Media Advisory 2 - AGU Ocean Sciences Meeting

Press conferences, planned; Press room; Press registration form

1. Press Conferences Planned
2. Press Room
3. Attention PIOs: Sending Press Releases to Ocean Sciences Meeting
4. Press Registration Information
5. Press Registration Form
6. Who's Coming

See also Media Advisory 1: http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/prrl/prrl0333.html

General information on 2004 Ocean Sciences Meeting, including access to abstracts and session information: http://www.agu.org/meetings/os04/

1. Press Conferences Planned

We are currently developing press conferences on some of the newsworthy research being reported at the meeting. The following list is, of course, subject to change. A subsequent media advisory will provide the scheduled of all press conferences, with a brief description, list of participants, and related session information. Any subsequent modifications will be announced in the Press Room.

Plenary Lectures: The only session scheduled for Monday morning, January 26, is OS11A, Opening Plenary Session. Four eminent scientists will address their colleagues on key themes of this meeting. Reporters are urged to attend the Plenary, which will be followed in the early afternoon with summary press briefings by these scientists and a question period. The plenary lecture topics are:

• Ocean History: Nutrients and the Global Carbon Cycle (Margaret Delaney, University of California, Santa Cruz)
• A Constant of Sea Change: The Biological Response to Climate Variability (Francisco Chavez, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)
• Modeling Marine Ecosystems: Why do We Need Models and Where Are We Going? (Kenneth Denman, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
• Using Ocean Observatories to Study Continental Shelves: Lessons Learned in the Cool Room (Oscar Schofield, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey)

Other press conferences under consideration include:

• The 1998-2002 Climate Shift in the North Pacific: An Extended La Niņa or the Beginning of a Cool Regime?
• A Sound Approach: Applications of Acoustics to Oceanography
• NSF Ocean Observations Initiative
• Integrated Ocean Observing Systems: Studying the Ocean Up Close and From Afar
• The Ocean's Role in Abrupt and Not-So-Abrupt Climate Change

2. Press Room

The Press Room is Room A109 of the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, in Portland. This room will provide work space for reporters, as well as facilities for the press conferences.

Press Room hours will be 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, daily. We will stay open later, if necessary, to accommodate reporters on deadline.

The phone number for the Press Room is 503-963-5702. Please provide this number to anyone who may have to call you at the meeting. Additional lines will be available for use by reporters, with no charge for business calls.

The Press Room will be equipped for wireless Internet (wi-fi), for laptops suitably equipped. One computer for use by reporters will also be available.

Lunch (only) will be served in the Press Room from 11:30 a.m. daily for registered reporters and public information officers. Coffee, tea, and soft drinks will be available all day.

3. Attention PIOs: Sending Press Releases to Ocean Sciences Meeting

Public information officers of universities, government agencies, and research institutions are encouraged to send press releases and related documentation in support of their researchers' presentations at Ocean Sciences Meeting. Please send them, ideally timed to arrive on Friday, January 23, to the address below. (Materials received later will, of course, be displayed, but only on the following day.)

Harvey Leifert (hold for January 24 arrival)
Doubletree Hotel Lloyd Center
1000 N.E. Multnomah
Portland, OR 97232
U.S.A.
Hotel phone: 503-281-6111

4. Press Registration Information

Press registrants receive a badge that provides access to any of the scientific sessions of the meeting, as well as to the Press Room. No one will be admitted without a valid badge.

Eligibility for press registration is limited to the following persons:

• Working press employed by bona fide news media: must present a press card, business card, or letter of introduction from an editor of the publication.
• Freelance science writers: must present a current membership card from NASW, PSSWA (or other regional affiliate of NASW), CSWA, ISWA, or SEJ, or evidence of by-lined work pertaining to science intended for the general public and published in 2003 or 2004, or a letter from the editor of a recognized publication, assigning you to cover this meeting.
• Public information officers of scientific societies, educational institutions, and government agencies: must present a business card.

Note: Representatives of publishing houses, for-profit corporations, and the business side of news media must register at the main registration desk at the meeting and pay the appropriate fees.

The last day for advance press registration is January 16. You may also register onsite in the Press Room.

5. Press Registration Form

The Press Registration Form is set up for online submission, but includes a link to a version that can be printed out and faxed or mailed. Go to: http://www.agu.org/meetings/os04/os04pressreg_cgi.html

6. Who's Coming

The following have registered for Press credentials, as of the date of this message.

Valerie Brown, Freelance
Mike Carlowicz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Andrew Geller, KBOO Portland
Richard Hill, The Oregonian
Sandra Hines, University of Washington
Rick Lovett, Freelance
William McCall, Associated Press
Michael Milstein, The Oregonian
Juliane Mossinger, Nature
Ben Sherman, NOAA - National Ocean Service
David Wolman, Freelance