2001 IAPSO Activities
The principal IAPSO activity in 2001 was the convening of the IAPSO/IABO Joint Assembly in Mar del Plata, Argentina in October. This Joint Assembly had 430 paid registrants including a significant number of students and young scientists. The abstract books are available electronically elsewhere on the IAPSO Web page (2001 IAPSO/IABO Joint Assembly). In addition to the technical sessions, there was a session on IAPSO history, and the first presentation of the Prince Albert I Medal. There were also several special luncheon meetings including a luncheon for student attendees. The IAPSO Executive Committee had two business meetings plus an initial meeting on the future of IAPSO. There was a tentative decision to convene a follow-up Joint Assembly with IABO in 2005 somewhere in Europe. There were discussions of IAPSO Commissions, with a decision to discontinue the Commission on Sea Ice, and several proposals relating to other possible commissions. ICSU's Scientific Committee for Oceanic Research (SCOR) held an Executive Committee meeting in Mar del Plata immediately following the Joint Assembly.
The formal organization meeting for the new IAPSO/IAHS Joint Commission on Groundwater-Seawater Interactions was held at the IAHS Assembly during the summer of 2001. The commission developed frames of reference and a proposal for future actions over the next several years. Action also progressed on the new Inter- Association IUGG Commission on GeoRisk. Activities of the Permanent Service on Mean Sea Level (sponsored by IAPSO), and IAPSO's Standard Sea Water Service (operated by Ocean Scientific International) continued in 2001.
The IAPSO President and Secretary General attended the IUGG Executive Committee meeting in Sapporo, Japan, and the meetings of the IUGG Scientific Program Committee in Sapporo and in San Francisco, USA. An IAPSO scientific program was developed for the IUGG General Assembly to be held in Sapporo in 2003. Details of the program are elsewhere on the IAPSO Web page.
Maintenance and updating of the IAPSO Web page continued. Additional links were added to university, laboratory and institute Web pages. The IAPSO Secretariat continues to respond to various inqueries for information.