Lamont Weekly Report, March 28, 2008

The US remains one of the very few (if the only?) developed nation not to have signed and ratified the Law of the Sea Treaty, that regulates, among other things, the extent of continental shelves over which governments control undersea resources. Nevertheless there are those in Washington DC who have recognized the essential national interest
embedded here, and a twelve member interagency group, led by the State Department, has been formed to plan programs of surveying to provide the data necessary to support any future claims. So that is why John Diebold and I spent Tuesday in DC - giving presentations to this group (in a very grand conference room in the Department of the Interior) about the capabilities of our ship - Marcus G. Langseth - the only American flag vessel capable of full industry standard deep seismic imaging - a capability essential to the determination of the true extent of the US's natural boundaries.

I was only able to attend the State of the Planet Conference on Thursday - which was a pity because it was clearly a superb event with extraordinary  keynote speakers - the President of Institut Pasteur; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway; not to mention Kofi Annan. All the talks can be viewed online - get there through the Earth Institute web site.

Lamont has won recognition around the world in many ways over the decades - and this afternoon I was handed yet another trophy symbolizing the skill and accomplishments of our staff and students.
If anyone asks you " Who are the playoff champions in Orangetown
Recreations co-ed softball league for National Division West?" - you
can reply with pride - "Lamont!"  I have the trophy in my office to
prove it.  Thank you to all who played on the team, and good luck in
the forthcoming season.

Have a great weekend, maybe it will stop raining...

Mike