MINUTES

Annual Members' Meeting
9-10 October 2001
Boulder, Colorado

TUESDAY, 9 OCTOBER

1. CONVENE THE ANNUAL MEMBERS MEETING

The Annual Meeting of the UCAR Members was called to order by Chairman Otis Brown at 12:30pm on Tuesday, 9 October, in the Main Seminar Room at the Mesa Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. Brown welcomed members of the UCAR Board of Trustees, Members' Representatives (53 of the 66 institutions were represented), Academic Affiliates' representatives, members of the University Relations Committee, NSF colleagues and guests and thanked them all for attending this meeting. After reviewing the agenda, it was regularly moved, seconded, and passed to adopt the agenda for the 9-10 October Members' meeting as presented.

Present for all or portions of the meeting were the following Members' Representatives and officially appointed substitutes:

2. CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD ANNUAL REPORT

Chairman Brown reported on the following activities that have occurred since the October 2000 meeting.

• In February, the Board welcomed new members: Soroosh Sorooshian (U of Arizona), Eugenia Kalnay (U of Maryland) and Patricia Woodworth (U of Chicago). Trustee Leo Donner (Princeton U) and Gabor Vali (U Wyoming) were welcomed back for a second term on the Board.

• At the June meeting in Arlington, Virginia, the Board hosted several distinguished guests: Joe Bordogna, NSF Deputy Director; Frank Cushing, House Appropriations Committee; David Evans, NOAA Assistant Administrator; Jack Kaye, Director of NASA’s Earth Science Research Division; and Jack Hayes, Director of the Office of Science and Technology at the National Weather Service.

• The Board Personnel Committee considered the following items and brought them to the full Board for approval: the appointment of two new Senior Scientists—Gerald Meehl and Anne Smith—and the approval of a 3% increase in salary ranges and a 4% overall increase in the salary budget for UCAR employees.

• Cliff Jacobs has kept the Board informed about the planning process for the NSF Review of NCAR, in which the SPEC Observers will participate fully. Anthes and Jacobs will have further information in their reports.

• The Board has approved the NCAR Strategic Plan. NCAR Director Tim Killeen, his staff, and the scientific staff have all contributed greatly to the NCAR Strategic Plan. Killeen will report on the plan later in the day.

• The Board approved the Strategic Plan for Education and Outreach (EO) at their June meeting. EO Director Roberta Johnson will report to the Members later in the day.

• The Advocacy Strategic Plan was vetted with the Board in June; doubling the NSF budget remains as the highest advocacy priority. The Board has been regularly briefed on advocacy activities. Some Board members have participated in Hills visits regarding the UCAR/AMS transition documents and general visits regarding the budget and the importance of R&D. UCAR continues to work hard on behalf of the community and Brown encouraged the Members to stay involved in this process.

• UCAR Management and the Board remain concerned about graduate school enrollments and the possible decline in the quality of graduate students. The enrollment survey, begun last year, is being conducted again.

• The UCAR Foundation continues to update the Board on its activities. Chairman of the Foundation Merc Mercure will address the Members later.

Brown noted that John Dutton is retiring this year from Pennsylvania State University. In honor of his many years of service to UCAR and the community, the following resolution was read:

Whereas, John Dutton has served as the UCAR Member’s Representative from the Pennsylvania State University for the past 28 years – since 1973 with a great and bold style and a deep commitment to the UCAR and the atmospheric and related sciences community;

Whereas, John Dutton served on the UCAR Board of Trustees during critical and rapidly changing years of the corporation from 1974 – 2001;

Whereas, John Dutton has served on virtually all of the UCAR governance committees – formal and ad hoc – with great elan and humor and creative intellect, and with deep dedication to the principles which founded UCAR and still guide this consortium of broad university partnerships;

Now, Therefore, on the occasion of his retirement this year from the Pennsylvania State University, the Members of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research – with appreciation and very fond memories – recognized the long and deep association John has had with the corporation, his unwavering loyalty, and the strong hand with which he helped to guide UCAR to the successful place it occupies today.

