Bering Ecosystem STudy (BEST): Working Group announcement and
invitation for contributions to the planning process for a draft science
plan.
For more information view the BEST website at:
http://www.arcus.org/bering
On behalf of the Bering Ecosystem Study (BEST) Working Group Chair
George Hunt and the National Science Foundation (NSF), ARCUS announces a
community planning process to identify research priorities and develop a
science plan for a research effort to understand the ecology of the
Bering Sea.
The NSF is supporting a planning process to develop a Bering Sea
research program that could run in excess of five years. A goal of the
plan is to initiate collaborative studies of the sub-arctic seas,
culminating in cooperative ecological research of the eastern, western
and basin areas by Japan, Russia, the United States and other countries.
Comparisons with the Barents Sea and the Newfoundland/Labrador shelf may
also be investigated, but these are not the focus of the current
meeting.
The planning process began with the Ecosystem Studies of Sub-Arctic Seas
workshop in Laguna Beach California, 4-6 September 2002. Following the
workshop in Laguna Beach, a working group was formed to begin
development of a draft science plan. The working group will meet in
March 2003 in Seattle, Washington. The draft science plan will be
available for broad community review prior to publication, after which
an implementation plan will be prepared. Subject to the availability of
funding and ship time, a competition for funds could occur in 2004, with
field research in the Bering Sea in 2005.
The working group is inviting contributions to the planning process and
the draft science plan. If you wish to provide input on priorities for
research in the Bering Sea or research findings that should be
considered, send a one-page summary to working group chair George Hunt
(glhunt [at] uci.edu) or to Scott Stewart (scott [at] arcus.org) at ARCUS.
For more information view the BEST website at:
http://www.arcus.org/bering