Lamont Weekly Report – April 8, 2005

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
P.O. Box 1000, 61 Route 9W Palisades, New York 10964

<> REPORT SUMMARY <>

– Letter from the Director –
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<> LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

For more than a decade there have been two organizations in Washington, managing ocean programs and representing the community broadly - both known by their acronyms: JOI and CORE. I spent Monday and Tuesday of this week in DC at a meeting of the Board of Governors of JOI that will, I suspect, be remembered as historic. After many months of difficult discussion, a number of very sensible resolutions were passed that will move toward the consolidation, in the 3-5 year time frame, of JOI and CORE into a single entity. The ocean community needs a single coherent voice in DC and it needs management structures that can responsibly handle mega projects like the ocean drilling program, and the planned ocean observations activities. Denis Kent as Chair of the JOI Board did a superb job moving us in this direction.

I was very pleased today to host newly appointed CU Vice Provost for Diversity Initiatives Jean Howard for a set of visits with groups around the Campus; and CU Assistant VP and Director of Government relations Ellen Smith who updated us all on budgetary goings-on in Congress, which sadly was not a source of joy and happiness.

Two announcements that ARE a source of joy and happiness:

We have appointed a new Assistant Director for Finance and Administration: Edie Miller. We are extremely pleased that we have been able to attract Edie to Lamont - this is an extremely important appointment for all of us. She is currently in a leadership position at the Columbia University Medical Center and has precisely the knowledge and skills that we need. Her experience within the CU system will allow a rapid ramp up here at Lamont. Edie's first day will be May 16th. Her primary responsibilities will be Accounting, Contracts and Grants, Human Resources, and Purchasing. She will report directly to me and will be a member of the Observatory's Management Group, and will also meet regularly with the Directors of IRI and CIESIN.

The second piece of happy news is the announcement of the promotion of Tim Kenna from his current post-doc position to Doherty Associate Research Scientist in our Geochemistry Division. Tim's meticulous analysis of plutonium in river sediments, and his passion for understanding what this can tell us about sediment distribution processes will continue to play an important role in our ongoing Hudson River initiatives. Congratulations, Tim.

Have a great weekend. It is the time of year when I start calling Beneteau dealers again. It's a sickness…

– Mike

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