Media Advisory: 1999 Spring Meeting -- Updated Press Conference Schedule

Briefing: Overview of Spring Meeting
June 1, 8:00 A.M. - Room 111
Prof. Carol Simpson of Boston University, Chairman of the Spring Meeting Program Committee, will point the way to sessions and special events of particular interest to the media. Journalists found a similar briefing at Fall Meeting helpful in selecting the activities they would cover from the plethora available. This briefing will be preceded by registration (for those who have not preregistered) and continental breakfast in the Press Room, starting at 7:30 A.M.

NEW
Leonid Meteors Create a Temporary Lunar Atmosphere
June 1, 10:00 A.M. - Room 111
The November 17, 1998, return of a strong Leonid meteor shower provided a boost to scientists studying the origins of the Moon's weak atmosphere. Meteor impacts on the lunar surface created a cloud of sodium gas that escaped from the Moon. Sodium atoms were pushed away by the pressure of sunlight, reaching the vicinity of the Earth on November 19th. This cloud of lunar gas was "gravitationally focused" into a narrow tail that was photographed using a sensitive camera at the Boston University Station, McDonald Observatory, in Fort Davis, Texas. Experimental results and computer animations will be presented by researchers from the BU Center for Space Physics.

Participants:
Michael Mendillo, Professor of Astronomy, Boston University, Boston, MA (Overview)
Steven M. Smith, Research Associate, Boston University, Boston, MA (Observational Results)
Jody K. Wilson, Research Associate, Boston University, Boston, MA (Computer Simulations)

Yucca Mountain: Safe Storage for Nuclear Waste?
June 1, 12:15 P.M. - Room 111
The Department of Energy says there are still scientific issues to be resolved concerning the safety of Yucca Mountain, 100 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada, as a long term storage depository for nuclear waste. There is an ongoing public policy debate over whether it will in fact safe to begin using this facility in 2010, as is planned. A panel of scientists will present evidence both supporting and opposing the use of Yucca Mountain.
(Relates to Sessions U21A, U22A, U32A)

Participants:
Dr. Allison Macfarlane, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Dr. Yuri Dublyansky, Institute of Geology, Geophysics, and Mineralogy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
Dr. Ann Kersting, Analytic and Nuclear Chemistry Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
Dr. James Paces, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO
Dr. Paul Witherspoon, Witherspoon, Inc., Berkeley, CA

NEW TIME
Mars Global Surveyor: Explaining Recent Revelations
June 1, 3:00 P.M. - Room 111
Members of the Mars Global Surveyor team will present an informal review of new scientific findings released just before Spring Meeting. They will seek to put these data into the context of what is already known about Mars and respond to questions about them.
(Relates to Sessions P31A, P32A)

Participants:
Dr. Arden L. Albee, Division of Geological Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
Dr. Mario H. Acuna, Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Dr. David E. Smith, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Dr. Maria T. Zuber, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

CANCELED
Magnetic Storms: Understanding and Measuring Energies Pumped into Earth from Space
(Originally scheduled for June 1, 3:00 P.M.)

Second Annual AGU/NESW Wine and Cheese Reception for the Media
June 1, 6:00 P.M. - Room 110
Relax a while at the end of the first busy day of Spring Meeting, see who else is here, and renew friendships over wine and cheese (both upgraded from 1998!). Co-sponsored by New England Science Writers, the regional NASW affiliate. Followed immediately by:

Against the Tide: The Battle for America's Beaches
June 1, 7:00 P.M. - Room 111
Cornelia Dean, Science Editor of The New York Times, has just completed a new book for the Columbia University Press with the above title. Dean, who lives on two islands (Manhattan and Martha's Vineyard), has studied beach erosion and replenishment, development issues on barrier islands, and related scientific and public policy questions, which she will discuss in this special presentation for her colleagues in the media. She will also discuss the process of writing and publishing a popular book about science. ("Against the Tide" will not appear in bookstores until after Spring Meeting, but copies will be available at this lecture.)
(Relates to Session U32B)

