This being the first full week after the holiday break, most of my time was spent in meetings and catching up. Much of the next few weeks will be spent working with Edie and the associate directors preparing the Observatory budget for our next fiscal year. At the same time, we are paying close attention to the federal government's plans for future science agency budgets. Some Lamont and IRI scientists will be visiting Capitol Hill at the end of the month to participate in "Climate
Science Day," organized by the AAAS, AGU, AMS (and other professional organizations), to make the case for the importance of university-based basic research. It's a message that cannot be repeated too frequently.
I hope we can inaugurate two important task forces within the next several weeks: one on computational infrastructure and the other to begin developing a strategic plan. The two are linked, of course. For many reasons, now is a good time to step back and take a good look at our computational needs for both research and research administration. Likewise, we are at the point of an important transition at Lamont and we should be looking at where we want to be five and ten years into the
future, not just where we need to be next year.
Enjoy the long weekend, the last for a while. It'll be back to full throttle next week.
Art