SOPAC Director appointed to Circum-Pacific Council

SOPAC Director, Dr Russell Howorth, was appointed to the Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources at its recent meeting in Wellington, New Zealand. In accepting the appointment he expressed his pleasure at being able to strengthen a partnership between the Council and SOPAC that goes back some 30 years.

The Council was founded 1972. It is a non-profit international organisation of earth scientists and engineers. The Council develops and promotes research and cooperation among industry, government and academia for the sustainable utilisation of earth resources in the Pacific Region.

The Council's goals include: improving knowledge of earth resources and damaging geologic hazards in the Pacific Region; increasing collaboration among geologists, hydrologists, biologists, oceanographers and related scientists; and disseminating earth-science information through maps, publications, symposia and workshops.

As a first new joint initiative the Circum-Pacific Council has agreed to co-host with SOPAC and STAR (the Science, Technology and Resources Network of SOPAC) a one-day special session on seabed mapping entitled “Map Once – Use Many Ways” to be held in conjunction with the Annual Session of SOPAC in Nadi, late October. The session will be convened on Monday 18th October. The Circum-Pacific? Council has agreed to also hold its next full meeting in Nadi, and this will give the opportunity to bring a range of new potential partners into the SOPAC Pacific region.