International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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IPY 20 07–20 08
limited success.
Although not specifically mentioned in its Terms
of Reference, the IPO also played major roles in
engaging volunteers to support IPY activities
(predominantly education and outreach), and in
promoting and supporting IPY meta-data and data
sharing and archiving. Finally, the IPO provided the
core promotion and support during the early stages
of the development of the Association of Polar Early
Career Scientists (APECS), a new international and
interdisciplinary organization for undergraduate
and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers,
early faculty members, educators and others with
interests in Polar Regions that was formed as one of
the outcomes of IPY 2007–2008 (Chapter 4.3).
The NERC funding of €1.8 M for IPO was adequate to
provide a core staff of only three people over the fouryear
period from 2005 to 2009, a very small resource
considering the diversity and range of functions that
the IPO had to undertake, and the enormous size to
which IPY 2007–2008 eventually grew. To cover other
IPO activities (missions, website maintenance, partial
support to JC subcommittees meetings, etc.) an
additional amount of USD 300K was provided to IPO
during the period 2007–2009 from the ICSU/WMO
IPY Trust Fund 2 . This had been established according
to an MoU signed by ICSU and WMO in April 2006.
Part of this amount (USD 67K) was used as a salary for
an IPY operational data coordinator working in the
Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Expenditure on
the nine meetings of the IPY Joint Committee, shared
evenly by ICSU and WMO in accordance with their MoU
on IPY 2007–2008, totalled around USD 400 K. Over
the lifetime of the IPO, some additional, but limited
funding support was obtained from other national
funding organizations and important additional
capability was provided by part time advisors and
seconded staff.
The effectiveness of the contributions of the IPO
to the larger program and its overall achievements
were also due in a large part to the enthusiasm of the
staff to the objectives of IPY, and their dedication,
commitment and hard work.
In 2006, an IPY Eurasian Arctic Sub-Office (IPY EASO)
was established in St. Petersburg, Russia, hosted by
the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) of
Roshydromet 3 . It worked in close collaboration with
the IPO in Cambridge, U.K., but with the specific
responsibility of supporting the planning and
implementation of IPY projects in the Eurasian Arctic,
including the Russian area. EASO functions included
improving cooperation and coordination in Eurasian
polar research, undertaking pre-project studies
focused on the expected environmental and climatic
conditions and their impact on Eurasian IPY research
and logistics, and collecting and distributing metadata
on infrastructure facilities, logistics and observation
programs in the region.
Development and staffing of the IPO
The British Antarctic Survey made resources
available to maintain momentum for IPY development
during the period between the disbandment of the
ICSU Planning Group at the end of 2004 and the
commencement of NERC funding for the formal IPY
International Programme Office, and the first meeting
of the ICSU/WMO Joint Committee, in early 2005. This
transitional work was undertaken by Cynan Ellis-Evans,
assisted by his administrator Kathy Salisbury, both BAS
employees at the time. Ellis-Evans coordinated the
international calls for IPY ideas, established a browser
accessible database and devised the first IPY website
(Chapter 1.5). He prepared the successful proposal that
resulted in NERC funding the International Programme
Office from the beginning of 2005 and further helped
persuade NERC to be the first national agency to
commit funding to IPY research.
An international search for the key position of an
IPY Director was launched in November 2004. The
IPO Director’s responsibilities were to manage and
support IPO staff and to supervise all aspects of the
IPO functions, including integration, coordination
and communication for the IPY, supporting the JC
and various subcommittees, seeking additional
funding to sustain and develop IPY management
and providing a point of contact for researchers and
stakeholders. Applications for this position closed
on 20 January 2005, and the selection process was
completed in early March 2005 (Chapter 1.5). The fulltime
position of IPO Director was offered to Dr. David
Carlson from Boulder, Colorado (U.S.A.), who took
up his duties on 9 May 2005. Carlson had a scientific
background in oceanography and prior international