Lamont Weekly Report, May 2, 2008

The Earth Institute's External Review Board, commissioned by the Provost,  was in town at the beginning of the week, and they triggered a number of excellent discussions about the structure and future of the EI. It is always so enlightening to listen to perspectives from 'outside' - it was clear that the Board members perceived CU as playing the major leadership role within US academia on matters pertaining to earth and environmental research and sustainable development. Very heartening.

Our own Michael Studinger is featured on the front page of the CU home page (one of the several photos they have cycling through) - looking like the quintessential field geophysicist surrounded by snow and ice and equipment boxes and earnestly recording observations in a field note book! I think I need to enact a new policy requiring large and
legible Lamont logos on all our equipment boxes so when photos like this are taken we are guaranteed  visibility. (There is also a picture in the sequence taken at our Open House.)

The lead news story on this same web page is also one third devoted to Lamont - in that it is celebrating Paul Olsen's great achievement - his election to the National Academy of Sciences. This is indeed a great honor and we all congratulate Paul for this well deserved recognition.

It was a good week for folks with the first name 'Paul' because Paul Richards was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Congratulations Paul - a well-deserved recognition of the incredible contributions he has made to seismology.

It is the third in our series of spring public lectures this Sunday - Robin Bell is our speaker - 3pm in Monell and I predict it will again be a packed house - so if you want to come... come early.

Next week is destroyed by another trip to Washington - Board meeting for Ocean Leadership Inc.  Doubtless we will hear more about the budget woes within the federal agencies.

 I hope the weather this weekend is not as bad as they say it is going to be.

 Have a good one anyway,

Mike