God Speed, John!

3. REGULAR BUSINESS

A. Secretary's Report

Ronald Smith, Secretary of the Corporation, presented the minutes of the October 2000 Annual meeting to the Members for approval. It was moved, seconded, and passed to approve the minutes as written.

B. Treasurer's Report

In Treasurer Patricia Woodworth’s absence, Vice President for Finance and Administration Kathryn Schmoll presented the Consolidated Statement of Funding and Expenditures for the first 11 months of FY 2001. She reviewed the program funding and expenditures/commitments noting that, as is most often the case, a significant amount of funding has been received late in the fiscal year and thus isn't reflected on these statements. Program increases include funding for the HIAPER project. She reported that the general fund should end up close to projections.

It was moved, seconded, and passed to receive the Treasurer's report as presented.

C. Election of Auditors

Schmoll requested the approval of Deloitte and Touche as the corporate auditors. It was moved, seconded, and passed to approve Deloitte and Touche as auditors for FY2002.

4. UCAR PRESIDENT'S REPORT

Richard Anthes, President of UCAR, requested a moment of silence to honor and remember those who perished in the 11 September tragedy. He also showed messages he has received from national and international colleagues expressing their sorrow and support.

Anthes thanked the Members Representatives for traveling to Boulder during this time of uncertainty and turmoil and also thanked them for their input at these meetings. After reminding the Members that his and the NCAR and UOP Directors' full written reports could be viewed at http://www.ucar.edu/governance/meetings/oct01/mr.html, he highlighted the following activities:

• High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER). The project is developing well, and an additional $12.5M for the acquisition of the aircraft has been received. Search is underway for a project manager.

• Advanced Research Computing System (ARCS). This represents a major effort to improve NCAR’s computing facilities and places us as one of the top computing facilities in the world.

• Recruitment for the Discipline. Anthes referred to the website being developed, the survey sent out to member universities and the article which will published in the January 2002 BAMS issue.

• Government Affairs and Advocacy. The Office of Government Affairs (OGA) has hosted numerous exhibits, science briefings, visits to Congress, testimonies in front of Congressional hearings, as well as visits by several high level federal agency staff. The FY 2002 budget for NSF will likely come in between the House and Senate numbers, and will not approach the percentage increase received last year. The science community essentially ceased advocacy/lobbying activities after 9/11/01. He said we will contact the Members with information as necessary and asked the community to continue its advocacy efforts as appropriate in the near future.

• Finance and Administration

• Phase One of the Mesa Lab refurbishment is progressing very well.

• UCAR has received an upgrade in its credit rating from A to A+ (S&P) and an equivalent first rating of A1 (Moody’s); this is a testament to UCAR’s excellent financial management, Anthes said.

• The new building addition at Foothills Lab is moving forward and UCAR has begun the Planned Use Development process with the City of Boulder.

• Human Resources continues to follow up on the APS study regarding family friendliness issues, mentoring and communication.

• NSF Reviews. The NSF reviews of the NCAR Divisions have begun and are going well. The NSF Review of UCAR/NCAR Management will occur on 13-15 November. SPEC observers will participate in all the reviews.

• Graduate Students visit. Anthes reported on the visit of six University of Arizona graduate students this past summer. In part because of the success of this visit, a summer leadership workshop at NCAR is being considered next summer for 20-30 undergraduates to be nominated by their institutions.

Anthes concluded by saying that the top four issues/opportunities that he sees for this next year are: (1) the implementation of three strategic plans—NCAR, Education and Outreach, and the High-Performance Simulation plan; (2) the continued progress with HIAPER; (3) successful completion of all the NSF reviews; and (4) preparation of a proposal for renewal of the next cooperative agreement with NSF.

