Retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will give opening remarks at the ASTC preconference IGLO workshop on October 12. Admiral Lautenbacher will discuss timely NOAA climate information and answer questions. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the latest developments in climate research from one of the leading climate science agencies, and to find out about which topics are on the research forefront.

Buses will depart from the front of the Wilshire Grand Hotel at 7:45 a.m. Following registration, introductions, and Admiral Lautenbacher’s opening remarks, the day will begin with presentations by two distinguished researchers: Waleed Abdalati, head of the Cryospheric Sciences Branch at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, will answer the question “Is Greenland melting?” and Keith W. Dixon, meteorologist at the Climate Dynamics & Prediction Group of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) at Princeton University, New Jersey, will show, through state-of-the-art global climate models, how the ocean component influences the large-scale spatial patterns and time scales associated with climate change.

The morning will conclude with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Aquarium of the Pacific, which is committed to “greening the institution” in every aspect of its operations, from energy, water, materials, and recycling to the seafood served in its restaurant. After lunch, breakout groups will address the following topics:

• citizen science explorations of Earth’s changing environment;

• informal science institutions as safe havens for public discourse on science policy issues;

• professional development and societal-decision support workshops related to Earth science data and research;

• IGLO initial evaluation and next steps.

Posters on climate change-related activities and additional ideas for afternoon sessions are welcome.

To participate, contact iglo@astc.org for a registration form. The cost is $65, payable in advance by check or credit card. No cash or traveler’s checks are accepted, and preregistration is mandatory.

Ray Bradbury will join Martin Sklar, former Vice-Chairman and Principal Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, for a conversation about the science of fiction during the ASTC Annual Conference, October 13-16. Bradbury is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of more than 500 works, including the classic 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury also served as Idea Consultant for the United States Pavilion at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, helped design the Spaceship Earth ride at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center, and wrote for film and television, including “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” and Bradbury’s own cable series.

As president of Walt Disney Imagineering, Marty Sklar was responsible for creation, design, and construction of the company’s parks and resorts, including Epcot. He joined the company in 1955 when he was a student at UCLA.

These two giants of science and fiction will be interviewed by film critic Leonard Maltin. This special late-breaking session is scheduled for Sunday, October 14, 1:30-2:45pm.

Don’t miss it: Register for ASTC 2007.

ASTC Annual Conference-goers have an opportunity to visit Santa Catalina Island, 26 miles offshore from Long Beach, California, on a full-day post-conference tour, October 17.

Southern California’s eight Channel Islands, located off the coast between Santa Barbara and San Diego, are home to rich biodiversity. Nearly 90 percent of the 75-square-mile land mass, created when tectonic plates collided, is now under the protection of the nonprofit Catalina Island Conservancy.

After a one-hour ferry ride, the tour will begin with a visit to the Catalina Island Museum in the resort town of Avalon. This repository of cultural artifacts, housed in the historic Avalon Casino, captures the island’s roles as home to the native Gabrielino/Tongva tribes (who mined soapstone there), a safe haven for pirates, a cattle ranch, a military base, a Hollywood film location, a spring training site for baseball’s Chicago Cubs (whose owners, the Wrigley family, controlled the island from 1919 to 1975), and more.

Next, Conservancy staff will host a coach tour of the inner island for a behind-the-scenes look at how the group is protecting and restoring Catalina’s unique plant and wildlife communities. The schedule includes visits to nature centers at Airport in the Sky (with lunch at the DC-3 Café) and Avalon Canyon and the chance to meet wildlife ambassadors Tachi, a Catalina Island fox, and Pimu, a bald eagle, members of native species restored through Conservancy efforts. Rounding out the tour are a stop at the restored El Rancho Escondido hacienda and stables, part of Catalina’s cattle ranching history, and a visit to the beautiful beach at Little Harbors.

Participation is limited to 55 people. Register now.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA’s research center at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, will open its doors to ASTC Annual Conference-goers on October 12.

JPL’s “Explore Space!” tour will follow the lifecycle of a scientific mission from concept to assembly, test, and operations. Along the way, participants will have the opportunity to visit key facilities, see full-scale replicas of historic spacecraft, and meet senior staff, both at their work sites and in panel discussions.

Since its establishment in the 1930s, JPL has been central to numerous space missions, from the development of the first U.S. satellite to the Phoenix Mars Lander that was launched August 4 on a mission to explore the planet’s icy northern plains. 

Participants in the October 12 tour should register through ASTC and then complete JPL’s online security form. Note that the early-bird registration deadline is August 10.

ASTC 2007 conference registration

Geoffrey Canada, author of Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America and president/CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) in New York City, will be the Saturday keynote speaker at this year’s ASTC Annual Conference, October 13–16. Named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News and World Report in 2005, Canada oversees an interlocking network that delivers social services, education, and community-building programs to children and families in a 60-block area of Central Harlem. Prominent among HCZ’s initiatives are the Beacon School, Harlem Peacemakers Program, and Community Pride Initiative. Canada, a third-degree Black Belt, is also the founder of the Chang Moo Kwan Martial Arts School, which teaches the principles of Tae Kwon Do to community youth, along with anti-violence and conflict-resolution techniques.

In 1994, Canada won the first $250,000 Heinz Award for his “passionate concern for children and his selfless determination to make their lives safer and more successful.” Other honors he has received include the McGraw Prize for Education, the Robin Hood Foundation’s Heroes of the Year Award, and Child magazine’s “Children’s Champion” award. In January 2006, he was chosen by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to be co-chair of a task force charged with significantly reducing poverty in the city. He is also the East Coast regional coordinator for the Black Community Crusade for Children, a nationwide effort coordinated by Marian Wright Edelman and the Children’s Defense Fund to make saving black children the number-one priority in America’s black community.