In May 2020, Water Institute member Marek Stastna, professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, was elected President of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS). In this uniquely challenging year, the President’s role has presented new opportunities for Marek such as the implementation of virtual programming and leading the development of a new Strategic Plan.
“Some of the pandemic-related challenges, like the switch to online, have proved quite useful for a geographically distributed organization, as evidenced by the success of the Virtual Speaker Tour,” said Marek. “The Executive of CMOS has also developed a stronger voice on current issues, as exemplified by the CMOS Statement on Racism. Ensuring a diversity of voices and perspectives remains an ongoing task for CMOS, and I have been lucky that both my predecessor and successor in the President role are firmly committed to this.”
CMOS is the national society of individuals and organizations dedicated to advancing atmospheric and oceanic sciences and related environmental disciplines in Canada. The Society’s aim is to promote meteorology and oceanography in Canada, and it is a major non-governmental organisation serving the interests of meteorologists, climatologists, oceanographers, limnologists, hydrologists and cryospheric scientists in academia, government and the private sector. The Society addresses a broad range of national and international concerns including weather and weather extremes, global warming, ocean warming and acidification, ozone depletion and surface air quality and their effects on all aspects of life in Canada including forestry, agriculture and fisheries.
Marek is optimistic thinking about the future of CMOS, especially in relation to Canada’s commitment towards acting on climate change with Canada’s 2050 plan.
“This will be a significant culture change both within government and for those in academia and the private sector who collaborate with government,” said Marek. “Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has begun work on making its various computational models more accessible and this will lead to a great deal of positive change. At the same time, CMOS and ECCC have negotiated a way for larger numbers of ECCC scientists to participate in CMOS Congresses, with similar agreements with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the pipeline. This diversity of voices has the potential to make the CMOS Congresses truly world class and I am personally quite excited about this development.”
Read more about the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society here.