5. NCAR DIRECTOR'S REPORT

NCAR Director Tim Killeen discussed the following issues:

• New staff. The new NCAR Director of Research Relations, Peter Backlund, will start in December 2001. Nine new early career scientists have been hired, which is the single biggest increase in scientists at NCAR since the early 1990s. NCAR has been fortunate to recruit the best young scientists whose research specialties map closely with NCAR’s strategic plan. Activities related to "developing the human capital" at NCAR and in our field include: new mentoring guidelines, panel sessions with the Early Career Scientists Assembly; NCAR-wide and divisional Town Meetings with Killeen; UCAR Town Meetings with Anthes; the staff development survey on desired training courses; the employee focus groups on career development issues; the Work/Life Balance survey; and professional development training starting FY 2002.

• NSF Reviews. The NSF panel review of ESIG started on the day of the terrorist attacks and in spite of the very difficult circumstances, the review went forward. The Review Panel was impressed with ESIG’s products, staff and science, and recommended focusing on a single, large theme and adding staff as appropriate. The ASP review was also positive with recognition of the strong post-doc program and the graduate fellowship program.

• HIAPER. Engineering studies on the aircraft and recruitment of a project manager are going forward now that a letter of intent has been signed with Gulfstream, and plans are underway hold an instrumentation workshop at NCAR in the near future.

• Advanced Research Computing System (ARCS)—Killeen said that ARCS is doubling the raw computing power at NCAR--the single largest computing upgrade in NCAR's history. The upgraded system will be available to the community within the next few weeks. NCAR has planned that future upgrades and options will keep NCAR and the university community at the forefront of computing capability.

• FY2002 NCAR Directorate plans—Killeen highlighted his plans for the coming year which include: implementing the strategic plans; continuing to reach out to the private sector (i.e., NCAR Advisory Council); continuing improvement in diversity recruiting, mentoring, and staff development; improving relations with universities; and participating in the national climate/weather, space weather, and IT agendas.

6. UOP DIRECTOR'S REPORT

UOP Director Jack Fellows briefly reviewed some of the activities in the following programs:

• Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET) is in the process of finalizing a new five-year cooperative agreement with NOAA and has two new sponsors: the Meteorological Service of Canada and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System.

• Joint Office of Science Support (JOSS) has moved into the data management phases of the Aerosol Characterization Experiment - Asia-Pacific Region (ACE-Asia) project, which examined atmospheric aerosols over China, Japan and Korea and included 130 scientists from 12 nations, 22 universities and 12 other research institutions.

• Dave Fulker, Unidata Director, has secured a National SMETE [Science, Meteorology, Engineering, and Technology Education] Digital Library (NSDL) award and will be splitting his time 50/50 as director between Unidata and NSDL. The NSDL is a significant program for UCAR and involves considerable university collaboration.

• Digital Library for Earth System Education [DLESE] Program Center (DPC) supports the Earth System Sciences community digital library project. The goal is to help educators and students create, find, evaluate, and use resources that support inquiry-based Earth system science education. Feedback from users thus far has been positive. A proposal to NSF for the next five years is being developed.

• The satellite and science support contracts for COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere Climate) have been signed; the launch vehicle contract should be signed in early 2002.

• SuomiNet, which uses ground-based GPS receivers to measure atmospheric water vapor, is progressing well, and 11 SuomiNet sites are now operational.

7. UNIVERSITY RELATIONS REPORT

Brown reminded the Members that the University Relations Committee (URC) exists to foster good relationships between UCAR and its Member and Affiliate institutions; reviews non-core NCAR and UOP proposals to ensure they meet criteria regarding university involvement; suggests topics and helps plan the Members Meeting Forum; and, advises the UCAR President on university matters.

