What's New: To receive these updates and announcements by email, manage your subscription, or review the mailing list archive, go to the NCSE List User Form. Leading Scientists and Policymakers Address NCSE Conference on Forecasting Environmental Changes The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) convened the 5th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Forecasting Environmental Changes on February 3-4, 2005 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. The conference served as a forum for more than 850 leading scientists, engineers, policymakers, government officials, business executives, and educators to assess our ability to understand and forecast environmental changes and to identify opportunities for improving these capabilities.  It connected researchers who study environmental conditions and trends with decisionmakers who need that information.   Participants applied lessons learned from successful environmental forecasting approaches - including examples from atmospheric sciences, oceanography and earth sciences -  to help design new systems for forecasting ecological changes.  They also addressed how improvements in environmental forecasting can lead to improvements in environmental decisionmaking.   This unique, interactive conference served as a forum to connect researchers who study environmental conditions and trends with decisionmakers who need that information.  Participants generated recommendations for creating an integrated environmental forecasting capacity and for improving coordination. James Gustave Speth, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, delivered the opening keynote address.  He addressed opportunities for the United States to assert a leadership role in global environmental issues and change the way we understand the future of our planet.  William D. Ruckelshaus, first and fifth Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, delivered the John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture on Science and the Environment - Choosing our Common Future: Democracy's True Test.  Arden L. Bement, Jr., National Science Foundation Director, delivered a plenary address expressing his vision of NSF's role in environmental science and forecasting for the first time since becoming Director of the agency on November 21, 2004 General Jack Kelly, Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, discussed how the Global Earth Observation System of Systems will "take the pulse of the planet," highlighting the potential for the system of systems to help avoid natural hazards, such as the recent tsunami, from becoming natural disasters.  Jack Dangermond, ESRI President and Founder, will give a keynote address on the use of geo-spatial data to improve environmental forecasting and decisionmakaing. Other plenary speakers included: Ray Anderson, Chairman and CEO, Interface, Inc.       D. James Baker, President and CEO, Academy of Natural Sciences       Ann Bartuska, Deputy Chief for Research and Development, U.S. Forest Service       Rita Colwell, Chair, Canon U.S. Life Sciences, Inc.       Charles Groat, Director, U.S. Geological Survey       Bruce Hayden, Lead Investigator, NEON Design Consortium       Charles Kennel, Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Former Associate Administrator, Mission to Planet Earth, NASA       Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, Heinz Center for Science       Walter Reid, Director, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment  The 2005 conference was designed as an outcome-oriented forum with the goal of formulating a vision for the future of environmental monitoring and forecasting.  Participants shared recent advances in the ability to forecast environmental changes on a variety of spatial and temporal scales.  They identified needs for improved research, observation networks, information management, education and communication tools and processes that will allow more accurate and timely environmental forecasting.  Concurrent symposia examined major cross-cutting initiatives and issues including the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the future of environmental change and tactics to engage users in environmental forecasting. The conference featured a robust set of breakout sessions designed to build connections among institutions, scientific fields and users.  These interactive sessions provided a means to allow conference participants to develop recommendations for creating an integrated environmental forecasting capacity and for improving coordination among the many institutions, programs, activities and individuals engaged in environmental forecasting. NCSE will publish the proceedings of the conference - including the recommendations generated by conference participants - in a report that will be widely distributed to members of Congress, government agencies, universities and colleges across the nation, the business community, and civic organizations.    The 2005 conference website has been updated to include the draft transcript of selected presentations, including plenary addresses delivered by NSF Director Arden Bement, former EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus, and Yale Dean James Gustave Speth.  The conference website also contains the first draft of the recommendations generated during the breakout sessions.     NCSE's 6th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Energy for a Sustainable and Secure Future will take place January 26-27, 2006 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC. ----------------------------------------------------  Craig M. Schiffries, Ph.D.  Conference Chair National Council for Science and the Environment 1707 H Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20006 Tel: 202-530-5810 Fax: 202-628-4311 E-mail: schiffries@NCSEonline.org  www.NCSEonline.org

return | home