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BAMOS October 2021
President ’ s report
Angela Maharaj
Happy spring fellow AMOS members . I hope you are well and double vaccinated . As we hit the targets on the national vaccination roadmap , remember that social distancing and mask wearing will continue to be important measures to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 . To help you stay COVID-safe , AMOS Climate Stripes Masks are available for sale again . You can order them from
https :// shop . teamelite . com . au / collections / amos .
Education and outreach have always been an important part of our society , with many of our members showing interest in furthering STEM education in the AMOS sciences . We invite you to participate in the inaugural World Climate Research Programme ’ s ( WCRP ) training stocktake survey to help ensure current and future climate scientists and key users of technical and scientific climate information have access to the best possible climate science training . Your responses to this survey will indicate what training is already available and what / where the gaps are . This will help the WCRP Academy set up a web portal for free and affordable online climate science and related training opportunities .
Last year I was lucky enough to be selected as a STEM coach for two high school students as part of Australia Science Innovation ’ s Curious Minds Programme . Curious Minds is a hands-on extension and mentoring program which connects women in science with girls in science . Mentors receive some training and network with each other and also spend six months mentoring high school girls from across Australia who have an interest and passion for STEM . The students are given training and professional development by the programme , working on research projects of their interest with guidance from their mentors . I was connected with a student from Queensland and another from South Australia and we worked on an
oceanography and coastal geomorphology project together to show how all three of us were connected across the Australian Eastern Seaboard by coastal processes . It was a very rewarding experience and I particularly liked the intergenerational model of networking and mentoring . Curious Minds is currently looking for new coaches for the 2021 – 22 season . I would like to take this opportunity to encourage our female identifying members to consider signing up at
https :// www . asi . edu . au / programs / curious-minds /.
Another important pillar for AMOS is equity and diversity . Recently , the past chair of the AMOS Equity and Diversity committee , Melissa Hart , and I were invited to speak at the Women ’ s Climate Congress about women in science , the Kindness in Science movement and the Homeward Bound program which Melissa took part in a few years ago . The founder of the Women ’ s Climate Congress , Janet Salisbury , is a scientist and entrepreneur who founded the initiative to work towards giving women a voice to advocate for united , nonpartisan action on climate change . AMOS has been engaging with the Women ’ s Climate Congress as part of our efforts to reach out to a broader community and to provide greater visibility of our society to those who are interested in our sciences .
AMOS is currently working on a new climate change statement to align with the IPCC ’ s Sixth Assessment Report ( AR6 ) and the upcoming Conference of the Parties ( CoP 26 ) UN Climate Change Conference . AMOS members will have the opportunity to provide their comments to the statement .
Finally , you may have noted in the last BAMOS edition that Diana Greenslade has stepped down from the BAMOS team . I want to thank Diana for her long-standing involvement in BAMOS . It is because of AMOS members like Diana who volunteer their time and skills to our society that you get to enjoy another bumper packed edition of BAMOS .