Kelvin Droegemeier, Chair of the URC, reported to the Members on the key URC activities undertaken over the past year. He reported first on the semi-annual NCAR and UOP non-core proposal review conducted by a subcommittee appointed by the URC. After reviewing the proposal criteria with the Members' Representatives, he noted that UCAR and UOP non-core proposals "do such a good job of meeting the criteria—and have for several years—that the URC over the past year has scaled back the review process." The URC now reviews approximately 10 proposals selected at random every six months rather than reviewing all proposals submitted from NCAR and UOP. He explained that while the selection is at random, care has been taken to select one proposal from each division and UOP. He said that the NSF agrees with this new strategy. Droegemeier reported that "over the years, NCAR and UCAR proposals have become much more collaborative with the university community, that in fact, 80% of the proposals include UCAR Member institutions." Lastly he noted that, while NCAR and UOP are doing a great job in including the universities in their proposals, he hopes to see more linkages with minority-serving institutions.

He reported that during the Spring 2001 meeting, held at the University of Maryland and at Howard University, the URC proposed sponsoring a special session on UCAR and NCAR activities at the AMS Annual meeting in Orlando. A session has been scheduled during the First AMS Student Conference and Career Fair on 13 January 2002, and the committee is currently structuring this session to focus on student opportunities. In conclusion, Droegemeier noted the importance of advocacy and encouraged the Members to become more involved by writing their Congressmen on issues of concern to the community. Brown thanked Droegemeier for his work as URC Chairman over the past two years.

8. NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT

Chairwoman of the Nominating Committee, Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli, reviewed the committee's activities in her report to the Members. She recommended that Tim Hundsdorfer and Susan Warner be appointed as tellers. It was regularly moved, seconded, and passed to appoint Tim Hundsdorfer and Susan Warner as tellers.

Rizzoli then reviewed and recommended the voting procedure used in the past several years:

It was regularly moved, seconded, and passed to adopt the voting procedure as proposed.

Board Chairman Brown outlined the legal and fiduciary responsibilites of the Trustees. He presented the following slate of Institutional Trustees and Trustee-At-Large:

Brown recommended adoption of the slate of Trustee candidates. It was moved and seconded to close the nominations and to adopt the slate. There being no nominations from the floor, the motion passed.

Brown reminded the Members that the Trustee election will take place the following morning, Wednesday, and that the Members will be electing four of the seven Trustee candidates. He added that the slate of Members' committees will be recommended for approval at that time.

9. UCAR FORUM

Brown stated that during the past two years, the Members’ Meeting Forum sessions have focused on how the UCAR community—UCAR, NCAR, UOP, universities and the agencies—can meet the scientific opportunities and challenges of the next several decades. The UCAR Education and Outreach and the NCAR Strategic Plans have been developed over the past year. The plans outline new research and education directions and reflect feedback from the 2000 forum sessions. This year’s forum sessions will discuss these strategic plans and explore possible collaborative opportunities. The breakout groups are organized to (1) discuss areas of common scientific and educational interest and novel approaches to collaborations; (2) build on the traditional interactions; and, (3) identify possible areas of collaboration.

The four groups and co-chairs are as follows: (1) Education and Training – co-chairs, Gene Takle (Iowa State U) and Roberta Johnson (UCAR Education and Outreach); (2) Information Technology – co-chairs, Kelvin Droegemeier (U of Oklahoma), Dave Fulker (UOP, National Science Digital Library) and Al Kellie (Scientific Computing Division, NCAR); (3) Observational Facilities – co-chairs, Ron Smith (Yale U) and Dave Carlson (Atmospheric Technology Division, NCAR); and, (4) Science Thrusts – co-chairs, Chris Bretherton (U of Washington) and Tim Killeen (NCAR Director).

A. Student Recruiting Update

UCAR President Rick Anthes updated the Members on UCAR activities in support of recruiting graduate students into the atmospheric and related sciences. He reported on the survey conducted to assess the number and quality of graduate school applications over the past five years. 36 out of 66 universities responded to the UCAR Member survey. The Trustees asked UCAR to do a one-year follow-up survey, the deadline of which is 1 December 2001. Anthes urged the Members to encourage their universities to complete the survey as soon as possible.

