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Science
on the Eastern Edge
St. John's Newfoundland
Keynotes, tours,
panels, and events
June 24-26 2006
PRESIDENT'S
MESSAGE -- Get ready for an inside look at a state-of-the art 4-D
visualization lab, learn the design secrets of America's Cup racing
yachts, see the oldest animal fossils in the world, and enjoy a
floating version of our annual awards banquet on an Atlantic dinner
cruise.
Like
practically everything that happens in Newfoundland, this year's
CSWA conference in St. John's will be fun-loving, eye-catching,
and a little bit different.
For
one thing, the area is home to some of the first animals ever to
inhabit our planet, nicely preserved in The Rock, as geologists
and palaeontologists are only too happy to explain. As for the more
recent human inhabitants, they have been the subject of dedicated
genetic investigation, looking for intriguing characteristics of
the province's founding families.
St.
John's is the perfect place to hear from experts about the past,
present, and future of the region's fisheries, delve into the science
behind sea monsters and beer labels, and walk the climate change
beat on the Easternmost point of North America.
It's
also a great place to inject more fun than usual into our regular
conference events. Our annual Science In Society Journalism Gala
Awards Banquet will take place on the ship Nouvelle Orleans in St.
John's harbour. The annual showcase of Canada's finest in science
writing will be complimented by a guided tasting by a master brewer
with Appleton's Rum and music from the Juno-Award-winning group
The Irish Descendants.
Some
of the keynote speakers slated to share their knowledge at the conference:
geophysicist Jeremy Hall, who is developing cutting-edge visualization
technologies for studying plate tectonics, in a province that's
a natural laboratory for studying this phenomenon
geological historian Derek Wilton, one of Canada's leading Northern
researchers and member of a multidisciplinary research project,
"Coasts Under Stress"
George Rose, who holds the Fisheries Conservation Chair at Memorial
University of Newfoundland, and conducts research on a wide range
of species as well as aspects of climate change that could be affecting
their ecosystem
Glen Blackwood, Director of Memorial's Marine Institute, which
includes specialized units that make up the country's leading centre
of fisheries and marine training
Rob Pallard, Technical Officer for the NRC Institute for Ocean
Technology, who was instrumental in the development of Canada's
yacht dynamometer, a precision instrument that measures lift and
drag forces
Conference delegates will get a chance to tour the area, taking-in
historic Signal Hill, where the first wireless transmission was
received; the National Research Council (NRC) Institute of Ocean
Technology, Canada's home of high-tech racing yacht design; Memorial's
Marine Institute, with its own indoor ship simulator; and the Landmark
Graphics Visualization Laboratory, with an immersive 4-D simulator
environment.
All this is just the tip of the iceberg - something else you might
well see in the area - so join us in Newfoundland this June: By
the time you leave, you should be a bit different too.
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