Five-year plan

Polar Meteorology and Oceanography Committee (PMOC) Five Year Plan


Adopted August 2022

Committee: Alice DuVivier (chair), Tristan L’Ecuyer (vice-chair), Claire Pettersen (incoming co-chair), Cecilia Peralta Ferriz (incoming co-chair), Mitch Bushuk, Patricia DeRepentigny, David Bonan (student), Lorenzo Polvani

The PMOC has adopted four main priorities as part of a 5-year plan. We detail the priorities and planned activities below, while acknowledging that there may be changes to this plan.

1. Polar Meteorology and Oceanography Meetings

The PMOC plans to return to having conferences on odd numbered years to better serve the polar oceanography community since AGU Ocean Sciences meetings occur on even numbered years. Additionally, we plan to return to May meetings when possible, to better account for Arctic and Antarctic field season timing. The PMOC plans to organize the following three hybrid or in-person scientific meetings:

  • 2024: the PMOC will host a one-day polar symposium as part of the AMS Annual meeting in Baltimore, MD in January 2024.
  • 2025: 18th AMS Conference on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography. Organization for this meeting, including choosing the location and specific dates, will commence in 2024.
  • 2027: 19th AMS Conference on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography. Organization for this meeting will commence in 2026. The PMOC may decide to organize a joint conference with another AMS STAC committee based on overlapping scientific topics.

In addition to the meetings listed above, the PMOC will contribute to the AMS-wide “future of meetings” effort. We will provide feedback and contribute to plans about hybrid meetings, as well as seek ways in which meetings can be affordable for community members to participate.

2. Building and a diverse Polar research community leadership

The PMOC believes it is a priority to continue diversifying our scientific community in a variety of ways. We plan the following actions to make our community leadership more accessible and diverse. The PMOC committee selection will be a clearer and more accessible process. Instead of originating solely within the PMOC, nominations will be solicited on the PMOC AMS website and accepted through an online, open google form. Community members can self-nominate or nominate others to have a chance to serve on the PMOC and help direct priorities of the PMOC. The PMOC in the past 10+ years has been relatively diverse in terms of gender, institutional, and career stage representation. While these will continue to be a factor for choosing members, we seek further representation among PMOC members and will consider a variety of factors for final PMOC selection.

3. Awards and recognition

The PMOC wants to further engage and make a more open process for recognition in the Polar research community. The PMOC plans to do the following actions:

  • The PMOC will take a leadership role and advocate within the Polar community to nominate Polar members and recognize them for their outstanding science and service. The PMOC plans to develop a process (similar to that for committee nominations detailed above) to ensure that the nomination process is open and fair to all members of the Polar Community. Additionally, the PMOC will detail the types of awards (e.g. STAC level, Society level) and provide information about how to nominate someone on the PMOC website.
  • The PMOC will focus on several facets of early career recognition. We plan to assess whether the current student competition at the PMOC organized meetings is sufficiently open and accessible to all participants, and we seek to streamline the evaluation and recognition process. Additionally, we plan to create a yearly PMOC specific “paper of the year” award for students or early career scientists. The winners of this award will be recognized on the PMOC AMS website and will be invited to give talks at the subsequent PMOC organized meeting to highlight their work, and their registration will be covered. The PMOC plans to develop a process (similar to that for committee nominations detailed above) to ensure that the nomination process for this paper award is open and fair to all members of the Polar Community.
  • The PMOC will have a biannual community “fun visuals” (photographs, figures, satellite images, etc.) contest. The winning image(s) will be featured on the PMOC AMS website.

4. Community engagement

The PMOC wants to engage the wider community (beyond scientists) more fully. To this end, we plan to pursue the following activities:

  • We will advertise AMS short courses or assist with putting together virtual material.
  • We will update the AMS glossary for polar specific terms. A PMOC member will be assigned as a point of contact for the glossary and work with other PMOC members so that each member will update one term yearly.
  • We will engage with AMS programs such as Weatherband, Clear Skies, and other programs to help boost our community engagement activities.
  • At PMOC meetings we will organize a community talk (e.g. Science on Tap, Coffee Talk) in the community in which the meeting is occurring. The goal of this talk is to communicate some fundamental polar science with the non-scientific community. These speakers will be chosen specifically by the PMOC to ensure that the talk is at the appropriate level.
  • When opportunities arise, PMOC members traveling to Washington, DC will meet with policy makers and/or their staff to advocate for polar topics and research.