NEW TIME
Reading Climate History Through the Chemistry of Shells
June 2, 10:00 A.M. - Room 111
A multidisciplinary group of scientists (geochemists, micropaleontologists, oceanographers, ecologists) has been studying Earth's climate history over various time scales. By analyzing the shells of certain crustaceans, they have been able to calculate changes in ocean alkalinity and the temperature and salinity of lake and ocean waters and also infer rainfall amounts in various regions. They can thereby determine which climate changes were global and which were regional. They have also reached conclusions about the impact of past climate change on lakes, oceans, forests, and other ecosystems.
(Relates to Sessions OS22C, OS31A)

Participants:
Dr. Patrick DeDeckker, Department of Geology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Dr. Gary S. Dwyer, Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC
Dr. Emi Ito, Geology and Geophysics and Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Dr. Daniel C. McCorkle, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
Dr. Yair Rosenthal, IMCS, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

The South China Sea Monsoon Experiment
June 2, 11:00 A.M. - Room 111
This experiment (SCSMEX) has demonstrated an inverse relationship between tropical convection in the South China Sea and the disastrous Yangtze River flood of 1998. When the Yangtze River region is wet, the South China Sea region is dry. Delay in the onset of the monsoon may be a precursor of Yangtze flooding. Scientists from China, the United States, Japan, and Taiwan participated in this project.
(Relates to Sessions A21C, A22E, A31B)

Participants:
Dr. William K.M. Lau, Climate and Radiation Branch, NASA Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Dr. Robert C. Cifelli, Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD and Laboratory for Atmospheres, TRMM Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
Prof. Richard H. Johnson, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Prof. Jough-Tai Wang, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Central University, Chung-Li, Taiwan

Special Event: Public Attitudes Toward the Geophysical Sciences
June 2, 12:15 P.M. - Room 106
What do average Americans think about global warming, earthquake dangers, the availability of safe drinking water and related issues? And how do they view the scientists who study these and related phenomena? AGU's Public Information Committee commissioned an independent study by Public Agenda to seek some preliminary answers. John Immerwahr of Public Agenda and Villanova University conducted the research and reports the results to AGU members. The press is invited to cover his presentation.

The Role of Soils in Reducing and Increasing Atmospheric Carbon
June 2, 1:30 P.M. - Room 111
Soil plays a role in regulating the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and thereby has a role in climate change. But does soil ultimately remove (sequester) more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases into the atmosphere, and what are the factors that influence the direction and magnitude of these processes? A panel will discuss some of the latest insights from experiments in various environments at sea, on coasts, and inland.
(Relates to Sessions H31A, H32A, H41B)

Participants:
Prof. Nigel T. Roulet, Department of Geography and The Centre for Climate and Global Change Research, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
Dr. Jennifer Harden, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
Mr. Eric Kasischke, ERIM International, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI
Ms. Elaine Matthews, Columbia University and NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY
Prof. Susan Trumbore, University of California, Irvine, CA

Honors Ceremony
June 2, 5:30 P.M. - Boston Marriott Copley Place (across from Hynes Convention Center), Ballroom Level
AGU President John Knauss will present awards and medals to various scientists. He will present the Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism to David Sington for his BBC/Discovery Channel series, "Earth Story." The ceremony and subsequent reception are open to press registrants.
(Note: "Earth Story" will be shown continuously at the AGU booth in the exhibition area, one episode each morning and afternoon.)

