NewsFlash from the Mountain Research Initiative, February 2011
Please read this global Flash from MRI in the email message below, or use this link if you want to download the Flash in pdf format:http://mri.scnatweb.ch/dmdocuments/MRI_Flash_February_2011.pdf
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Flash!
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MRI will host a workshop on global change research in mountain regions on Saturday, 2 April 2011, the day before the EGU meeting begins in Vienna, Austria. The one-day free workshop aims at stimulating interdisciplinary dialogue between a small number of researchers (24 speakers plus a few observers) from around the world who are involved in research on global change issues in mountain regions. There are a few places left. If you like to attend the meeting, please send a message to Astrid Björnsen Gurung (astrid.bjoernsen@uibk.ac.at) as soon as possible. Please note that travel expenses can not be supported.
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MRI Europe
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Read the February Newsflash of MRI Europe:
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S4C, Science for the Carpathians
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Read the February Newsflash of S4C:
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SEEmore, the Southern European Mountain Research Network
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Read the February Newsflash of SEEmore:
Read the Greek translation:
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The Americas Cordillera Transect (ACT)
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Read the October 2010 Newsflash of ACT
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Global Change Research Network (GCRN) Africa
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Read the October Newsflash of GCRN Africa:
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SELECTION OF NEWS WORLDWIDE
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Craig D. Allen, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, is one of 503 AAAS members to have been named a 2010 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Allen was elected as an AAAS Fellow, "for outstanding leadership in the synthesis of global forest responses to climate change, built from worldwide collaboration and a deep understanding of the environmental history of the southwestern United States."
Ang Rita Sherpa, Senior Program Manager at The Mountain Institute, has won the 2011 Sir Edmund Hillary Mountain Legacy Medal. Celebrating Sir Edmund's life-long commitment to the welfare of mountain people and their environment, the Hillary Medal is granted "for remarkable service in the conservation of culture and nature in mountainous regions." Ang Rita Sherpa has dedicated himself to the management of remote mountainous protected areas and conserving ecosystems while expanding sustainable livelihoods for mountain communities.
MRI Director’s Blog Greg Greenwood’s blog is accessible through the MRI home page. Read his recent contribution on preparations for Rio+20 and much more. He warmly encourages your comments and questions.
GMBA just installed a metadata catalog linked to GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility).
January 2011 was the 17th warmest January on record. The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January 2011 was 0.38°C (0.68°F) above the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F).
Climate Policy in 2010: One Step Forward and Two Sideward. Regional analysis of climate policy in 2010 and the Cancun Climate Conference
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UPCOMING EVENTS
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Science on FIRE: Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research and Education
28–29 March 2011, Boulder, Colorado . Organizational design and management of interdisciplinary programs, mutual implications of interdisciplinary and disciplinary research, and interdisciplinary education, with a focus on the biosciences. Presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology
The IGBP international conference, Planet Under Pressure, 26-29 March 2012, in London, is an important meeting that will provide input to the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference in May 2012. Three broad themes will guide the conference:
• Meeting global needs: food, energy, water and other ecosystem services
• Transforming our way of living: development pathways under global environmental change
• Governing across scales: innovative stewardship of the Earth system
The organizing committee invites session proposals. Sessions involving the MRI community could be organized on, for example,
• Mountains as sensitive indicators of global change
• Lessons learned from the study of common property regimes in, among other environments, mountains
• Ecosystem services, in mountains and in other environments, as a new currency
• Analysis of coupled human-earth systems in mountains and elsewhere as a route to sustainability
The deadline for proposals is 18 March 2011. If you would like MRI to help you recruit submissions to your session, please let us know.
European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU), 3–8 April 2011, Vienna, Austria. See as the preceding note about the MRI workshop prior to the EGU meeting on 2 April in Vienna.
Climate Change in High Mountain Regions—From Understanding of the Past to
Modelling of the Future, an international conference on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Sonnblick Observatory. 29 August–1 September 2011, Salzburg, Austria.
The challenges of water scarcity in different regions of the Alps likely to be or already affected by climate change will be addressed at the Alp-Water-Scarce Final Conference, Old University, Graz, Austria, 20–22 September 2011. Contacts: Daniela Hohenwallner, alpwaterscarce@gmail.com; Gunther Suette, gunther.suette@stmk.gv.at.
