Media Advisory 07-006

National Science Foundation and National Academies to co-host kick-off in Washington, D.C.; event will be webcast live

February 22, 2007

This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.

The United States will mark the start of International Polar Year (IPY) with an event hosted by the National Academies and the National Science Foundation on Feb. 26, 2007, in Washington, D.C. During the ceremony, a panel of polar scientists will discuss the latest research and present an overview of expeditions to take place during IPY. There will also be remarks from government leaders whose agencies play an active role in this international effort.

International Polar Year is a global research effort to better understand the polar regions and their climatic effect on the Earth. More than 200 scientific expeditions will take place over the next two years to study changes to permafrost, the melting of polar ice sheets, and marine life in the cold and dark. The research completed during IPY will provide a baseline for understanding future environmental change.

When:	Monday, Feb. 26, 2007, 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., eastern time
Where:	Auditorium, National Academy of Sciences building, 2100 C St., N.W., Washington, D.C. Those who cannot attend may watch a live video webcast of the event and submit questions using an e-mail form.
Who:	Ralph Cicerone, President, National Academy of Sciences U.S. Government Leadership Panel: Arden L. Bement,Jr., Director, National Science Foundation (NSF) Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senator, State of Alaska Brian Baird, U.S. Congressman, State of Washington – 3rd District P. Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior James L. Connaughton, Chairman, White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary, Democracy and Global Affairs, U.S. Department of State Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce David L. Evans, Under Secretary for Science, Smithsonian Institution Mark D. Myers, Director, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) James Herrington, Director of International Relations, Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Panel of Scientists: Robin E. Bell, Doherty Senior Research Scientist, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University Robert Bindschadler, Chief Scientist, Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Gretchen E. Hofmann, Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara Deanna Kingston, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University Konrad Steffen, Director, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado - Boulder Mead Treadwell, Chair, US Arctic Research Commission

Reporters must register in advance with the National Academies' Office of News and Public Information, tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail news@nas.edu.

Public registration for this free event and more information about IPY is available online at http://www.us-ipy.org/.

-NSF-

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Media Contacts
Maureen O'Leary, National Academy of Sciences, (202) 334-2138, email: moleary@nas.edu
Peter West, National Science Foundation, (703) 292-7761, email: pwest@nsf.gov
Dana Topousis, National Science Foundation, (703) 292-7750, email: dtopousi@nsf.gov

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