October 2007

Mineralogical Society News Mineralogical Society of Japan. On behalf of the Council of the Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences, the IMA Secretariat was informed on the creation of a new Mineralogical Association by Eiji Othani. e-mail of Eiji Othani On the 22th of September, 2007, a new society was created in the field of Mineralogical Sciences, namely the Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences (JAMS), by combining two pre-existing Japanese societies, the Mineralogical Society of Japan (MSJ), and the Japanese Association of Mineralogists, Petrologists, and Economic Geologists (JAMPEG). These two societies which are older than 50 years, have been leader in the field of mineralogical and petrological sciences. Recent research development within Earth and Planetary Materials Sciences has required more intimate interactions among disciplines covered by both societies, thus leading to their merging into a larger association. JAMS takes over all of the functions from MSJ as the supporting organization representing Japan for IMA. The Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences (JMPS), which has been published by MSJ and JAMPEG, is now the official journal of the new society JAMS. The logo of the new society, the Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences See also our page on the Japan Association of Mineral Sciences   Commission and Working Group news From the Commission on Applied Mineralogy (CAM) : Announcement of a short course: What :School on Synchrotron X-ray and IR Methods Focusing on Environmental Sciences When: 21-23 January 2008 Where: Synchrotron Radiation Source ANKA, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany Who: Institute for Synchrotron Radiation, supported by EU N2 Networking Activity (I3 Project IA-SFS) and European X-ray Spectrometry Association Info: http://ankaweb.fzk.de/conferences/EUN2school/ Committee IMA medal Committee: The nine members of the IMA medal Committee are : Masaki Akaogi, Christian Chopin, Barb Dutrow, Herta Effenberger, Catherine McCammon, Roberta Oberti, Igor Pekov, Mark Welsh and Joel Grice who is chairman of the Medal Committee. Recall : Call for IMA medal nomination The deadline for nominations is April 2008. See the IMA Medal page in the IMA website to get the nomination checklist. If you would like more information or to make a nomination please contact Joel Grice, Chairman of the IMA medal Committee.   Meetings See Latest News of September 2007 Obituary   Joe Mandarino by Robert Gait and Malcolm E. Back (see also latest news of September 2007) Recall: Information from IUGS - International Year for Planet Earth (IYPE) The General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE). Its subtitle 'Earth Sciences for Society' reflects the IYPE's main ambition: to make our planet a safer, healthier and wealthier place for its human societies by ensuring a greater and more effective use of the knowledge accumulated by the world's 400,000 Earth scientists. the International Year of Planet Earth Corporation is organizing an International IYPE Student Contest. For more information, see the IUGS bulletin Nƒ25