Conference Focuses on Development, Energy, and Security

Several faculty in the College of Geosciences joined other University officials and faculty as key participants in The George Bush China-U.S. Relations Conference: Development, Energy, and Security held in Washington, D.C. October 22-25. The meeting was the third in a series of such conferences. The first conference was held in 2003, and a second conference was held in Beijing in 2005. The conferences are named for President George H. W. Bush because of his strong support for the efforts. The 2007 conference schedule consisted of three days of meetings with keynote addresses and other speakers and two days of forums and research roundtable sessions.

On Wednesday, October 24, two research roundtable sessions were led by faculty from the College of Geosciences. The research roundtable China-U.S. Polar Region Partnerships: The International Polar Year 2007-2008 and Beyond was chaired by Mahlon C. “Chuck” Kennicutt, director, sustainable development and a professor in the Department of Oceanography, along with Karl Erb, Director, Office of Polar Programs, National Science Foundation and Yang Huigen, Standing Director, Polar Research Institute of China.

Also on Wednesday, the research roundtable Linking Global Climate Variability and Change to Coastal Ecosystem Change: A Comparative Study of the Yangtze and Mississippi River Basins was chaired by Professors Thomas Bianchi and Ping Chang, and Associate Professor Steven DiMarco, all of the Department of Oceanography at Texas A&M. Each presented on their research as well. Other faculty in the College of Geosciences who presented during this roundtable included R. Saravanan, Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and Benjamin Giese, Associate Professor, Department of Oceanography.

On Thursday, October 25, Texas A&M Interim Vice Provost Luis Cifuentes presented on the Texas A&M Ocean Research Facilities and Infrastructure in China, and Dean of the College of Geosciences Björn Kjerfve led a session on Action Items and Assignments. Dean Kjerfve, together with Wu Dexing, President of Ocean University of China, gave the Closing Remarks for the conference.

For more information on the The George Bush China-US. Relations Conference visit http://china-us-conference.org/conference_program.php