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from the office
Letter from the Chairs
Jian Lin and Chris German
In 2009, we will enter the second half of the InterRidge (IR)
Next Decade Plan for 2004 - 2013. We are delighted to report
that the IR community is thriving! International cooperation
on deep-sea research is getting stronger year by year. The tremendous
international progress in mid-ocean ridge research is
reflected in many exciting news stories reported in this 2008 IR
Annual Newsletter.
The goal of the IR program is to advance international deep-sea
research and exploration of the global mid-ocean ridge system.
We progress towards this goal by creating a global community,
planning and coordinating new science programs that no single
nation can achieve alone, exchanging information, and sharing
new technologies and facilities. IR is also dedicated to reaching
out to the public, scientists and governments, and to providing
a unified voice for ocean ridge researchers worldwide. Following
are just a few examples of exciting progress in 2008 and
new developments for 2009.
Progress in regional and national programs of the
IR community
In Nov. 2008, the InterRidge-Japan group received great news
that their application for a five-year new interdisciplinary initiative
called Project TAIGA (Trans-crustal Advection and Insitu
biogeochemical processes of Global sub-seafloor Aquifer)
was funded. This success reflects a major community effort,
science vision, and leadership of the InterRidge-Japan group.
Many exciting new developments in the regional and national
research and education programs of the IR community, including
Brazil, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea,
Norway, Philippines, Russia, UK, and USA, are reported
in the International Research and National News sections of this
Newsletter.
In the past year, the IR community expanded from 28 to 30
regional and national memberships with the addition of Chile
and Chinese Taipei. The close to 2,500 individual members in
the IR community now come from a total of 62 regions and
countries with this year’s addition of individual members from
Colombia, Malaysia, Nepal, and Vietnam.
STOP PRESS: We have just received the fantastic latebreaking
news that Jian Lin, IR Chair, has been elected
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science. I hope you will all join with me in congratulating
Jian on this prestigious and well-deserved recognition
of his outstanding leadership in international education and
research! Very best wishes, Chris German (IR Co-Chair).
Progress in IR working groups
In Oct. 2008, the SCOR (Scientific Committee on Oceanic
Research) program announced co-funding with IR of a new
SCOR working group on “Hydrothermal energy transfer and
its impact on ocean carbon cycles.” This new SCOR working
group is the first to derive from IR activities in over a decade,
and the successful proposal was developed from discussions at
the 2007 IR Theoretical Institute.
Four new IR working groups (Long-Range Ridge Exploration,
Mantle Imaging, Seafloor Mineralization, and Vent Ecology)
were set up in 2008. The current and planned activities of the
new and existing IR working groups, as well as other IR community
science planning efforts, are reported in the Working
Group Updates and Workshop Reports sections of this Newsletter.
Progress in IR outreach, education, and training of
young scientists
Recently the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Endowment
Fund has approved a three-year grant to co-fund the IR
Student and Postdoctoral Fellowship program for 2009 - 2011.
This is the first grant of its kind that IR has successfully obtained,
and it will directly benefit international cooperation
and training of the next generation of leading scientists. This
and other news on the IR outreach and education activities are
reported in the Education and Outreach Update and Student
Fellows sections of this Newsletter.
We envision that the thrust for the IR program in 2009 will be
the full activities of the IR working groups that cover a wide
range of exciting research directions of major interest to the
international community. As deep-sea research in the IR community
is strengthening, we also expect additional upgrades
of IR memberships from individual regions and nations. We
look forward to another exciting year, working with you all and
bringing the IR program to a new level in 2009!
Call for bids to host the next InterRidge Office,
2010 - 2012
Submission deadline: 31 March 2009
In January 2010 the InterRidge Office is
due to rotate under the appointment of a
new Chair. The full call for bids will be
posted in January 2009 on the IR website.
InterRidge News 1 Vol. 17, 2008