International Symposium on Changing Cryosphere, Water Availability and Sustainable Development in Central Asia, 10–12 October 2011, Urumchi, Xinjiang, China.
Managing Alpine Future II: International Conference 2011. 21–23 November 2011, Innsbruck, Austria. The interdisciplinary conference will create dialogue between disciplines under the umbrella of mountain research, focusing on three core topics: geosphere-anthroposphere, hydrosphere-anthroposphere, biosphere-anthhoposphere. Notification of acceptance of abstracts is 15 March, and the deadline for submission of full papers is 15 June 2011.
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PUBLICATIONS
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The first synthesis paper supported by MRI, Climate change and mountain water resources: overview and recommendations for research, management and policy, D. Viviroli, D. R. Archer, W. Buytaert, et al., Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 15, 471–504 (2011) has just been published online.
The first SEEmore publication also is now available: Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions: Southeastern Europe, G. Zhelezov, ed. Dordrecht: Springer, 2011. ISBN: 978-94-007-0130-4
A press release summarizes the 4 February, 2011 event Sustaining Forests for Mitigation and Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change, which was organized by The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, the Energy and Resources Institute, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India to accompany the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.
A report on SWOMM 2010, Transport & Environment in Mountain Areas: Traffic Patterns, Ecosystems Services, Policies for Sustainable Development, the sixth Scientific Workshop on Mountain Mobility and Transport on 14 December 2010 in Rome is now available.
Challenges for Mountain Regions—Tackling Complexity. A. Borsdorf, G. Grabherr, K. Heinrich, B. Scot, J. Stötter, eds. Vienna: Böhlau, 2010. ISBN 978-3-205-78652-8
Tourism in Climate Change (also available in French and German)
Mainstreaming Gender in Mountain Development—From Policy to Practice: Lessons learned from a gender assessment of four projects implemented in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas (2011)
Framework for Community-Based Climate Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment in Mountain Areas (2011).
The Network for a New Culture of Sustainability under Climate Change is funded with the support of the Euroregió and the Catalan Government and aims at fostering the
exchange of information and experience between people who are concerned by climate
and land-use changes and interested in sustainable development issues. The website is available in English, Spanish, French, and Catalan.
A digest on black carbon has been prepared for members of Mountain Forum and Mountain Partnership network.
CFP, Mountain Research and Development: “Central Asian Mountain Societies in Transition.” Deadline for submission of abstracts, 31 March 2011.
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POSITIONS
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A Sultan Qaboos University-Earthwatch UK initiative, Conservation and restoration of Juniper-Olive Woodlands in the northern mountains of Oman, welcomes applicants with specializations in natural or social sciences to be the On-site Project Coordinator of a project that deals with both the ecological and socioeconomic aspects of the woodlands. The Project Coordinator will oversee and assist in the research of specialists/groups working on the project, as well as conduct research on his/her own. Contact Reginald Victor, rvictor@squ.edu.om, Professor and Dean of Research, Sultan Qaboos University, PO Box 17, Alkhod, PC 123, Muscat, Oman.
Nominations for the GLP Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) are still open: GLP activities are overseen by an international Scientific Steering Committee (SSC). The SSC represents a broad spectrum of disciplines and nationalities, and includes both mid-level and senior scientists. This call for nominations is for SSC membership starting January 2012, the application deadline is Friday 18th March 2011.
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The MRI has a new communication and event manager as of 1 February 2011. Christopher Ritter has taken over communication tasks, from Sandra Liechti, through the end of November 2011, when Claudia Drexler returns to the job (from mountain.TRIP). Please note the new email address, ritter@giub.unibe.ch, which supplants liechti@giub.unibe.ch. (The latter will remain functional, however, through the middle of March.)
Please post any contribution for inclusion in the March MRI NewsFlash (which will in fact appear in March of 2011) to MRI by18 March.
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Greg Greenwood, Executive Director, MRI
Chris Ritter, Communication and Event Manager
The Mountain Research Initiative
c/o Institute of Geography, University of Bern
Erlachstrasse 9a Trakt 3 3012 Bern, Switzerland
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