LAMONT WEEKLY REPORT

March 14, 2003

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

P.O. Box 1000, 61 Route 9W Palisades, New York 10964

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<> REPORT SUMMARY <>

<> Letter from the Director <>

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<> LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

Walter Snyder, one of the two Section Heads in the Division of Earth Sciences at NSF, visited on Monday, and there were a number of useful discussions. Overall Walter conveyed a very positive atmosphere at NSF with regard to future budget increases, and, most encouraging, articulated a growing awareness of the costs associated with essential elements that support basic research – most notably data handling and archiving.

Wednesday was spent with Jeffrey Sachs and many colleagues at a day-long Earth Institute retreat at which each of the six EI clusters – Earth, Biological, Health and Social Sciences, Engineering and Applications – made presentations describing the basic science that is fundamental to the advancement of research in their respective areas. This was another important step towards the formulation of the Institute’s strategic plan – a task that the EI Academic committee is committed to completing by this summer.

The process for selection of this year’s post-doctoral fellows is complete- I will make a public announcement of the awardees’ names next week when they have all been contacted – as in previous years it has been a very difficult decision-making process because the quality of the candidates is outstanding. Compelling arguments could be made for admitting ten from this year’s list – and we have hard money only to support two. Some innovative financial arrangements will allow us to increase that number to three however!  Many thanks are due to Sydney Hemming and her committee for the outstanding job they did in reviewing and rating these superb files.

And speaking of outstanding - folks who have not seen pictures of Maya Tolstoy’s baby should make an effort to do so – his surprise arrival two weeks earlier than predicted impacted in no way his visibly boyish charm…….

They say (those meteorologist types that is) that it will be fifty degrees on Sunday, so for the third time this year I am overcome by blind optimism and express with almost no confidence whatever, that winter is over.

Have a great weekend.

- Mike
 

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