Minutes

Science and Technology Committee Meeting

February 5, 1999

(Conference Call)

Participants:
Paul Backman (PA) - Northeast Region
Bill Brown (LA) - Southern Region
Nancy Cox (MS) - Southern Region and FAIR 2000
George Ham (KS) - Chair
Tom Helms - Executive Vice-Chair
Richard Heimsch (ID) - Western Region
Terry Nelson for Richard Dunkle - ARS
Ralph Otto - CSREES
Ron Pardini (NV) - Western Region
Randy Woodson (IN) - Chair-Elect and North Central Region

Chair, George Ham, called the meeting to order at 1pm CST (via conference call) and the following agenda items were discussed:

Item 1. Agenda Approved - The agenda as distributed via e-mail on February 3 was approved.

Item 2.  Review Committee's Charge - The charge to the committee, as stated on the Committee's webpage, was discussed.  Perhaps a more definitive charge is presented through the Strategic Target Areas and Action Items also found on the webpage.

Item 3. Review Committee Membership - The current membership list is a work-in-progress and representation by other groups can be added as needs arise.  A suggestion was made that SUNEI needed to be represented on the committee. As item 4 is addressed, a letter will be sent to the SUNEI leadership asking for acceptance of Ralph Otto as their representative since he already serves on the committee.

Item 4. Review of Suggested Sub-Committees - The suggestions for existing and new sub-committees that would fall under the Science and Technology Committee were discussed. It was suggested that a more logical method for determining what sub-committees are needed would be to look at the relationship of committees as they pertain to GPRA goals. A strawman document will be developed by Drs. Ham, Helms and Woodson for the committee's review and further action.

Item 5. Science Roadmap - Dr. Helms reported that the "Science Roadmap" is the outcome of a presentation by Dr. Colin Kaltenbach at the SAES/ARD Workshop in Kansas City held in September, 1998.  ESCOP agreed to write a "Science Roadmap" for the system and Dr. Helms was asked to prepare a draft document.  The Science and Technology Committee has been asked to further review and refine this document for presentation and approval at the summer, 1999, ESCOP meeting.  Randy Woodson agreed to chair an ad-hoc committee to work on this effort.  Any committee member wishing to assist, should notify George Ham, Randy Woodson or Tom Helms before Feb. 12.  At that time, several committee members will be appointed to serve on this ad-hoc activity.

Item 6. Science and Technology meeting plans - It was agreed that there was no need for a face-to-face meeting of the committee unless there was a definite product to discuss.  Until such need arises, group interaction will be via e-mail and by use of the committee's webpage for posting documents, etc. for review and comment.

Meeting adjourned at 1:55 pm CST.

Please send corrections to Anna Marie Rasberry.