The first formal CICS Council of Fellows Meeting was held September 5 at ESSIC and involved discussion of opportunities and specific roles of the Council.
The meeting, exclusively attended by the Fellows and led by CICS Executive Director Dr. Phil Arkin, began with CICS’ history, mission and vision.
According to the CICS website, “CICS performs collaborative research aimed at enhancing NOAA’s ability to use satellite observations and Earth System models to advance the national climate mission, including monitoring, understanding, predicting and communicating information on climate variability and change.” CICS mission is to “conduct research, education and outreach programs in collaboration with NOAA.”
The meeting was the first of its kind, though there have been Fellows meeting in conjunction with CICS Science Meetings in 2010 and 2011, according to Arkin.
Arkin said the timeliness of this meeting allowed the Fellows to establish the Council before the CICS mid-term review that will occur in November.
After the CICS overview, discussion focused around possible roles for the Council, such as forming sub groups to identify scientific priorities for CICS research, facilitating collaborations among CICS and NOAA scientists and organizations and attending and participating in CICS Executive Board, like the next meeting which will be held at ESSIC on October 1.
The meeting concluded with the discussion of additional Fellows meetings in the future. Arkin said the Fellows agreed to meet again in late spring 2013.