Lessons From the Cariaco, Venezuela, Earthquake
June 3, 10:00 A.M. - Room 111
The 1997 earthquake in northeastern Venezuela, which killed 82 people, provided a rare opportunity to correlate a surface-rupturing quake with a known fault at depth, El Pilar, in an environment outside California and Japan. El Pilar is shown to behave differently from other well studied strike-slip fault systems, like San Andreas. Seismologists consider their findings an important breakthrough regarding a major, hazardous plate boundary fault zone. The earthquake also provided the opportunity to assess a natural hazard threat in a developing area. These risks are believed to be in some ways greater in the developing than in the developed world.
(Relates to Sessions S42A, S52A)

Participants:
Dr. Ray M. Russo, Department of Geological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Dr. Franck A. Audemard, Fundacin Venezolana de Investigacines Sismologicas (FUNVISIS) (Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research), Caracas, Venezuela
Dr. M. Baumbach, GeoForschungsZentrum, Potsdam, Germany
Dr. Dominik H. Lang, University of Weimar, Weimar, Germany
Dr. Michael Schmitz, Fundacin Venezolana de Investigacines Sismologicas (FUNVISIS) (Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research), Caracas, Venezuela

NEW
The Controlled Flood in Grand Canyon
June 3, 11:00 A.M. - Room 111
In March 1996, a controlled flood was released from Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River in Arizona. The event attracted substantial attention at the time, because use of water for any purpose in the arid west is controversial, and, in this case, a major dam was being used to meet objectives beyond its normal purpose. The flood was released to demonstrate riparian ecosystem restoration in Grand Canyon National Park. AGU has just published a book, "The Controlled Flood in Grand Canyon," in its Geophysical Monograph series, which reports the scientific results of the flood study. It includes background information and data and analysis of the flood's impact on many specific aspects of the river corridor; from sand bars to endangered species. One of the book's editors, Dr. G. Richard Marzolf, Chief of the Regional Research Branch, Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, will provide an overview of the experiment and its outcome.

NEW
Lunar Prospector's Last Mission
June 3, 2:00 P.M. - Room 111
The Lunar Prospector has been circling the Moon at an altitude of about 30 kilometers (19 miles), gathering geological data through its array of instruments. Now, with Prospector's useful life approaching an end, scientists are planning one last dramatic experiment: a controlled crash into a permanently shadowed crater in the hope of liberating a water vapor plume that could be viewed from Earth and establish definitively that water ice exists on the lunar surface.
(Relates to a forthcoming paper in Geophysical Research Letters, which will be available at the Meeting)

Participants:
Prof. David B. Goldstein, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Dr. R. Steven Nerem, Center for Space Research and Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Dr. William C. Feldman, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

NEW
The Consequences of Climate Change Across America: New Findings from the National Assessment
June 4, 10:00 A.M.
The National Assessment on the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change aims to understand United States vulnerabilities to climate change and develop ways to mitigate problems arising from changing regional climates. Government and university researchers focus on issues specific to their respective regions. New data on how climate change is affecting metropolitan areas, the Pacific Northwest, the Mid-Atlantic region, and the Southwest will be discussed at this session.
(Relates to Sessions U51A, U52A)

Participants:
Dr. Patti Anderson, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA (concentrating on parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina, and looking at drought, flooding, and extreme temperature and effects on water supply)
Dr. Holly C. Hartmann, Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (researching climate variability and its impacts on the ranching industry and water supply in the Southwest)
Dr. Dennis P. Lettenmaier, JISAO Climate Impacts Group, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (investigating the Pacific Northwest and the influence of climate on the Columbia Basin, water cycles, and water resource management)
Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, Center for Climate Systems Research, NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies, New York, NY (examining climate change in the New York metropolitan area and its impact on the environment, people, and the city's economy)

Radio Broadcast: NPR Science Friday
June 4, 2:00-4:00 P.M. - Room 308
The second hour of this live discussion program (from 3:00 P.M.) features several scientists who will discuss significant developments in their respective fields that were reported at Spring Meeting. They will participate from the nearby studios of WBUR-FM, and the program will be fed into Room 308 at Hynes, where Meeting attendees may listen to it live.

Participants:
To be posted in the Press Room

Note to Public Information Officers:
If you have press materials relevant to any of the session or press conferences at Spring Meeting and will not yourself be attending, you may send them to the following address by mail or express delivery service:
Harvey Leifert
Boston Marriott Copley Place
110 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
617-236-5800
Hold for arrival: May 30