Working
Group on International Research and Cooperation
Purpose
and objectives
The
primary purpose of the Working Group is to provide international affairs
support for the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).
The WG/IRC membership includes representatives from eleven interested
departments and agencies and acts as a forum to keep member agencies informed
on international issues related to global change research; to assure effective
exchange of information on these issues; and, when appropriate, to develop
or to assist in development of Government-wide positions on these issues.
Activities
The Working Group is focussing at present on assuring effective interagency
interaction with the major international global change research programs;
with a series of regional global change research programs; with the International
Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA);
and, on a bilateral basis, with other leading countries involved in global
change research, especially Japan. The Working Group is also presently
providing interagency staff support for the Department of State and the
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in their development of
bilateral international cooperation in climate change research.
The Working Group coordinates U.S. interagency support for the major international
global change research programs: the World Climate Research Program (WCRP);
the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP);
the International Human Dimensions (of Global Environmental Change) Program
(IHDP); and
Diversitas, a newly emerging international program for research on
biodiversity.
The Working Group provides oversight for U.S. participation in and support
of international regional global change research programs in the Americas
(the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI)
and in Asia (the Asia-Pacific Global Environmental Research Program (APN).
The Working Group also interacts on behalf of the USGCRP with the international
System for Analysis, Research and Training (START)
which, in turn, supports regional cooperation in other regions, such as
central and south Asia and Africa.
The Working Group is working with the International Council for Science
(ICSU) and the Third World Academy of
Sciences (TWAS) to promote improved
cooperation in global change research in Africa. Planning is underway
for a workshop late in 2002 or early in 2003 to consider needs and opportunities
for such regional cooperation.
The Working Group staffs U.S. participation in IGFA which is currently
led by the Assistant Director for Geosciences of National Science Foundation
in her capacity as Chair of the SGCR. IGFA serves as a forum for exchange
of information among national agencies that fund global change research
in over twenty countries; it identifies issues related to such funding
discusses options for resolving them; and then acts through its individual
member agencies.
The Working Group is presently heavily involved in promoting and encouraging
U.S.-Japan cooperation in global change research. Last year the Working
Group coordinated U.S. participation in and support of three U.S.-Japan
workshops in this area, the most important of which was the ninth annual
major U.S.-Japan Workshop on global change research. The subject of this
workshop was "carbon cycle management in terrestrial ecosystems";
the eighth workshop dealt with "health and the environment".
Finally, the Working Group has since last November actively supported
the Department of State and OSTP in their planning for and organization
of a series of bilateral activities directed at improving and expanding
U.S. bilateral international cooperation in climate change research and
technology. The Working Group has primarily compiled background documentation
and assisted in assembling of U.S. Delegations and identification of lead
U.S. scientists in the scientific areas selected for emphasis. The Working
Group is presently assisting also in the follow-up of the first of the
completed bilateral meetings.
Organization
The Working Group is established under the aegis of the Sub-Committee
on Global Change Research (SGCR)
of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR)
which is one of nine committees organized under the National Science and
Technology Council (NSTC).
Member agencies are the Department of Energy (DOE);
the Department of State (DOS); the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA);
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA);
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
both NOAAs Office of Global Programs (OGP)
and the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service
(NESDIS); the National Science
Foundation (NSF); the Office of Naval
Research (ONR); the Smithsonian
Institution (SI); the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID);
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA);
and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The Working Group is chaired by Mr. Louis Brown of the National Science
Foundation (eml: lbrown@nsf.gov; tel:
703-292-7856) and staffed by Mr. David Allen who is located at the USGCRP
Office (eml:dallen@usgcrp.gov;
tel: 202-419-3486).
Contents of this Site
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Public Pages
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You are here now |
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Current U.S.-China Cooperative Activities |
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Current U.S.-India Cooperative Activities |
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Current U.S.-Australia Cooperative Activities |
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Current U.S.-Canada Cooperative Activities |
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Previous, and upcoming US/Japan workshops and related
activities |
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Current U.S./Italy Cooperative Activities |
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Upcoming events relevant to WG/IRC |
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WG/IRC members and contact points |
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Links to programs relevant to WG/IRC interests
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Private Pages
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Information on WG/IRC meetings, minutes, & contact
information |
For more information contact:
Mr. Lou Brown WG/IRC Chair
Department of Geosciences
National Science Foundation,
Rm 1070
4201 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22230 USA
phone: (703) 292-7856
fax: (703) 292-9152
email:lbrown@nsf.gov |
Mr. David Allen
U.S. Global Change Research Program
1717 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Suite 250
Washington DC 20006
P: (202) 419-3486
F: (202) 223-3065
email:dallen@usgcrp.gov
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Questions
or Comments? Please E-mail:dallen@usgcrp.gov
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