Anthes was also one of several authors (including Trustees Gabor Vali, Dennis Thomson, and David Houghton) who wrote an article "Wanted: More Ph.D.s Graduate enrollments in the atmospheric sciences" (found at http://www.ucar.edu/governance/meetings/oct01/pres/grad_enroll/) which will appear in the January 2002 Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. With the goal of getting more students interested in the field and increasing the number of graduate school applications to the atmospheric and related sciences, a recruitment website is under development. Anthes showed several of the sample pages and received feedback from the Members for improvements on the site.

B. Strategic Plans Presentations

Chairman Brown introduced this item by reminding the Members Representatives that this version of both the NCAR strategic plan and the UCAR Education and Outreach (E&O) strategic plan take into account the Board of Trustee’s input at the previous two Board meetings. Both Strategic Plans were approved at the June 2001 BOT meeting.

NCAR Director Tim Killeen reviewed how the strategic plan was developed, pointing out that the scientific initiatives in the strategic plan started with "self-organizing, grassroots" efforts by a number of NCAR scientists, and now represent the scientific vision for NCAR. He said it provides opportunity for new and expanded relationships with universities. He reviewed the themes and projects—the "roadmap"— of the plan, emphasizing broad and challenging scientific problems—"sound science in service to society". In addition, it focuses on developing the human capital for the atmospheric and related sciences, integrating strong research and education components.

Roberta Johnson, Director of the UCAR Education and Outreach Office, reviewed their mission: "In partnership with the university community, UCAR promotes scientific literacy and advances all levels of education and training in subjects related to the Earth’s atmosphere." She explained each of the overarching principles (diversity, bridging research and education, partnership, science content, and assessment) and the program goals (infrastructure for coordinated education and outreach program, provide services to the UCAR community, support students—pre-K through post-graduate training, and foster public science literacy).

The Members then met in the break-out forum sessions as outlined by Brown above.

WEDNESDAY, 10 OCTOBER

10. AMS POLICY COLLOQUIUM REPORT

William Hooke, Director of AMS’s Policy Program, said that a big challenge for the weather and climate community is to ensure the continuing ability to meet the changing needs of society. An element of the solution to this challenge is to build the effectiveness of the meteorological community in the policy arena through the AMS’s Summer Policy Colloquium, the goal of which is to acquaint present and future leaders in our community with the policy process. Modules for the colloquium include policy basics, case studies, visits to Capitol Hill and the White House, developmental exercises, and reports from Congressional staffers, government and private sector executives, policy researchers and entrepreneurs. The evaluations from the Summer 2001 Colloquium were very positive. Hooke discussed some funding issues related to continuing these colloquia and solicited Members’ feedback. Dennis Thomson (Pennsylvania State University) mentioned that he and others from his university went to the Colloquium, were very impressed, and are now developing a course in this area.

11. NSF REPORT

Jarvis Moyers, Director of NSF’s ATM division, reported on the following topics:

• Budgets. For the FY02 budget, there is still support to increase science and research. Funding for acquisition of HIAPER has not yet been appropriated but there is strong support for the aircraft. With the 11 September attack and the economic downturn, the FY03 budget outlook is uncertain.

• NSF-Wide Activities. Investment in interdisciplinary activities across the Foundation is increasing, especially in the areas of bio-complexity, nano-engineering, and mathematical science. There are opportunities for atmospheric sciences in all three areas. Concern that grant award amounts and durations are inadequate is driving NSF to consider increasing the average grant size duration.

• Directorate Priorities. Moyers stated that ATM’s priorities for this next year are in the following three areas: (a) Implementation of GEO Beyond 2000, carbon and water cycle sciences, natural hazards (USWRP at NSWP), and biogeosciences program; (b) GEO mid-sized facility program; and (c) GEO education and diversity.

• NCAR Division Reviews: Moyers stated that the reviews of the NCAR Divisions are going well.

12. NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT (con'td.)

A. Trustees Election

The result of the Trustee election is as follows:

There were no nominations from the floor. It was moved, seconded, and passed to elect the slate of Members' committees as submitted.

