra-regional cooperation in the Pacific. Sub-sessions on specific topics are being organized under the various session themes, and are designed to facilitate multidisciplinary linkages and interactions.

The PSI-09 organizers recognize the perceived high costs of traveling to French Polynesia, and have arranged for significantly discounted rates on airfares from major destinations in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia. Reduced rates have also been negotiated with hotels in Tahiti. In addition, registration fees include most meals except for breakfast, and so participants’ non-accommodation and non-excursion costs are reduced. There is a significant discount for Early Bird Registration. Students are exempt from all registration fees, and low-cost dorm and small hotel venues have been set up to reduce their costs.

• Early Bird Registration for PSA members: € 240

• Early Bird Registration for non-PSA members: € 250

• Late Registration for PSA members: € 320

• Late Registration for non-PSA members: € 340

• Student Registration: Free

PSI-09 has a Young Scientist Grant Program that will award € 500 grants to 50 scholars/students under age 35. There is also a program to cover full costs for selected scientists from less-developed countries. Please contact the PSI-09 organizers for details.

Further details, and abstract submissions, registration, and hotel reservations can be made via the PSI-09 website, at www.psi2009.pf.

Deadlines for Abstracts and Registration:

• Abstract submission: 30 September 2008

• Young Scientist Grant submission: 30 September 2008

• Abstract results: 31 October 2008

• Grant results: 31 October 2008

• Early bird registration closes: 31 October 2008

• Accommodation Bookings Close: Early February 2009

Activities

PSA Symposium on “Pacific Science: U.S.-Asia/Pacific Collaboration in Advancing Science in the 21st Century” at the AAAS-Pacific Division Meeting

With generous support from the National Academy of Sciences in Washington DC, the Pacific Science Association organized and sponsored a symposium on “Pacific Science: U.S.-Asia/Pacific Collaboration in Advancing Science in the 21st Century” at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Pacific Division (AAAS-PD) Meeting in Waimea, Hawaii from 15–20 June 2008.

The objective of the symposium was to bring together scientists with experience in collaborative international research in Asia and the Pacific to discuss the opportunities and challenges for enhanced collaboration between American scientists and their counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region. Although there are many examples of very successful U.S.–Asia-Pacific scientific collaborations, these endeavors can also present challenges for researchers. This symposium addressed broader issues of collaboration, but focused on presenting examples of successful efforts that designed and conducted research that has both advanced science as well as other goals such as capacity-building and information repatriation that are important to less-developed nation-states. The meeting also addressed how regional scientific organizations, such as the Pacific Science Association, the ICSU’s Regional Office for Asia & Pacific, and the Science Council of Asia, have important roles in addressing these issues. Given increasingly critical issues of common concern such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and the demographic, environmental and social implications of globalization, greater emphasis on research that is both multidisciplinary in nature and international in scope is critical to advancing our scientific understanding of these issues and in providing information required to make scientifically sound decisions to societies and policymakers.

Dr. Peter G. Brewer, Senior Scientist at the Monterey Bay...