Water institute member Marek Stastna, professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics has been elected to serve as President for the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS). In this role, Stastna will lead this important organization that promotes meteorology and oceanography in Canada and serves the interests of meteorologists, climatologists, oceanographers, limnologists, hydrologists, and cryospheric scientists. Stastna has served as CMOS Vice President since May 2019.
In conversation with the Water Institute, Stastna noted he looks forward to learning about the breadth of research going on within the society and across the country. “Given current events, I am also looking forward to learning new ways to connect electronically, and especially the role of social media in science (which I believe is in its infancy.)” Stastna also spoke about what he learned during his tenure as CMOS Vice President. “Academic societies have changed markedly over the past decade. Canadian societies, in particular, have had a bit of a crisis of identity as ease of travel has meant many academics put international societies "first”. Traditionally, CMOS has been split between universities and the civil service, but over the last decade the role of government scientists has decreased, and in some sense did so drastically. There is also a bimodal nature to the membership with significant numbers of students and retired members. I would like the Society to provide clear benefits to both, especially in a world that will be transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
As for the direction he will steer the society towards, Stastna said he would like to strengthen the role of technical disciplines (e.g. computing in weather forecasting) which historically formed the backbone of Canada's international profile in this field (e.g. the famous Asselin filter). Steering CMOS through the present pandemic into the post-COVID-19 world will also become a main focus of the year ahead.
“I would like Canada to lead on the open data front,
which is important given the rich data sets associated with our massive landmass,” said Stastna.
Formed
in
1967,
the
Society
has
a
membership
of
over
700
and
is
open
to
all
who
share
an
interest
in
atmospheric
and
oceanic
sciences.
Read
more
about
the Canadian
Meteorological
and
Oceanographic
Society
here.