C. Discussion on the Breadth of the UCAR Board of Trustees

Chairman Brown stated that as UCAR/NCAR/UOP and our community move into a broader and more complex environment, the need for increasing the breadth and diversity of experience on the Board of Trustees is becoming apparent. UCAR depends upon the Trustees to bring different perspectives and wisdom on a broad range of research, policy, political, financial and advocacy matters affecting the entire community. The Trustees are the final authority on the management and business of UCAR. They determine the overall direction and have fiduciary and legal responsibilities for all UCAR activities.

Nominating Committee Chairwoman Rizzoli presented a discussion paper written by the committee. She said that in addition to the university presence, experience on the Board in areas such as finance and investing, the political arena, national agencies and private industry are invaluable. Trustees rely on the Trustees-at-Large to provide many of these broader skills. However, with the present by-laws, only three out of the fifteen elected Trustees can be at-large positions. The Nominating Committee proposed several options and invited the Members’ input: to increase the number of Trustee-at-Large positions; do a better job of nominating and electing individuals with these broader skills from within the UCAR Member institutions; or, obtain the needed breadth from other mechanism such as task groups.

Former Trustee John Snow commented that Darius Gaskins (CEO, Burlington Northern Railroad) was one of the most influential Trustees-at-Large who helped to develop the business side of UCAR and encouraged development of UCAR personnel policies. Lyn Hutton (CFO of the MacArthur Foundation) was critical in helping UCAR build its strong financial position. Both of these Trustees had a very strong sense of Trustee responsibility and worked hard to improve UCAR and help it deal with complex management and financial issues.

Brown encouraged the Members to continue thinking about this issue, get the feedback of their colleagues and be prepared to discuss it further at next year’s meeting.

13. MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT

Mary Jo Richardson (Texas A&M), Chairwoman of the Membership Committee, reviewed the renewal process and recommended re-election of the following universities to UCAR Membership for eight-year terms beginning in January 2002. It was moved, seconded, and passed to re-elect The University of Arizona, The University of Chicago, Cornell University, The Florida State University, John Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Rhode Island, University of California, Los Angeles, and The University of Iowa.

14. UCAR FORUM: BREAK-OUT SESSION REPORTS

• Education and Training. Gene Takle reported on the key concepts that came out of their group: the importance of UCAR partnering with universities on content development and assisting the professional development of K-12 educators; better integration of the AMS and UCAR education efforts; retention of a higher number of undergrads in the atmospheric and related sciences; develop "bridging courses" at the high school level; peer review of the undergraduate curriculum; provide on-line presentations on UCAR/NCAR/UOP that members and affiliates can use with new students to get the message out; develop e-mail lists for students and faculty to encourage regular interactions; develop better communication with the UCAR Members about what’s going on in education and outreach training. Takle explained that there is not an expectation that UCAR engage in all of these things but that UCAR Education and Outreach could help to provide linkages.

• Information Technology. Kelvin Droegemeier reported that the principle topics discussed were: tools for effective distance collaboration and education; the five "M"s of IT—making, moving, managing, merging and mining; and addressing perceived deficiencies. He said the Access Grid allows advanced video-conferencing capability--a powerful tool for distance collaboration. He noted that this technology could "eventually help level the playing field" and allow participation from the whole spectrum of institutions, large and small. Droegmeier further said that SCD is ideally positioned to serve as a test bed for new applications and aid in the practical deployment of new technology. Much of the future will be about moving, storing and analyzing data (e.g., digital libraries).

• Observational Facilities. Ron Smith (Yale U) pointed out that the atmospheric sciences are still observation driven, though it is harder to keep observation courses in the college curriculum. His group developed the following list of priorities: replacement for the Electra aircraft; upgrading the C-130; development of interchangeable instrument pods that will easily switch from one aircraft to another; instrument development for HIAPER; software development for radar data analysis; design of regional trace gas measurements that can operate on larger scales; and the development of sondes for water vapor profiling.

