Letter from the USAC Chair

June, 2008

Dear Friends:

As the refurbishment of the JOIDES Resolution nears completion and as we begin to prepare for renewal of IODP, it is now more important than ever to appoint strong candidates to the U.S. Science Advisory Committee for Scientific Ocean Drilling (USAC) and the IODP Science Advisory Structure (SAS). I urge you to nominate yourself and/or your colleagues to serve in the SAS or on USAC.

The involvement of individual scientists — not only as expedition participants, but also as committee members who shape and support scientific planning and outcomes — has been the cornerstone of IODP.  IODP belongs to the international drilling community, and it counts on your participation and your input to succeed.

Serving in the SAS or on USAC is a great way to understand the inner-workings of IODP.  In addition, I have also found it to be extremely gratifying to learn about fields outside of my own and to develop friendships and professional contacts around the world.

One of our goals is to populate the SAS and USAC with a diversity of members. We need a rich nomination pool of people from different sub-disciplines, backgrounds, and institutions.  Although a few committees benefit from members with a lot of IODP experience, we also seek to enrich the SAS and USAC by nominating creative scientists regardless of their previous direct experience with ODP or IODP.

Please see the USSSP webpage for more information about nominating yourself or a colleague and about the function and role of the committees.  The deadline for nominations is June 16, 2008.  As usual, we urge you contact any USAC member or the USSSP staff at Ocean Leadership with questions or comments.

Best Regards,

Christina Ravelo
Chair, USAC
acr@cats.ucsc.edu