Lamont Weekly Report, October 1, 2010

The big news this week is that on Tuesday the National Research Council (NRC) released its decadal assessment of the 140 Earth Science Ph.D. programs in the US - and we came out at the top!  What could be better than that?  Especially since the data used for the analysis was from 05-06 and there is no question that we are stronger today than we were
back then. We have always said that we are one of the best in the nation, and now the National Research Council is saying so as well! If you want to see more details, go to :

http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings/earth-sciences?missing_data=3Du...)

and click on "larger programs" and then on "Rank Programs".

It is important to point out that the data that was submitted to the NRC back in 05-06 (upon which this assessment is based) included the names of 25 DEES faculty and 20 (now) Lamont research professors as well as colleagues from GISS, Barnard, AMNH and Engineering.  So this is truly a shared accolade - shared among all those who make Lamont great.  Congratulations to all.

To celebrate this we will have a party!!  Right after the colloquium next Friday - October 8th - Steve Goldstein and I will say a few words - 15 minutes no more - describing the way the NRC came to their conclusions and then we will celebrate our success in the traditional manner!

Open House tomorrow of course. (See our website for the program and for details about the shuttle bus schedule). Very concerned that although the weather forecast is good, all the rain over the past two days has left the grounds wet and soggy - a potential mud bath. This is especially a concern as we are hoping that our advertising on WNYC
(which, much to my amazement, I actually heard earlier this week) will result in a greater turn-out than usual.

Alumna Candace Major (currently a Program Officer at NSF) gave a great talk on Thursday to a large group of junior researchers, giving advice on how to design and write strong proposals. Candace is also participating in a session at Open House, chaired by Alum Association Board Member Christa Farmer, that will highlight career options outside
of traditional academia.

Thanks in advance to all the hard work that many of you undertake to make Open House the great event that it is - I understand how much work it takes. But I hope sincerely that you enjoy it too.

Langseth arrived in San Diego last night, after her long passage from Hawaii.  She now starts a six month long maintenance and shipyard period before an intense schedule of operations starting in the spring of 2011.

Hoping for a great day at Open House tomorrow - have a good weekend,

Mike