• Science Thrusts. Chris Bretherton (U of Washington) asked the question, "Are there science issues which warrant enhanced formal coordination?" His group suggested the following four areas: 1) weather/climate impacts and uncertainty--A workshop is planned on to develop emission scenarios involving considerable external collaborators; 2) Biogeosciences--the CCSM umbrella is already a valuable collaborative mechanism, but more outreach is needed to other disciplines like biology; 3) the water cycle--field experiments are bringing in university participation (GEWEX and the WRF community model); 4) data assimilation--there is great demand for a "toolbox" designed for exploratory work.

15. UCAR FORUM: SUMMARY

Brown thanked the leaders of the forum groups. He encouraged the Members' Representatives to participate in the first next phase--implementation of NCAR’s strategic plan.

Summarizing the Forum over the last two days, he posed the following questions regarding undergraduates: how do we increase retention? What skills and tools are they expected to have when we get them in the university? How do we decide what skill sets they should have? How to better communicate to them the excitement of the atmospheric and related sciences.

He also considered the community of NCAR, other Federal labs, agencies, private sector and universities, asking the Members to think about the relative roles of each of the entities and NCAR's place in the equation. We need to have a better description of who we are as a community, he said, and to have some sort of mutually agreed upon image for a national center.

16. TRIBUTE TO THE ELECTRA

On the occasion of the Electra aircraft's retirement after three decades of service to the community, Jarvis Moyers, Director ATM/NSF, David Carlson, Director ATD/NCAR, and Roger Wakimoto (UCLA) paid tribute to the significant role the Electra has played in advancing the research agenda for the atmospheric sciences. The aircraft allowed the research to be carried out on a much larger scale, and in a more collaborative manner than in the past. Purchased originally for the Global Atmospheric Research Program, the Electra proved to be a tremendous resource for the community. Wakimoto remarked on his experience with the Electra outfitted with the ELDORA radar in the VORTEX field program, as they studied what turned out to be nine tornados. Understanding the genesis of tornados was considerably strengthened because of the Electra, he said.

Carlson remarked that the development of NCAR’s ability to measure and process data started with this plane. He gave enormous credit to all the staff who maintained and supported this aircraft over the years and made it a successful platform for community-wide research. The ELDORA radar, which was developed and flown on the Electra’s tail, will now move to one of NRL’s P3 aircraft.

17. APPROPRIATIONS UPDATE AND UCAR ADVOCACY STRATEGY REPORT

Mark Burnham, from Lewis-Burke Associates, thanked those Members who have responded to Office of Government Affairs (OGA) advocacy alerts; he said that Members’ letters to Congress have had a positive impact on legislation. Burnham encouraged those members who have not responded to the advocacy alerts in the past to consider doing so on future alerts.

Burnham reported on the possible impacts that the 9/11 attack may have on the science community. Student visas are being restricted; there is currently a six-month moratorium on all foreign graduate students until the INS gets a tracking system in place. We, as a community, need to be aware of security issues, both physical and virtual. The public and Congress will expect our institutions to prevent our resources (such as weather predictions for certain areas of the world, supercomputer access, toxic aerosol dispersion models) from being used by terrorists to commit further attacks.

OGA Director Cindy Schmidt reviewed recent briefings on the Hill, testimonies before Congress, and visits made to Congressional offices. She also highlighted the AMS/UCAR Congressional Science Fellowship and the AMS Summer Policy Colloquium. She urged Members to be strategic in their letters about tying in our research to the defense, safety and security of our nation.

18. UCAR FOUNDATION REPORT

Wayne Moore, Vice President of Business Development for the UCAR Foundation, gave an update on the business development and licensing activities that the Foundation has conducted in FY 2001. He said that the Foundation is trying to carefully build a company that will support research in the community and at UCAR/NCAR/UOP. He also reviewed current products that are licensed and the potential products that the Foundation is exploring.

19. UNSTRUCTURED DISCUSSION

Discussion centered around the difficulty of cross-divisional or interdisciplinary funding through NSF's system, and the necessity for MRI awards to include support funding.

20. ADJOURN

The meeting adjourned at 2:45pm.

End of Minutes